Shrooms...

The husband just bought me four mushroom growing kits, i am going to start them off tomorrow. Has anyone had any experience with growing mushrooms? He got me closed button i think.

Also, i am thinking that i might build a (kind of) polytunnel down the passageway at the side of our house. It doesnt get much sun due to the house and a very large tree outside of our garden at the side of the house. the info on growing mushrooms says that they need to stay warm and dark for 6 days then they need to be cool and dark. do you think i could turn the side of the house into a shroom farm? lol. Thanks in advance.

 

I used to work at a mushroom farm, we had 6 polytunnels that had a double skin with insulation inbetween, heated by 2 of the 56kg calor gas bottles so it was t shirt hot in there even when there was snow outside.

Concrete floor which was hosed down daily to keep the humidity up.

We never let it get cool, but it was always dark

 

Wow Potash, thanks for the info. I am definately thinking of doing it now. i'm going to have to really plan it out before i start because we do get a draught coming along there so will need to put some thought into it to make sure it stays strong and warm!

 

The bags used to arrive pre innoculated with the spawn, it was fresh horse poo, so it heated up as it rotted which gave the mycelium the heat it needed to get going.

We'd bump the bags to give a flat bottom and then open them. they'd be left for about 2 weeks before casing with a mixture of peat and lime, about 2 inches thick.

We'd mist the bags regularly but made sure no drips went thru the casing to the mycelium.

They'd pin in a couple of weeks and we'd get 3 crops from each tunnel

Got dragged in to help pick one full moon, took 12 hours to pick one row, could have started again at the beginning, the moon drags them up

 

lol, that sounds great. I think i'm going to have to put in lots of research before I start on this one and make sure I get it right from the beginning (unlike my usual style of 'whack it til it fits' lol). what happens after you have picked the mushroom? do they just grow back?

 

I happen to be lucky to live 20 mins from http://gizmodo.com/why-a-small-pennsylvania-town-is-the-mushroom-capital-o-1507494984