Make Money With a Marvelous Mushroom

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And that's it! The biochemist's building is nothing fancy or costly ... simply a cozy home for mushrooms that could be put together by just about anyone. However, our expert does pass on one word of caution: Both the fungi and their grain-derived growing medium are very attractive to mice, so be sure to build well enough to keep such pests out. (Ralph says he learned about this structural requirement the hard way!)

MAKE 'EM COMFORTABLE

Oyster mushrooms will survive temperature ranges from just above freezing to 75°F, but you should keep in mind that the fungi grow more slowly over long periods of time at lower temperatures . . . and produce abundantly for shorter durations at higher ones. (Remember, too—before you try to force your crop into fast production—that higher temperatures encourage pests and diseases.) The P. ostreatus species, in particular, prefers a range from 50 to 68 degrees . . . and 65 degrees seems to be just about ideal.

How much you'll have to heat your own mushroom house will depend, of course, upon the climatic conditions in your region. Ralph's structure is kept warm by the sun, which beats down on a south-facing wall. However, a gas or electric space heater (either one can probably be found at a garage sale or flea market) works well when the sunshine's not available.

In addition to warmth, mushrooms also need moisture to flourish. In fact, oyster mushrooms require a humidity of about 85%. The Berkeley mycologist bought an old army blower and evaporative cooler pad from a local surplus store to dampen his unit. Ralph's setup certainly does the trick, but there are less expensive alternatives. You could, for example, keep several pans of water near your heating source . . . and supplement this evaporated moisture by lightly spraying the inside of the house with a fine-mist nozzle once or twice every day.

In warmer areas of the country—where temperatures in such an insulated "garden" might rise above 75 degrees—you should consider a swamp cooler .. . but don't look for this piece of equipment in your neighborhood hardware store, because the best ones are homemade: Water drips through a small hole in the bottom of a five-gallon (or larger) can, and—as the liquid passes through a filter made of glass wool or an empty burlap sack and then evaporatesthe air around it is both cooled and humidified. (For a beefed-up version, simply trickle hosed water into an old automobile radiator . . . and then blow air through the fins with a fan.)

Oyster mushrooms, as I mentioned above, are natural inhabitants of the forest floor. You can find them growing low on the trunks of various deciduous trees such as elm, maple, willow, or poplar. The light that filters through the surrounding woods is normally very dim and bluish in color, and the best way to approximate this environmental condition is to limit the sunlight's access to a small, northfacing window. (Just remember that windows let heat in on warm days, and warmth out on cold ones!)

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