Lessons on small-town protocol
(Page 3 of 4)
April/May 2001
By the Mother Earth News editors
E. augustifolia has a taproot that must not be blocked in development, so plant sprouted seed in six-inch-deep flats. Let the surface of medium dry between waterings or water minimally from the bottom. Fertilize sparingly. Plant seedlings outdoors in earliest spring to avoid transplant shock. For best drainage and easiest harvest, set into raised beds 24 to 36 inches apart; thin so the mature plant's leaves barely touch.
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Let plants grow three or four years before harvest; younger plants contain too little of the active ingredients, and older roots get woody and pithy. For an annual harvest, you'll want three or four generations growing at all times. Expect yields in a good year to top out at about 1,200 pounds of dried root per acre. Currently, roots sell for about $150 a pound in the U.S. A few acres of coneflower could yield a profitable harvest.
The Meatlover's Mushroom
Do you know where I can get porcini mushrooms? I've been told they taste meaty, and 1 would like to add them to my food garden.
BILL ADAMS
Mushrooms are fungi; thus, they lack the chlorophyll that lets sun-loving plants convert elements of air and water into nourishment via photosynthesis. Truth is, mushrooms have little nutritive value, and might not be the best investment of your time or money in terms of food value.
Growing mushrooms has little potential to net you a profit; but it can make an interesting hobby, and they are tasty. Large, firm-fleshed and possessed of a pungent, meaty flavor, porcini-type mushrooms go well with roasts or in meat-flavored sauces, soups and stews. Chopped and sauted with garlic in fruity olive oil, they make a meatless spaghetti sauce to die for.
To our knowledge, porcini are not one of the wild mushrooms that have been brought under profitable cultivation. The fresh items can be found for about $5 a pound in most large supermarkets. To grow them at a profit, or even for personal consumption for less than they cost at the supermarket, you'd have to beat store prices, which is no mean feat.
The easiest way to grow mushrooms is with a kit. The kits contain a cube of growing medium mixed with minerals and nutrients, and inoculated with laboratory-cultured mycelium starter. Kits cost $25 to $40, and yield one to three harvests ranging from two to five pounds. At about six dollars a pound, this is slightly more than the store price for fresh mushrooms.
