Grow Your Own Mushrooms

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Also, timing can be tricky in a commercial operation. Shiitake can be made to fruit on a schedule, but oysters require intense management. “It’s a lot like dairy farming,” says Glen Babcock of Garden City Fungi in Missoula, Mont. “You have to stay with it all the time.” Babcock started growing certified organic specialty mushrooms in 1995 and now has five climate-controlled mushroom houses. He says diversifying protects you from economic ups and downs, which are part of any agricultural endeavor. He and his wife, Wendy, also have created a teaching module they use to educate groups of science teachers about fungi, and they teach workshops on mushroom culture. In addition, they sell kits and spawn for hobby mushroom growers.

“You don’t need a lot of expensive equipment to get into the business,” Babcock says, “but you do need patience, a willingness to learn and a certain passion for the work.” If you like the process, you can build more of an equipment inventory as you go along.

Demand is increasing for specialty mushrooms, and developments in medicinal mushroom research may make organically grown medicinal mushrooms hot commodities, too. “The folks who get the most satisfaction out of growing mushrooms share a natural fascination with fungi,” Babcock says. If the market heats up, it’ll be the perfect world for such loyal fungi fans as himself.

Mushroom Kit Resources

In addition to the seven regional suppliers listed below, many other sources are available for mushroom culture and spawn. The easiest and most rewarding way to locate local information on mushroom culture is to join a club or mycological society. You can find a club list, organized by location, at the North American Mycological Association’s Web site, www.namyco.org.

Fungi Perfecti
P.O. Box 7634
Olympia, WA 98507
Kits for oyster, shiitake, wine caps, cinnamon caps and almond portobellos, plus a range of spawn and pure cultures. Cultivation seminars four times a year. 

Garden City Fungi
P.O. Box 1591
Missoula, MT 59806
Certified organic kits for three types of oyster mushrooms, indoor shiitake and lion’s mane, along with excellent educational materials for teachers.

Mushroompeople
560 Farm Road
P.O. Box 220
Summertown, TN 28483
An assortment of wood mushroom kits, four types of shiitake for inoculating logs and rental of educational videos. 

Spore Works
5201 Kingston Pike, Suite 6-324
Knoxville, TN 37919
Wine caps, oyster and shiitake kits to grow from inoculation to fruiting, along with pure cultures of numerous other gourmet strains.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print