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particularly nice crop, or culture an exceptional specimen they have found elsewhere.
. Spawning. This is the process of introducing the spawn into the substrate. It is a simple
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physical process. If the substrate is wood, they drill it full of holes, place a little bit of spawn in each
and they seal off the hole. If the substrate is loose organic material, they pack it into large containers
lined with sterile plastic sheeting, and they inject the spawn with sterile needles or some other
means, making sure no other organism can find its way into it. In larger facilities, special spawning
machines do the spawning that mix the compost and spawn mechanically, sometimes also blending
in additional nutrients.
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. Mushroom production. When the entire substrate is completely penetrated with the still
growing and spreading spawn, it is time to introduce a change to trigger the growth of the
mushrooms. Depending on the species, the change may be lowering or raising temperature and
humidity, turning fans on for air movement, or turning on strong lights. Often, they use a
combination of these. It is an art.
For our common button mushrooms, for instance, they move the blocks of substrate to
production rooms, and they lower the temperature of the compost by 2°F (1°C) every day. They
water the blocks twice a day to increase the moisture content. As the mycelium gets colder and
wetter, it starts shooting rootlike projections toward the surface of the compost. Each of these
(called rhizomorphs) is tipped with a mushroom pin, an incipient mushroom that begins to grow.
This stage takes about 3 weeks.
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. Harvesting the mushrooms. Mushrooms continue to develop for 5 to 6 weeks until they
exhaust the food source. The temperature of the compost, relative humidity and carbon dioxide
content of the air are all important for maximum yield and growers must continue to carefully
control them throughout the harvesting phase. If carbon dioxide is too high, for example,
mushrooms stop growing. If humidity is too high, the mushroom caps become sticky and clammy,
and begin to deteriorate before harvesting. If too low, the mushrooms start drying out.
If the grower neglects the slightest detail, there may be no mushroom growth at all. Pure
scientific knowledge of the fungus is important in the mushroom-growing process, but experience
and intuition are equally necessary. No wonder my childhood neighbor in the story above had such
poor success in his second attempt.
TASTINGS Mushroom harvest
The average yield is about 3 pounds of mushroom per square foot (14½ kg per
square meter) of compost surface. It can be as high as 6½ pounds per square foot (31
kg per square meter) if the grower takes great care of every growing phase and is
experienced.
Mushrooms in the kitchen
Mushrooms are not a particularly nutritious food, but few people are thinking of nutrition
when they bite into a perfectly prepared specimen. They are high in protein compared to other
vegetables, but in an absolute sense, they are still a low-protein food. They contain lots of vitamins
B2 and B3, a significant amount potassium and a moderate amount of phosphorous.
The mushroom's job is to add flavor, texture, eye appeal and richness to a dish or plate of
food, not nutrition. Western cuisines tend to use mushrooms mainly for flavor, although the subtle
mushroom texture is an important part of many dishes that don’t require long cooking. Most kids
play © erdosh 160
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