Tips From Mushroom Growers
There are many mushroom enthusiasts and mycologist that enjoy sharing and learning about mushrooms. A teacher at Merritt College in Oakland California, Ken Litchfield, and Far West’s mushroom farmer, Kiera Ilusorio, sheds some light on how to grow mushrooms.
Comments on mushrooms:
“Mushrooms make their living in several ways: as symbiotes, linked to oaks and other trees; as parasites on living plants; or by decomposing dead organic matter. Some species can be either parasitic or symbiotic; others switch from one strategy to another during their life cycles”. -Ken Litchfield
“Morels are opportunists. That’s the one that everyone wants to grow. They’re not that hard to grow, but getting them to fruit predictably is a problem.” -Ken Litchfield
“The shiitake kit is the biggest seller for home growers at the store in San Francisco’s Ferry Building Marketplace. They’re a little easier. Tree oysters take more attention. You’re trying to re-create the forest floor…” -Keria Ilusorio
People get the kits as gifts and don’t know what to do with them. The hardest thing to hear is: ‘It grew a black fuzzy lump I thought was mold, so I cut it off’.They fruit and then they’re done. But after the first flush, you can transplant the kit into a bed of wood chips.”-Keria Ilusorio