I’ve been getting targeted ads just about every day for the Shrooly, and I am tempted. It looks like a work of art. It’s also expensive, at least $295 for the device, and then it looks like you have to keep buying pods at a fairly high price to keep reusing it. I haven’t promised myself that I won’t eventually buy it. But I’m not sure that I want to be an early adopter on this one. (Currently it’s just available for pre-sale at Indiegogo.) Instead, I’ve checked out three books from the library on growing mushrooms indoors and I’m going to take a look through and decide which of them are most useful to me. So far my mushroom raising experience has been growing them from a Back to the Roots grow kit. (You can get $10 off your order from following that link, and I’ll get $10 towards an order too. No pressure though. Here’s the main Back to the Roots link if you just want to keep things simple. They have a growing collection of products including tomatoes, herbs, microgreens, and a kids’ growing collection.) It was easy and quick and tasty. It grows back for a second time. I would do it again. But as usual I’m curious to know how much more I can do for myself.
From the titles, I’m guessing that one of these books will be the most useful to me. I’ll save that one for last. First is The Beginner’s Guide to Mushrooms. The first 117 pages deal with identification and foraging. I am not that adventurous, either for simply spending time out in the wild or for sorting through various items that might kill me. I might try foraging with an expert sometime, but I don’t think that will even quite count. So I’m skipping to page 118. That means I only have 8 pages to read, because page 126 is all about culinary uses. That’s not my question right now. What I’m mainly getting from these pages is that there are certain kinds of mushrooms I can grow in compost, on composted leaves, or in straw. So now I’m skipping ahead to the resources section. I’m not ready to join a mycological society so I’m skipping that section too, but I’ll make a note of a few suppliers that caught my eye, either for their location or for a charming name or both.
Fungi Ally, Hadley, MA – This will probably be my first stop among suppliers. Their physical location is within my state and they also offer online classes. They also have six free ebooks on growing specific types of mushrooms.
Smugtown Mushrooms, Rochester, NY – They have some good looking kits, and they also recommend a book called DIY Mushroom Culvitation.
Fungi Perfecti, Olympia, WA – This company does not have as many growing supplies as before, but they helpfully link to other suppliers, including Mycoterra Farm.
Okay, next. The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms. This is probably just what I’m looking for, but it goes into so many different setups and techniques that I’m wondering if I’m ever going to be committed enough. It could be messy and there is a learning curve. It would take some effort to come up with the right set of alternatives for me. This project seems roughly on a scale with some of the bean fermentation projects I’ve done (mainly referencing Miso, Tempeh, Natto & Other Tasty Ferments – also published by Storey). It takes some doing to figure out what setup to use and to give enough attention to the project over time to make it work. And even then it may not fully work out the first time. If I go in knowing this and accepting it, that’s fine. It’s just another learning curve. I’d just want to make sure I have the bandwidth at the time to see it through. But this book looks really useful and realistic. Lots of helpful pictures, too.
Okay, next. The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms. This is probably just what I’m looking for, but it goes into so many different setups and techniques that I’m wondering if I’m ever going to be committed enough. It could be messy and there is a learning curve. It would take some effort to come up with the right set of alternatives for me. This project seems roughly on a scale with some of the bean fermentation projects I’ve done (mainly referencing Miso, Tempeh, Natto & Other Tasty Ferments – also published by Storey). It takes some doing to figure out what setup to use and to give enough attention to the project over time to make it work. And even then it may not fully work out the first time. If I go in knowing this and accepting it, that’s fine. It’s just another learning curve. I’d just want to make sure I have the bandwidth at the time to see it through. But this book looks really useful and realistic. Lots of helpful pictures, too.
The third book is How to Grow Mushrooms from Scratch. I thought this one was going to be the most useful to me, but I think I was wrong. Most of the chapters are about growing mushrooms outdoors. In theory I could do that, but I’m a better indoor grower than outdoor. There are only 11 pages on indoor growing, and a couple of those pages are about using the kits. I feel confident enough to use the kits already.
Right now my purpose is to talk myself out of buying an expensive device. I don’t think the kits are less expensive than just buying mushrooms. They are more fun though, and there’s more variety. If I circle back to the project, I think I’ll take about a week to work through The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms and plot my next move.
