Are you interested in growing your own mushrooms at home? If so, you'll want to start with these foundational texts. They will help you understand the basics of mycology while preparing you for more advanced methods of cultivating a variety of mushrooms, including gourmet and medicinal mushrooms, as well as mycoremediation.
Without further ado, here are three books to help you get started:
The Mushroom Cultivator is a practical guide to growing mushrooms at home. This book is the perfect starting point for anyone who wants to learn about the basics of mycology and mushroom ecology. While it may not be as practical as Stamets intended, it is a foundational text that will help you get started in mushroom cultivation. My only complaint about The Mushroom Cultivator is that it isn’t as practical as Stamets might have intended. For instance, making your own compost to grow hundreds of mushrooms might not be realistic for the millions of people who want to grow mushrooms in the comfort of their own apartments. With that said, it’s a foundational text for anyone wanting to get into mushroom cultivation.
The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms is a great resource for beginners who are growing mushrooms in confined spaces such as apartments. Russell includes mushroom strategies for those of us who might be limited in our resources, such as growing mushrooms on toilet paper rolls, brown rice flower and vermiculite, and mini-bulk mushroom production. Additionally, he also prepares readers for advanced mushroom cultivation.
Though the author dedicates a significant portion of the content to large gourmet outdoor mushroom production, he still includes mushroom strategies for those of us who might be limited in our resources such as growing mushrooms on toilet paper rolls, brown rice flower and vermiculite, and, what I describe as, mini-bulk mushroom production.
Additionally, Stephen also prepares readers, similarly to Stamets, for advanced mushroom cultivation. He talks about laminar flow hoods, using agar to cultivate mycelium and advanced substrate preparation for gourmet and medicinal mushroom cultivation.
Stamets makes the list once again! Stamets makes the list again with his book, Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms. This book is focused on three important topics: the role of mushrooms in nature, generating grain spawn, and growth parameters for 31 different mushroom species.
While these topics may seem a bit advanced for beginners, they will help you understand the mycological systems at play in nature, which can help you replicate those systems at home.
Bonus topics!
1. Role of mushrooms in nature
2. Generating grain spawn
3. Growth parameters for 31 different mushroom species!
Get started growing at home
If you're interested in growing your own mushrooms, you can visit www.happylittlefungi.com to get your own mushroom gardening supplies and accessories. They sell everything from grow kits to capsule machines for your medicinal mushroom supplements, and they offer a ton of free resources as well. With these foundational texts and the right supplies, you'll be on your way to growing delicious and healthy mushrooms in no time!
We sell everything from grow kits ready to capsule machines for your medicinal mushroom supplements and we offer a ton of free resources as well.
