FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

This is pretty cool, and you get some pretty quick results. Mushrooms! If you look around you can find these kits for as little as $10, and you can grow many times that in the kit vs what it would cost to buy them. Plus, they don't tell you this, but after it seems that the kit is spent, you crumble the sawdust spawn up and insert handfuls into a soaked bale of straw. The mycelium can continue to spread and likely produce many more mushrooms.

Meh. Too much hassle. I just go down the road to a cow pasture and pick all that I want...those pesky purple flying chihuahuas that come around after eating them can be aggravating, though.

Blue oysters? Nice harvest ChefDean.

We've done a couple of these kits over the years, but are spoiled these days with some very talented fungus growers at our farmer's market.

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Tue Jul 11, 2023 1:56 pm Meh. Too much hassle. I just go down the road to a cow pasture and pick all that I want...those pesky purple flying chihuahuas that come around after eating them can be aggravating, though.

Yeah, knowing what you're harvesting is kinda key to long term survival. However, I hear the ones that look like they have snowflakes on a red cap make it so you can smell sound and hear colors.

madrone wrote:Blue oysters? Nice harvest ChefDean.

We've done a couple of these kits over the years, but are spoiled these days with some very talented fungus growers at our farmer's market.

I know of a couple around here, one even said she'd sell me some grain spawn for different, easy to grow species. Maybe it's time to take her up on her offer.

My daughter law is growing Psilocybin mushrooms. Legal here to grow not sell. She sells the inoculated media which is legal.

My coworker wants me to grow those too. But, if I can't cook them into a stir-fry or a Cacciatore, I'll pass.

Now morels! That would be da bomb! Haven’t had those in ages. Used to find them as a kid in the woods behind my folks’ house.

Part of my neighborhood is a 27 acre greenspace, and we've found morels there before. But it's tough tromping through the ticks and copperheads.
Sautéed in butter and white wine, a little salt and pepper... The morels, not the ticks. The copperheads get cooked up with peppers, onions, and BBQ sauce.

ChefDean wrote: ↑Wed Jul 12, 2023 1:18 am But it's tough tromping through the ticks and copperheads.

Don't forget the chiggers (harvest mites/berry bugs/bush-mites/red bugs/scrub-itch mites)! They certainly won't forget you.

A few weeks ago, I spotted some grow-your-own-mushroom kits in a Lowe's garden center. There were mushrooms bursting out of the boxes.

I found Chantrelles growing in my backyard yesterday. This is about 1/3 of them.

Panman wrote: ↑Wed Jul 12, 2023 1:01 pm I found Chantrelles growing in my backyard yesterday. This is about 1/3 of them.

I've seen a lot of these around...just haven't gotten the confidence to eat them yet. Years ago an acquaintance that grew up in "the hills of north Alabama" pointed out some these or the ones that look similar but are smaller (just read about the little ones)...that was the day I rode the back of a turkey vulture all afternoon...you can see all kinds of things from up there but I had to bail out before the vulture headed for dinner. . Slight tangent, sorry. Anyhow, the ones we ate (just pulled them up and tasted them) were probably 1-1/2" to less than 2" tall, bright orange, and with a peppery taste. About the only things I eat mushrooms in are beef sauces, omletes, stir-fries, etc.,. I've never really prepared a "mushroom dish". These sound interesting...even has me off looking at what other 'shrooms grow around here. I think I mowed a small stand of the Chantrelles down yesterday in my mad "get it mowed before it rains again" lawn mowing....beneath an old pecan tree. Hmmm,....I've got plenty of places to hunt around here and *everything* is soggy.

Panman wrote:I found Chantrelles growing in my backyard yesterday. This is about 1/3 of them.

Whoa - we don't see these in our zone until the first big fall rains - Oct/Nov. Lucky you! Love chanterelles. Last year was abysmal because we went from hot/dry summer to one deluge and almost immediate frost. Not good for a chantie harvest. Fingers crossed this year is better!!

Ok, seems we have some shroom gatherers here. How 'bout a couple of tasty recipes?

Other than obvious edibles like morels, I’m too ignorant to trust myself with regards to identifying nonpoisonous wild mushrooms.