Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation

Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation

by Tradd Cotter
Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation

Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation

by Tradd Cotter

Paperback

$39.95 
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Overview

An in-depth exploration of organic mushroom cultivation practices, groundbreaking research and myriad ways to incorporate mushrooms into your life

"A clear, comprehensive guide that is a gift to amateur as well as professional mushroom growers. This book opens the doors wide to a diverse and fascinating fungal world."—Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia’s Garden

What would it take to grow mushrooms in space? How can mushroom cultivation help us manage, or at least make use of, invasive species such as kudzu and water hyacinth and thereby reduce dependence on herbicides? Is it possible to develop a low-cost and easy-to-implement mushroom-growing kit that would provide high-quality edible protein and bioremediation in the wake of a natural disaster? How can we advance our understanding of morel cultivation so that growers stand a better chance of success? 

For more than twenty years, mycology expert Tradd Cotter has been pondering these questions and conducting trials in search of the answers. In Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation, Cotter not only offers readers an in-depth exploration of best organic mushroom cultivation practices; he shares the results of his groundbreaking research and offers myriad ways to apply your cultivation skills and further incorporate mushrooms into your life―whether your goal is to help your community clean up industrial pollution or simply to settle down at the end of the day with a cold Reishi-infused homebrew ale. 

Inside, you’ll find:

  • The Fundamentals of Mushroom Cultivation
  • Innovative Applications and Projects Using Fungi
  • Basic Laboratory Construction, Equipment, and Procedures
  • Starting Cultures and Spawn Generation
  • Detailed descriptions of over 25 different genus

The book first guides readers through an in-depth exploration of indoor and outdoor cultivation. Covered skills range from integrating wood-chip beds spawned with king stropharia into your garden and building a “trenched raft” of hardwood logs plugged with shiitake spawn to producing oysters indoors on spent coffee grounds in a 4×4 space or on pasteurized sawdust in vertical plastic columns. For those who aspire to the self-sufficiency gained by generating and expanding spawn rather than purchasing it, Cotter offers in-depth coverage of lab techniques, including low-cost alternatives that make use of existing infrastructure and materials. 

Cotter also reports his groundbreaking research cultivating morels both indoors and out, “training” mycelium to respond to specific contaminants, and perpetuating spawn on cardboard without the use of electricity. Readers will discover information on making tinctures, powders, and mushroom-infused honey; making an antibacterial mushroom cutting board; and growing mushrooms on your old denim jeans.

Geared toward readers who want to grow mushrooms without the use of pesticides, Cotter takes “organic” one step further by introducing an entirely new way of thinking―one that looks at the potential to grow mushrooms on just about anything, just about anywhere, and by anyone.

"This comprehensive introduction to growing and utilizing fungi has something for all mushroom-inclined readers . . . . Both practical and passionate, Cotter offers extensive and detailed information.”Publishers Weekly


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781603584555
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Publication date: 08/18/2014
Pages: 400
Sales rank: 286,107
Product dimensions: 7.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Tradd Cotter is a microbiologist, professional mycologist, and organic gardener, who has been tissue culturing, collecting native fungi in the Southeast, and cultivating both commercially and experimentally for more than twenty-two years. In 1996 he founded Mushroom Mountain, which he owns and operates with his wife, Olga, to explore applications for mushrooms in various industries and currently maintains over 200 species of fungi for food production, mycoremediation of environmental pollutants, and natural alternatives to chemical pesticides. His primary interest is in low-tech and no-tech cultivation strategies so that anyone can grow mushrooms on just about anything, anywhere in the world. Mushroom Mountain is currently expanding to 42,000 square feet of laboratory and research space near Greenville, South Carolina, to accommodate commercial production, as well as mycoremediation projects. Tradd, Olga, and their daughter, Heidi, live in Liberty, South Carolina.

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

Part I The Fundamentals of Mushroom Cultivation

1 The Ecology and Life Cycle of Cultivated Mushrooms 1

2 The Seven Basic Stages of Mushroom Cultivation 13

3 Choosing a Mushroom to Cultivate 31

4 Choosing, Handling, and Storing Spawn 37

5 Cultivating Mushrooms Outdoors on Logs, Stumps, and Wood Chips 45

6 Cultivating Mushrooms on Compost and Livestock Waste 59

7 Cultivating Mushrooms on Pasteurized or Sterilized Media 65

8 Cropping Containers 73

9 Natural Pest Control and Disease Management 83

Part II Mushrooms for Life: Innovative Applications and Projects Using Fungi

10 Recycling, Composting, and Vermicomposting with Mushrooms 95

11 Urban Mushroom Cultivation 105

12 Shroomin' Off the Grid 111

13 Mushroom Products and Cutting-Edge Applications 123

14 Mushroom-Infused Beer, Wine, and Spirits 137

15 Mushroom Marketing 145

16 Fungi in the Classroom 151

Part III Advanced Techniques and Research

17 Basic Laboratory Construction, Equipment, and Procedures 165

18 Starting Cultures and Spawn Generation 177

19 Storing Your Cultures 195

20 Advanced Cultivation and Research Strategies 199

21 Morel Cultivation: Research Update 211

22 Introduction to Mycoremediation 229

Part IV Meet the Cultivated Mushrooms

The Genus Agaricus (white button, portabella, and relatives) 251

The Genus Agrocybe (black poplar) 257

The Genus Auricularia (wood ear) 261

The Genus Clitocybe (blewit) 265

The Genus Coprinus (shaggy mane) 269

The Genus Fistulina (beefsteak) 273

The Genus Flammulina (enoki, velvet foot) 277

The Genera Fomes, Fomitopsis, and Laricifomes (amadou and related conks) 281

The Genus Ganoderma (reishi and other varnished polypores) 285

The Genus Grifola (maitake, hen of the woods) 289

The Genus Hericium (lion's mane, pom-poms) 293

The Genus Hypholoma (brick top) 297

The Genus Hypsizygus (elm oyster, shimeji) 301

The Genus Laetiporus (chicken of the woods) 305

The Genus Lentinula (shiitake) 309

The Genera Macrocybe and Calocybe (giant macrocybe, giant milky) 315

The Genera Macrolepiota and Lepiota (parasol) 319

The Genus Pholiota (nameko) 323

The Genus Piptoporus (birch polypore) 327

The Genus Pleurotus (oyster mushrooms) 329

The Genus Sparassis (cauliflower) 339

The Genus Stropharia (king stropharia, garden giant, wine cap) 343

The Genus Trametes (turkey tail) 349

The Genus Volvasiella (paddy straw) 353

Acknowledgments 357

Glossary 359

Bibliography 363

Resources and Suppliers 367

Index 369

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