growing mushrooms (agricarus - white button caps)

Hi. Is anyone familiar with growing the white button cap mushrooms (the kind you find in the grocery store)? I really would like to try my hand at it but, to date, have been told that its' too expensive a field to get into and/or it requires a sterilized and sanitzed growing area? I always thought that mushrooms grew in manure/horse or cow compost?
Thank you.

Try this, and it has sources for mushrooms.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2004-10-01/Grow-your-own-Mushrooms.aspx

Here's a good explanation of how to grow mushrooms outdoors on hardwood logs. Scroll down to the bottom of the page.
http://www.gmushrooms.com/Plugs/index.htm

This site has a larger selection of spawn:
http://everythingmushrooms.com/shop/mushroom-plug-spawn-c-11.html

Apparently, white button mushrooms don't grow on logs, but in specially prepared compost at room temperature. You could try a kit as a starter and then learn how to make your own growing area on a shelf or in a closet and buy the culture. Last year for Christmas I bought a portobello kit for my son. He loved it. This is the place I bought it from:
http://www.mushroomadventures.com/whitebutton.html

Karen

A fellow I used to work with grew exotic mushrooms for the restaurants. He used both a cave and logs standing in tepee formation out in the woods. He said that there was "good money" in it and that it was easy to do if you were used to paying attention to the weather.

The White Button mushrooms you are seeking out are indeed grown in special mushroom beds, in a dark seller would suit fine or cool shed etc.

When I was a child my grandfather used to grow them and he prepared the beds very carefully by first laying down a bed of horse manure, then a layer of home made compost, then another layer of horse manure, each time he added a layer, this was covered with an old feather quilt to keep the heat into the manure/soil etc, once a certain temp was reached he poured all over this hot bed, the spores of the mushrooms (he sent off to the large market garden places for the jar of spores, after this he covered the spores with a thinner layer of horse manure, you then had to keep all daylight out from this hot bed and a few weeks later, the tiny button mushrooms started to pop up slowly at first, you dont pull these out, you have to cut the buttons so as never disturb the rest that are still forming under the soil/manure. after a hole season of gathering the bed was depleted and the following year he started all over again, the old decayed compost/manure was then used in the garden beds/veg etc, you got the odd button pop up but that was all.
now-a-days, you can buy a kit for growing these button mushrooms on a much smaller scale and everything you need comes in the pack with full instructions, over here the packs come in a polystyrene box which keeps the temp up, the soil and spores are included, but they still require a dark area to form the buttons.
I dont know where you will get them in your area but there will be suppliers around, so maybe try mushroom growing kits, mushroom producers etc and see if you get anything.
These mushrooms wont grow on logs etc and are different from the wild mushrooms we find in woodlands, they need special soil and growing conditions, but like all mushrooms, the reproduce from spores unlike most other plants which grow from seeds, they are a fungus, most are edible some are very toxic to humans so be aware when gathering wild mushrooms to get a book etc to learn what ones are edible.
Good luck. hope you find a supplier as it is great fun to watch and do.
WeeNel.

BTW, that fellow I used to work with that did this quit working with us after he started making more money at it. He sold fresh to the restaurants and grocers, he dried what he couldn't sell and packaged that up for the grocers.
This could be a well paying hobby for you too.

WeeNel,

Thanks for the info on your father's mushroom growing experiences. I did not think it was quite as complicated as EggFarmer has been led to believe with the admonitions of special sterilized soil and such. I suspect those were instructions for a commercial operation where you would want to get the optimum harvest for the space.

On wild mushrooms, I take the advice of my college professor from years ago, who had a doctorate in botany, "Buy your mushrooms at the store. That's where I get mine." Today, I would also include buying the spawn from a commercial source as well. All wild mushrooms are safe from me. LOL.

JuneyBug,

I agree that growing mushrooms could, indeed, be a very lucrative hobby. It's also not very difficult nor very expensive if you create your own growing areas. The kits are rather expensive, but they are fun and make a good Christmas gift.

Karen

OOOooops I have been away tending my chickens. THANK YOU ever so much WeeNel for your input, and also both JuneyBug and glendalekid. I do appreciate the info. I have done a little more research and, it appears, I can purchase a lot of the equipment (growing trays, auto-enclave and used steamer) for probably around ten thousand dollars. Now I just need to make sure I have the resolve to follow through.
I wonder if I can use chicken manure and substitute that for the horse manure? I am blessed in having lots of chickens.

EggFarmer,

I would think the chicken manure would be fine. Start small and work up, would be my advice.

This is a good article: http://www.mycomasters.com/Basics.html

Check this out as you may not need all that equipment: http://www.mycomasters.com/index.html

Here's the ordering info for his books: http://www.mycomasters.com/OrderingUS.html Might be worth the $62.50.

Karen

glendale kid.....thanks Karen - those links were awfully interesting. I will keep you updated on the mushroom venture...I have always wanted to 'get into it' and this methinks it is time to take the plunge!
Chris

I used to live in an area that had a lot of commercial mushroom farms, Kennet Square, PA. Every September they hold a mushroom festival where you can take a tour of the mushroom farms and it was very interesting. Mushroom growing can be pretty labor intensive (and the compost smell is disgusting when it is being sterilized!) but there is nothing like eating a fresh button mushroom, it is so buttery tasting!

The reason for sterilizing the compost is to kill off any wild mushroom spores that might come in on your clothes or shoes, since they are carried on the air and will settle on the compost. It pays to be cautious because people will sue you at the drop of a hat if you sell them something that may make them sick.

EggFarmer,

Do keep us updated. Just start small and work up to big. LOL. It was interesting to find out that his method is being used in many countries by commercial growers.

Karen

Thanks for the superb input everyone and, yes, DragonFly53 I hear your caution about the lawsuits - - everyone appears to be so quick to do so these days. Anyway, I operate a small poultry farm here in northern California where I raise fresh eggs for sale at Farmers Markets and a couple of smaller stores. I had been pondering about what to do with my various mounds of used hay/straw bedding. I had already composted much of it and given it away by the pickup load (but there is only so much that Chuch members can haul away) and I didn't want it to become a nuisance (smell) for the other homesteads and farms in the area...that's when the idea of, perhaps, growing mushrooms popped up.
Since my last posting I have purchased a hundred or so tray beds and am now on the lookout for some kind of machine that will produce steam (for the sterilizing of the growing medium). I will keep you all posted and, again THANK YOU for the words of encouragement.
Chris