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Mushroom Growing at Home
Di Roy Genders
Azioni libro
Inizia a leggere- Editore:
- Read Books Ltd.
- Pubblicato:
- Aug 26, 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781473351264
- Formato:
- Libro
Descrizione
Informazioni sul libro
Mushroom Growing at Home
Di Roy Genders
Descrizione
- Editore:
- Read Books Ltd.
- Pubblicato:
- Aug 26, 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781473351264
- Formato:
- Libro
Informazioni sull'autore
Correlati a Mushroom Growing at Home
Anteprima del libro
Mushroom Growing at Home - Roy Genders
LOVELL.
CHAPTER I.
WHY MUSHROOMS?
MUSHROOM BOXES IN THE HOME—CONDITIONS—SUBSTITUTE MANURE—COST OF A BOX OF MUSHROOMS—SUITABLE WORK FOR WOMEN.
During my Television show on Mushroom Growing in the Home
which was given primarily for the ladies, I stressed the point that every household should never be without its box of mushrooms. This may seem quite a revolutionary idea at the present time, but in five years hence a box or bed of growing mushrooms will, I am sure, be as commonplace as hens in the back garden or tomatoes in the greenhouse. Almost everybody loves the mushroom flavour but at the usual retail price of between 6/- and 8/- lb. even a quarter is generally out of the question. And yet, our own household is never without its box of mushrooms, in fact there are always several such boxes in any spare darkened corner and they provide a welcome addition to the table throughout the year and especially from October to May when tomatoes and even that old favourite, the egg, is distinctly difficult to find. Eggs at sixpence each and mushrooms at little more than 6d. quarter! Yes, it sounds ridiculous but it is more than a possibility. In America mushrooms are now consumed by the 100 million lbs. annually. One firm, W. T. Money & Co. Ltd. of British Columbia, alone market almost a million lbs. annually, which means that mushrooms reach the public at the price of tomatoes in England. Across the Atlantic, and even across the English Channel, mushrooms are used in the same copious quantities as are tomatoes, runner beans, and in certain autumns of plenty, even as freely as new potatoes. In the thickly populated British Isles, large commercial growers find it impossible to supply all the mushrooms that are required, let alone produce sufficient to bring down the price to a more economic level. The remedy must therefore be in the hands of the home grower, the housewife, the retired country gentleman, women’s institutes, allotment societies, even in the schools where mushroom growing will be found fascinating, quite easy and light to manage, and profitable if it is required to grow sufficient for resale. This book however, is in no way intended for the commercial grower, advanced technique is set out in my book Mushroom Growing for Profit
(Quality Press), which has been read in almost every country of the world. But even more important than setting aside a few shillings towards the household expenses is the fact that mushrooms at home will provide some very tasty dishes without perhaps a long winter journey to the shops. Especially is this useful during winter and spring when the daily diet is now so restricted and eggs and cheese are none too plentiful. We spend considerable time and money installing a few hens in the backyard or on the allotment and endure much inconvenience in the nature of noise, smells and having to feed them twice a day, 365 days of the year. Why not then try a few indoor mushrooms which will cost only a few shillings to put down, take up only about five square feet of space, generally in a darkened corner which would be used for little else except as a haven for the mop and perhaps an old trunk; neither do they require feeding twice a day! Not only will mushrooms grow anywhere but they are so accommodating that one could leave home for a month and return to find them none the worse. A gentle watering will quickly bring forth the tiny pinhead mushrooms that will soon grow into a tasty meal. There must be a hundred places about the house which are ideal for a box of mushrooms. You may well ask Is there any smell?
There is only one reply Absolutely none,
only possibly a faint mushroomy aroma, most appetising in every way.
Must they be grown in a damp, humid place?
Again, this idea is completely erroneous. Mushrooms detest a too damp and too humid an atmosphere or a wet, stuffy place for as little as a 5 per cent. concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will kill off the tiny mushrooms. They detest draughts, but spawn can withstand many degrees of frost and come to no harm, likewise very high temperatures.
In the arctic winter conditions of 1941/2 the City of Leningrad withstood seige by the German armies chiefly through the vast amount of mushrooms grown, for they are rich in protein, in vitamin B1 and B2 groups, and folic acid, so important to sufferers of anæmia. They like an average room temperature of 55°F., occasional watering when they require it, and they enjoy darkness though this is not essential. Some of the finest mushroom crops I ever saw were growing in huge glasshouses which had the strong sunlight shaded only by whitening the glass with lime. Yes, they are certainly the most accommodating of all crops for they require neither glass, nor light, nor any undue warmth, nor frequent attention, nor a large capital outlay. They give quick results, handsome profits and looking at mushrooms growing is as fascinating a pastime as is watching television. Recent introductions, the results of many years experimenting, have revolutionised mushroom growing, and uncertain crops have vanished. Obviously the most success will be enjoyed by the enthusiast who enters into mushroom growing at home with genuine interest for like all growing crops they will respond to what little extra care may be given them. But mushrooms are temperamental no longer even though they become more expensive and more aloof as the years advance due, of course, to rising costs of labour, composts, building materials and marketing. Like the very occasional dud razor blade or electric light bulb which may be in use for only a few moments and then give up, there may occasionally be the mushroom box or bed which ceases to crop before its due time, but today it is the exception rather than the rule. Modern methods and up-to-date instructions now rule out the old-fashioned ideas of good or bad luck.
So reasonable is the cost of making up a bed or box at home that the first ‘flush’ of mushrooms should see the return of one’s money. Let us look at these costs and returns before we make a start on their cultivation. Those who can obtain horse manure should use this method of composting for no substitute has been found that will equal correctly composted horse manure, though here it must be stated that well composted substitute manure will give better results than incorrectly composted horse manure. For this reason artificial compost may provide a higher average yield for the amateur mushroom grower. There are, of course, other advantages to be enjoyed by using a substitute
compost. The most important to those who live in flats or restricted areas being that it carries absolutely no unpleasant smell. Secondly, it brings with it
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