Mushroom Production Resources

Mushroom Production Resources – Here you will learn how to grow gourmet edible mushrooms including shiitake and oyster on your small farm or at home for profit or personal use, on logs or on blocks.

I’ve been planning for some time to add a Mushroom Production Resources Page to Beginning Farmers. Gourmet mushrooms are a high value crop which can be a great addition to a diversified farming operation, especially if they are lucky enough to be situated on land with a decent parcel of hardwood forest (for log production), or willing to invest in the equipment necessary for more intensive cultivation. Enjoy these great mushroom production resources…

Wild harvesting mushrooms can also be a lot of fun, and fairly lucrative, if you know where to go and when, and can find a buyer. Many gourmet restaurants are thrilled to get wild-harvested mushrooms, so it’s worth trying to make these connections. I have done this with both morel’s and hen of the woods (see pictures below). But make sure you know what you’re doing if you’re going to hunt (for more information see below). Also anyone interested in this topic should check out Paul Stamets on 6 ways mushrooms can save the world.



My favorite source for gourmet mushroom inoculum and production equipment is Field and Forest Products. They are easy to deal with, and their stuff is always high quality and their prices are very competitive and reasonable. Their site also has plenty of useful production information.

Fungi Perfecti has long been considered the gold standard for mushroom products, publications, high quality spawn, mushroom production resources, and seminars. Paul Stamets is a true pioneer in the field, and continues to produce first rate research on bioremediation, eco-mycology, and theoretical interpretations of fungal behavior. His now classic books, The Mushroom Cultivator, and Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms are unparalleled texts for learning to produce multiple species of mushrooms in a variety of growing systems, at almost any scale. If you buy only two books on mushroom production, it should be these. Also check out Paul Stamets YouTube Channel.

There is a good 86 page publication on Small Scale Mushroom Cultivation available.

Alabama Cooperative Extension has a basic Shiitake Mushroom publication available online. And another Shiitake Log Production Publication, which I actually like better, is available from the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry.

The University of California Small Farm Program offers a very nice overview of the potential for mushroom production on small farms in their online publication Mushrooms: A Small Scale Agriculture alternative.

The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA) offers comprehensive information on mushroom production and sales in their Mushroom Cultivation and Marketing publication. Lots of great mushroom production resources here.

GardenGuides.com has a nice information page on Low Cost Mushroom Production at Home.shiitake

University of Maryland Extension has a web publication and cost spreadsheet on Shiitake Mushroom Production and Marketing.

HotFrog has a Mushroom Products  and Production Directory which lists companies who sell supplies, and farms that produce edible mushrooms.

Gourmet Mushrooms and Mushroom Products has mushroom growing kits, spawn, books, and other supplies.

Shroomery has loads of information about the production of magic mushroom species.

LARGE SCALE MUSHROOM PRODUCTION RESOURCES

The Mushroom Council offers excellent research and production information for mushroom growers. Their website is full of mushroom production resources including retail info.; industry statistics; news items, and much more.

A Reference for Mushroom Growers from Penn State University is a site that provides current information about the diseases and pests that plague the mushroom growing industry. Information here is geared specifically toward commercial growers of button mushrooms. Information on new trends and developments in the industry is also included.

The Mushroom Growers Newsletter has a great website with lots of production resources, a supplier list, an events list, book reviews, and more. Mainly geared toward production scale growers.

MYCOLOGY RESOURCES

I strongly recommend that anyone interested in mushroom production at any level, and especially about collecting mushrooms in the wild, will need to learn some basic Mycology. Here are some good websites that can help you with that:

MycoWeb: https://www.mykoweb.com/ Lots of great scientific information, pictures, recipes, articles, links, and much more and much more…

Tom Volk’s Fungi Page: https://www.tomvolkfungi.net/ This page is a comprehensive and information packed source for all things related to fungi. Fantastic information, pictures, links, articles, and more…

FungiPhoto.com: https://www.fungiphoto.com/ Lots of great pictures by genera.

Fungi of Saskatchewan https://www.usask.ca/biology/fungi/home_%20page.shtml has good keys, a list of fungi with photos, and lots of other resources for hunting mushrooms.

Mushroom Hunting Books

The books with the best dichotomous keys are the first two:

Mushrooms Demystified written by David Arora, 10 Speed Press.: Not a lot of pictures, but this one has the best keys, and serious mushroom hunters consider it ‘the bible’. $32.95

Mushrooms of North Eastern North America written by Alan Bessette, Arleen Bessette, and David Fischer, Syracuse University Press. Great Keys, and lots of color pictures. $49.95

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms by Gary H. Lincoff, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Great pictures with short descriptions, but doesn’t include Latin names or keys. Small enough to easily take on a foray. $20.95

All the Rain Promises and More is also written By David Arora, and published by 10 Speed Press. It is a nice pocket guide, easy to carry, with good pictures and lots of fun stuff. A joy to read. $17.95

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