Home-Grown Mushrooms from Scratch: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms Outside and Indoors

Great book

Wrth the money.

Good boon, clearly presented easy to take in.

This book has been aimed perfectly at the new or developing mushroom cultivator. It is well laid out, and works in a considered order, from the more accessible outdoor cultivation techniques, through to indoor cultivation and sterile culture. I have been teaching fungi cultivation courses for 10 years now, and have read through most of the available literature on growing. This book has managed to deliver something new, a detailed insight into how to improve and get great results from outdoor cultivation. It looks at aftercare, correct siting, and techniques for improving fruiting of logs and beds using low impact methods and a 'natural' approach. This not covered in detail in other books that I'm aware of, and this is the strength that I feel makes this book shine through. The book has other sections on medicinal uses of fungi, recipes and preserving techniques and a simple, well explained introduction to sterile techniques. I constantly hear from people getting frustrated with the mushroom logs they've had in their garden failing, or waiting for years with nothing happening. If that sounds like you, or if you'd like to start growing fungi outdoors then this book will help you get great results you're after.

My main interest here was in cultivating mushrooms indoors, and you'd assume from the title that half the book is dedicated to this. Not the case -- a single chapter entitled 'Cultivating Mushrooms Indoors', and a sizeable portion of that is on Mushroom Kits -- hardly cultivation 'from scratch'. As well as sections on cultivation in the garden and woodlands, there are sections on medicinal uses, (a lot of) recipes and even marketing advice for the business minded -- all a bit of a stretch for a book with this title. I was hoping for something that helped me navigate the multitude of on-line guides for growing various species of mushroom, and this book failed to deliver.

good reading and interesting

While it's a good introduction to growing mushrooms at home, much of the content won't really be accessible until you have the experience and the means to go beyond something like the grow-at-home kits.

Fairly decent book for the subject matter. More on identification would have been nice (in case you end up with the wrong strain). Biggest drawback is that this is an English book. Here on the West coast, we don't have the same tree species or growing mediums available. Still a worthwhile book for your library on the subject matter.