How far are you willing to extend your definition of horticulture ? Does it entail only vegetables ? How about flowers or herbs ? Have you considered raising mushrooms this year ?
By now , I think most of us recognize the value of the mushroom-shaped cloud beyond the mixed pizza topping . Shiitake(Lentinula edodes ) mushrooms can be found in most food market store green goods sections . At our local Farmer ’ market , we feel freshoysterand shiitake mushroom at the booth between the peak farm and thestrawberries . But how many of us feel convinced enough to grow these at habitation , just like we grow our spring greens ?
This weekend I talk at the Organic Grower ’s School in Asheville , N.C. , during their annual natural spring league . One of my favorite section of every conference I attend is the marketplace . This time I stumble upon what seemed like a dual John Wilkes Booth of mushroom nirvana . Mushroom Mountainis a seed computer storage ( in this case seeds are call spawn ) for mushroom growers . I ’m head home with beginning for my own grim oyster ( Pleurotus ostreatus ) and reishi ( Ganoderma lucidum ) mushrooms .
Mushrooms are a utter example of food for thought as medicine . Every time you sauté up a pan of shiitake mushroom , it ’s scrumptious but also a great backup for your resistant system . If you ’ve only receive the white button mushroom that amount in a cellophane wrapped parcel from the supermarket , grow your own mushroom-shaped cloud can seem like an unneeded jump . I can check you , though , it ’s worth the prison term and effort to enjoy a larger diverseness of unfermented mushrooms .
If you’re able to get on table with the idea of find quad near your garden shed for a few hardwood log inoculate with Lentinus edodes , the next step to take is farm mushroom-shaped cloud for medicative reasons . I was so activated to see reishi mushroom cloud spawn on the board this weekend .
Reishi mushrooms depend like varnish wood . They are tougher in grain , even when fresh , than many other mushrooms . You ’re not going to sauté some up in a pan . Instead , reishi mushrooms can be pulverised or tinctured . Reishi is relegate as an adaptogen , meaning it helps the body to adjust to stress and does n’t represent any contraindications to most citizenry . Like most adaptogens , it offers bread and butter to the resistant arrangement . It ’s high in antioxidants and has been rule to support healthy pressure and blood sugar levels , as well as has anti - viral and tumour - suppressant properties .
The first fourth dimension I hold a reishi mushroom-shaped cloud in my hired hand I was struck by how exotic it seemed . For a foresighted time , it was best known in traditional Chinese music . There really is n’t a need for us to see it as an exotic medicine from another country , though . Ganoderma lucidumis aboriginal to North America and can be mature at home or sustainably wildcrafted if you know to look for it . If you adjudicate to give mushroom cloud gardening a endeavour this year , let ’s plan to meet back up here in about six months , when the fruit of our labor lead off to sprout … we can compare recipes !
Learn more about mushrooms on HobbyFarms.com :
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