Not a book on mushrooms, but...

[Nonsuch]

Mushrooms on a book. I bought a kit for growing oyster mushrooms which involved soaking a paperback in water and then distributing barley impregnated with spores throughout the pages.

After a couple of weeks the mycelium had grown all over edges of the book. At this stage the book is put in a fridge for a few days to shock the mycelium into producing fruit bodies, and after that things start to get pretty exciting and a little bizarre…..









The final crop was only a few mushrooms, the biggest of which was 10cms across, and the smaller ones seemed to shrivel up as the energy was put into producing the "winners". Another crop can apparently be started by re-chilling the book.

Great fun and no doubt the most use this particular tome has ever been….

NS

[southey]

Fantastic! where did you get the kit from if you don't mind me asking?

OH, and what was the book?

[Nonsuch]

Got the kit from gourmetmushrooms.co.uk and the book is (err…was) Redemption Falls by Joseph O'Connor. Not sure about its literary merits but the mushrooms thought it was great

NS

[Toddy]

Brilliant

How cool is that ?
Himself's just wondered if we could get them to grow on some of the 'recycled' chipped wood compost in the 99p bags ?

Thanks for posting and the link

cheers,
M

[Nice65]

Brilliant! I love fungus. Just split a Poplar log today and seeded it with Oyster mushroom spores then bound it up with string.

It'll sit in the airing cupboard in a clear bag for a month or so and then be partially buried in the garden. Should produce mushrooms in Autumn and Spring.

Gotta try the book thing.

[nigel heffernan]

It looks like a work of art,be a terrible same to eat it lol