Resources for Mushroom Growers
Background Information
Information about mushrooms in general, how they grow in nature, the history of mushroom cultivation, commercial opportunities with mushroom cultivation and short summaries on how to cultivate various species.
- NEW! Mushroom Cultivation Manual for the Small Mushroom Entrepreneur. This publication comes from EkoFungi of Belgrade, Serbia, (February 2017) includes chapters written by several experts. It covers opportunities in mushroom cultivation, medicinal properties of mushrooms, compost production for Agaricus, basic processes for mushroom cultivation and more.
- NEW! Mushroom Cultivation for People with Disabilites. This publication comes from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2001). The manual is intended as a training and information tool for government and non-government trainers and extension workers on the subject of income generation for people with disabilities through mushroom production. The training manual is divided into two main parts. The first describes each phase of the training process, and the second gives a detailed and illustrated hands-on description of every task involved in mushroom production. Pictures in the manual show disabled trainees and trainers in action at the center and on their own farm.
- Professor Shu-Ting Chang, Emeritus Professor of Biology of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, produced a great book for the United Nations. It offers an overview of the mushroom industry, mushroom biology, and cultivation technology. Click the title to download the full, 65-page book: Training Manual on Mushroom Cultivation Technology
- Forward thinking growers are also interested in wild mushrooms. They are often on the hunt for new strains to cultivate. Walt Sturgeon is an amateur mycologist from Ohio. He has set up a free service for researchers that may also be helpful to growers. It is called Mushroom Observer. When I last looked, the website had almost 300,000 recorded sightings of every species imaginable with several more being entered every day. You can search by date, by species and many other ways.
- For some deep knowledge try Bryce Kendrick's website. There you will find over 800 fungi photos and several chapters from his book The Fifth Kingdom.
- The North American Mycological Association has developed several slide shows their member clubs use to learn about wild mushrooms. Some are now available on the web. This information will help answer your questions and the questions of your customers. It will also help you learn more about the way mushrooms grow in nature so that you can better understand how they grow on your farm. Choose a program from the list at educational_programs.php.
- USDA's Office for Small-Scale Agriculture: A Small Scale Agricultural Alternative: Specialty Mushrooms
- The USDA released a book entitled Profitable Farms and Woodlands - A Practical Guide in Agroforestry for Landowners, Farmers and Ranchers in July of 2012. It provides an overview of a variety of crops (including mushrooms) and management practices that will help farmers expand their production into new areas.
- Terri Marie Beausejour, past-president of the Mycological Society of San Francisco and past chair of the society's Cultivation Committee: [Mushrooms in the Garden] [Creating a Mushroom Demonstration Garden]
- Mo-mei Chen, Visiting Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Berkeley: Mushrooms: A Fine Agricultural Crop
- Diana L. Meredith, freelance writer from Berkeley, California: Riding the Mushroom Boom
- University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry: Specialty Mushrooms in Agroforestry
- Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas: Mushroom Cultivation and Marketing (PDF - 2,240K)
- David M. Beyer, Associate Professor - Mushroom Extension Specialist, Mushroom Science and Technology, Department of Plant Pathology, Pennsylvania State University: Glossary of Commonly Used Terms for Mushroom Farming (PDF - 34K)
- Health Canada: Safe Handling of Mushrooms
- The Mushroom Council: 2017 Mushroom Sustainability Story
This page was last modified on: December 01 2019.
