Summer mushrooms: growing features
As a rule, by the word "honey mushrooms" we mean an autumn mushroom, which is called a real mushroom or autumn mushroom. Any novice mushroom picker knows how, where and when to look for it. Summer mushrooms are known a little less, but they are still very popular even among beginner mushroom pickers.
The summer honey agaric is a good edible mushroom belonging to the Strophariaceae family. Thus, it is in a rather distant relationship with the autumn honey agaric, which belongs to the family of Physalacrian mushrooms. However, higher in the classification, they already belong to the same biological groups.
As you can see in the photo, summer mushrooms in general have much in common with the appearance of their autumn "cousin". The diameter of the cap is from 3 to 6 cm. While the fruiting body is young, the shape of the cap is convex, but as it ages, it acquires a flat shape with a clearly visible wide tubercle in the center.
The color of the hat in rainy weather is brown, in clear weather it is dull honey. The edges of the cap are often several tones darker than the central part. Distinct grooves are clearly visible along the edges of the cap. The skin is always smooth and slightly slimy.
On the underside of the cap there are many thin plates, adherent or slightly descending. In young mushrooms they are light, in old ones they are darker.
The height of the stem rarely exceeds 7 cm with an average diameter of about half a centimeter. The leg is quite dense, although not rigid. Closer to the top, it is lighter than the cap, below it is darker. Below the level of the ring on the stem, small dark scales are often clearly visible.
In the description of summer mushrooms, it is also indicated that while the mushroom is young, the remnants of the bedspread in the form of a thin membranous ring are almost always clearly visible on the stem. However, mature and old mushrooms, as a rule, no longer have it. There are no remains of the bedspread on the hat at all.
The flesh in the cap is very thin and rather watery. Color pale yellow-brown. The flesh in the stem is always slightly darker and rougher. The taste is soft and pleasant, often with a subtle aroma of fresh wood.
The summer mushroom, like its autumn relative, grows in dense groups on dead, decaying wood, less often on diseased, but still living trees. It is found everywhere on hardwood, but in mountainous areas it can also settle on spruces. The fungus is ubiquitous in deciduous and mixed forests of the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. At the same time, in arid regions, its population is an order of magnitude smaller than in humid ones.
Summer mushrooms grow throughout the warm season, that is, from April to November. In regions with mild winters, for example, in coastal areas, they can grow year-round.
Summer honey agaric and its dangerous counterpart
For an inexperienced mushroom picker, a problem may arise in distinguishing the summer mushroom from the dangerous poisonous mushroom of the bordered galerina. Galerina is a fairly close relative of the summer honey agaric, so difficulties in distinguishing them are indeed possible.
Galerina is also widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, including Europe and northern Asia. Like honey mushrooms, it grows on rotting wood, but prefers conifers over deciduous trees. The fungus is extremely poisonous and, in terms of the toxins it contains, is similar to the main killer mushroom in Russia - pale grebe. The use of galerina in food causes severe liver damage, even death. Signs of poisoning are classic: vomiting, diarrhea, hypothermia.
Now about how to distinguish summer mushrooms from false, that is, from the gallery. The mushroom picker must always remember that the gallery:
- grows on softwood, not hardwood;
- in its bulk, it is slightly smaller in size;
- on the lower part of the leg, it lacks scales characteristic of mushrooms.
The differences are most difficult to notice on old mushrooms, so experienced mushroom pickers strongly recommend collecting only young mushrooms, whose species are much easier to establish.
Summer mushrooms are considered good edible mushrooms that are edible even when raw. They are classified as the fourth category, that is, in terms of their nutritional characteristics, they are close to oyster mushrooms, rows
and raincoats. In the domestic literature, it is noted that the best taste qualities of summer mushrooms are manifested in boiled and lightly salted form. But most mushroom pickers willingly use other types of processing, including frying. In other words, there is not much difference how to cook summer mushrooms - it will always be delicious.
As with most wood-growing mushrooms, the cap is the tastiest and most tender part of the fruiting body, while the stalk is much stiffer and more fibrous. Young mushrooms are usually eaten whole, while the stems of older mushrooms are often discarded. However, this approach is wasteful, because the legs can be twisted in a meat grinder and make an excellent mushroom sauce for meat and other dishes.
Summer and autumn mushrooms are rich in vitamins, amino acids, proteins and trace elements. Mushrooms also have a reputation as a natural antiseptic, equal in strength to garlic and even pharmaceutical antibiotics.
Regular consumption of summer mushrooms helps prevent cardiovascular diseases, liver pathologies, and even cancer.
Growing summer mushrooms at home
While in Russia, summer mushrooms come to the table almost exclusively from the forest, in some European countries this mushroom is grown on an industrial scale. In our country, entrepreneurs do not grow mushrooms due to the fact that this mushroom deteriorates too quickly and is not as convenient for commercial cultivation as tasteless against the background of honey mushrooms, but long-stored champignons.
Fortunately, the Internet has given us a lot of opportunities to exchange ideas and goods, so today anyone can purchase honey agaric mycelium in specialized online stores. Well, in some large cities, the mycelium can also be bought in a regular offline store selling seeds and seedlings of cultivated plants.
On sale you can find mycelium in different "packaging" - both in the form of grain infected with mycelium, and in the form of infected wooden sticks. If, for some reason, you cannot purchase ready-made mycelium, then you can always use spores of mushrooms personally collected in the forest.
If after clearing the garden you have a few stumps, then it is not at all necessary to uproot them. They can be an excellent "bed" for growing summer mushrooms. Of course, stumps of wild trees - aspen, alder or birch - are better suited for these purposes. But, given that we are talking about garden trees, you can try to do this number with apple or pear trees. By the way, if your site is located next to a grove or even a forest, then you can try to plant edible summer mushrooms there.
Planting, or rather inoculation (a term more suitable for mushrooms), occurs by introducing pieces of wood (sold in stores) infected with mycelium into holes previously drilled in the stumps. These holes with a diameter of not more than a centimeter are made both on the side surface of the stump and on the cut. The introduced mycelium is sealed with moss, and it is desirable to cover the stump itself with branches for a while. Also, if possible, the ground around the stump should be moistened from time to time.
The inoculation procedure is best done in autumn or spring. The first harvest should be expected in the next or second year after planting. Fruiting, depending on the size of the stump and the type of tree, lasts from 4 to 7 years.
In fact, this method is fundamentally no different from the above. However, it is convenient because your "bed" is not tied to a specific point on the ground and you can grow mushrooms anywhere on your site that you consider convenient for these purposes. In addition, having the ability to move the chocks indoors, you will also be able to better control the time when to collect summer mushrooms.
Chocks of deciduous trees (preferably birch) are chosen for inoculation. Moreover, it is strongly recommended to take freshly sawn trees, since it will be much more difficult to grow a mycelium in dried wood.
You can choose the size of the chocks yourself, as you like. The main thing is that they should be no less than 15 cm in diameter and 25 cm long. The inoculation procedure takes place exactly according to the same scheme as on the stumps. However, after the mycelium has been introduced into the chocks, it is advisable to place them for 3-4 months in a dark, cool (15-20 degrees) room with good air humidity (about 85%). For these purposes, a basement or cellar is perfect. Under such conditions, the chances that the mycelium will take root are significantly increased.
When summer mushrooms grow, they need a lot of water, so it is recommended to cover the chocks stacked in the basement with reeds or reeds to maintain moisture, and if there is insufficient humidity in the room, it is recommended to water the floor around the chocks from time to time. At the same time, it is very important to monitor the temperature of the room and the chocks themselves, preventing them from heating above 30 degrees. At high temperatures, the mycelium may die.
It is best to start all these works in the fall, in order to move the chocks to the garden at the end of March - beginning of April. The scheme of their location can be any, the main thing is that they are not closer than 30 cm from each other. Chocks themselves need to be buried in a vertical position, deepening 10 - 12 cm into the ground.
It is very important that the mushroom bed in the garden is constantly in the shade and in no case falls under the direct rays of the sun, which will simply dry the chocks along with the mycelium. And even in the shade, the chocks still need to be protected from drying out, constantly moistening the soil around them.
The optimum temperature at which honey agaric and its mycelium grows is 18 - 25 degrees with an air humidity of at least 80%. If all conditions are met, the first harvest should be expected within 3 - 4 months after inoculation. That is, in the beginning - the middle of summer. Fruiting lasts an average of 3-4 years, and then the chocks are depleted. You can extend this period by using logs of a larger size and diameter.
By the way, a kind of special case of this method is the instillation of large logs inoculated with mycelium not in a vertical, but in a horizontal position. Dropping is performed at half the diameter of the log. For the rest, everything is exactly the same.
It is important to note that summer and autumn mushrooms spread their mycelium beyond the wood over time, drawing nutrients from the adjacent soil. For this reason, after a few years the chocks / logs are completely depleted, a new batch should be dug in another place, or the topsoil should be completely replaced.
Despite the simplicity of growing mushrooms on stumps and chocks, this method, unfortunately, is completely unsuitable for the south and central Russia, since the summer in these regions is too hot and such mushrooms simply cannot survive outside the forest biome. Fortunately, there is an alternative method that allows you to grow summer mushrooms in any region and all year round. We're talking about greenhouses.
To grow mushrooms, instead of solid wooden chocks or logs, sawdust is used, which is mixed with small chips in a ratio of 2 to 1. To increase the nutritional value of the substrate, 7.5 g of starch and 25 g of corn and oatmeal are also added per 1 kg of this mixture. First, sawdust with chips is briefly scalded in boiling water, and only then mixed with the indicated additives. The resulting mixture is sent to glass jars, flower pots or other suitable container, which must also be sterilized beforehand. Mycelium is introduced into the cooled substrate in the form of inoculated grains or sticks.
Then the container with the substrate and mycelium for 1 - 3 months is sent to a cool (15 - 18 degrees) humid (85%) room. Lighting is not required. After the specified period, the jars are transferred to a lighted room with the same temperature and slightly drier air (75%). When the summer mushrooms go, it will be possible to collect several waves of the harvest, but in this case there is no need to talk about several years of fruiting. At the end of the season, the containers must be filled with fresh substrate.