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Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms Paperback – October 25, 2000
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“Absolutely the best book in the world on how to grow diverse and delicious mushrooms.”—David Arora, author of Mushrooms Demystified
With precise growth parameters for thirty-one mushroom species, this bible of mushroom cultivation includes gardening tips, state-of-the-art production techniques, realistic advice for laboratory and growing room construction, tasty mushroom recipes, and an invaluable troubleshooting guide.
More than 500 photographs, illustrations, and charts clearly identify each stage of cultivation, and a twenty-four-page color insert spotlights the intense beauty of various mushroom species. Whether you’re an ecologist, a chef, a forager, a pharmacologist, a commercial grower, or a home gardener—this indispensable handbook will get you started, help your garden succeed, and make your mycological landscapes the envy of the neighborhood.
- Print length592 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTen Speed Press
- Publication dateOctober 25, 2000
- Dimensions7.5 x 1.55 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101580081754
- ISBN-13978-1580081757
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Get to know this book
What's it about?
A comprehensive guide on cultivating gourmet and medicinal mushrooms, covering techniques, recipes, and troubleshooting for commercial or home growers.Popular highlight
Most of the gourmet mushrooms are saprophytic, wood-decomposing fungi.321 Kindle readers highlighted thisPopular highlight
Three additional factors affect the suitability of a mushroom habitat: structural composition, pH, and moisture.204 Kindle readers highlighted thisPopular highlight
Mushrooms can be classified into three basic ecological groups: mycorrhizal, parasitic, and saprophytic.198 Kindle readers highlighted this
Editorial Reviews
Review
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Mushrooms have never ceased to amaze me. The more I study them, the more I realize how little I have known, and how much more there is to learn. For thousands of years, fungi have evoked a host of responses from people—from fear and loathing to reverent adulation. And I am no exception.
When I was a little boy, wild mushrooms were looked upon with foreboding. It was not as if my parents were afraid of them, but our Irish heritage lacked a tradition of teaching children anything nice about mushrooms. In this peculiar climate of ignorance, rains fell and mushrooms magically sprang forth, wilted in the sun, rotted, and vanished without a trace. Given the scare stories told about “experts” dying after eating wild mushrooms, my family gave me the best advice they could: Stay away from all mushrooms, except those bought in the store. Naturally rebellious, I took this admonition as a challenge, a call to arms, firing up an already overactive imagination in a boy hungry for excitement.
When we were seven, my twin brother and I made a startling mycological discovery—Puffballs! We were told that they were not poisonous but if the spores got into our eyes, we would be instantly blinded! This information was quickly put to good use. We would viciously assault each other with mature puffballs, which would burst upon impact and emit a cloud of brown spores. The battle would continue until all the puffballs in sight had been hurled. They provided us with hours of delight over the years. Neither one of us ever went blind—although we both suffer from very poor eyesight. You must realize that to a seven-year-old these free, ready-made missiles satisfied instincts for warfare on the most primal of levels. This is my earliest memory of mushrooms, and to this day I consider it to be a positive emotional experience. (Although I admit a psychiatrist might like to explore these feelings in greater detail.)
Not until I became a teenager did my hunter-gatherer instincts resurface, when a relative returned from extensive travels in South America. With a twinkle in his eyes, he spoke of his experiences with the sacred Psilocybe mushrooms. I immediately set out to find these species, not in the jungles of Colombia, but in the fields and forests of Washington State where they were rumored to grow. For the first several years, my searches provided me with an abundance of excellent edible species, but no Psilocybes. Nevertheless, I was hooked.
When hiking through the mountains, I encountered so many mushrooms. Each was a mystery until I could match them with descriptions in a field guide. I soon came to learn that a mushroom was described as “edible,” “poisonous,” or my favorite, “unknown,” based on the experiences of others like me, who boldly ingested them. People are rarely neutral in their opinion about mushrooms—either they love them or they hate them. I took delight in striking fear into the hearts of the latter group, whose illogical distrust of fungi provoked my overactive imagination.
When I enrolled in the Evergreen State College in 1975, my skills at mushroom identification earned the support of a professor with similar interests. My initial interest was taxonomy, and I soon focused on fungal microscopy. The scanning electron microscope revealed new worlds, dimensional landscapes I never dreamed possible. As my interest grew, the need for fresh material year-round became essential. Naturally, these needs were aptly met by learning cultivation techniques, first in petri dishes, then on grain, and eventually on a wide variety of materials. In the quest for fresh specimens, I had embarked upon an irrevocable path that would steer my life on its current odyssey.
Product details
- Publisher : Ten Speed Press; 3rd Revised edition (October 25, 2000)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 592 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1580081754
- ISBN-13 : 978-1580081757
- Item Weight : 2.9 pounds
- Dimensions : 7.5 x 1.55 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #8,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2 in Landscape
- #7 in Garden Design (Books)
- #7 in Mushrooms in Biological Sciences
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
![Paul Stamets](https://cdn.statically.io/img/m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71fLmI7r7IL._SY600_.jpg)
Paul Stamets has been a dedicated mycologist for over twenty years. Over this time, he has discovered and coauthored four new species of mushrooms, and pioneered countless techniques in the field of edible and medicinal mushroom cultivation. He received the 1998 "Bioneers Award" from The Collective Heritage Institute, and the 1999 "Founder of a New Northwest Award" from the Pacific Rim Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils.
He has written five books on mushroom cultivation, use and identification; his books Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms and The Mushroom Cultivator (coauthor) have long been hailed as the definitive texts of mushroom cultivation. Other works by Paul Stamets include Psilocybe Mushrooms and Their Allies (out of print), Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World, MycoMedicinals: an Informational Treatise on Mushrooms, and many articles and scholarly papers.
Photo by Dusty Yao-Stamets (Personal correspondence) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
Customer reviews
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To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers say the book has good information and clear photos. They find it easy to read and understand with great illustrations. Opinions are mixed on the complexity, with some finding it incredibly thorough and grand, while others say it's pretty technical and too in depth. Customers also have mixed feelings about the difficulty level, with others finding it useful and others disappointed.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book very informative, detailed, and easy to understand. They say it uncomplicates a lot of mycology and is great for beginners. They also say it explores the health benefits of various mushrooms, including their potential as medicine.
"Love this book. So comprehensive. Everything you needs to know, and even some you don't but ends up being helpful to fill in the bigger picture...." Read more
"Book arrived in perfect condition. It is full of knowledge on growing any type of mushrooms. I would not try to use it as a field guide though...." Read more
"Good for beginners , or advanced mycologists . Different teks to choose from and very detailed . Just what I needed ." Read more
"Very informative if growing your own mushrooms. Detailed step guide for people who have knowledge of mushrooms already. Good quick guide." Read more
Customers find the book easy to read and understand, with highly detailed instructions for every aspect of cultivating fungi. They also say the author is great and the writing is not completely dry.
"...Great book! Greater author! I love it!" Read more
"...Good quick guide." Read more
"...a text book....though a very entertaining textbook...the writing is not completely dry, which was refreshing. It was a little intimidating at first...." Read more
"...species, including shiitake, oyster, and maitake, and provides detailed instructions on how to grow and harvest them...." Read more
Customers find the illustrations in the book great, clear, and go into great detail of the exact environments for each particular mushroom species. They also say the book is eye opening and impressed by the knowledge behind the art.
"Good information accompanied by good imaging. Very nice. Would recommend." Read more
"...Lots of good info with plenty of clear photos." Read more
"...than I Expected however I am disappointed that many of the photos are in black and white." Read more
"...to understand how to cultivate Gourmet Mushrooms, this is an eye opening reading. I'm very happy with this purchase." Read more
Customers find the book's content useful for learning about a wide range of mushroom species. They also appreciate that it lists the different requirements for numerous varieties.
"...The book covers a wide range of mushroom species, including shiitake, oyster, and maitake, and provides detailed instructions on how to grow and..." Read more
"...This book covers a wider range of mushroom species and growth parameters...." Read more
"...The book is as deep as it is wide, not only does it cover a very broad range of species with all the conditions to grow, and force sprouting to that..." Read more
"...This covers a large number of species and is a must-have for any aspiring mushroom cultivator...." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's length. They mention it's heavy, thick, and has hundreds of pages.
"Quality of the book is very apparent! Words are not too small, it's easy to read...." Read more
"...It was thick too. As big if not bigger than my phone book!!! Lots of good info with plenty of clear photos." Read more
"I haven’t read the book yet, just received today. Much larger than I Expected however I am disappointed that many of the photos are in black and..." Read more
"...Heavy, thick, big, hundreds of pages...Good quality book, paper, abundant and detailed photos...." Read more
Customers find the book has great recipes, rich, and well-referenced. They also say the soup is real and the dessert too.
"...This Soup is Real! The Dessert Too!" Read more
"...in depth & great for the commercial grower, as it has huge recipes for making substrates & grain spawn...." Read more
"...Even has lots of great recipes!I can't scratch the surface of the details in this book and I am thoroughly impressed & amazed!" Read more
"...There's a glossery, a guide to harvesting and storing, even recipes...." Read more
Customers are mixed about the complexity of the book. Some mention it's incredibly thorough, complete, and well organized. However, others say it'd be better suited for a cookbook.
"Very informative if growing your own mushrooms. Detailed step guide for people who have knowledge of mushrooms already. Good quick guide." Read more
"...And their isn't really a step by step setup. But this book will teach you about cultivating many many many other mushrooms...." Read more
"...It's not oversimplified and goes over the various benefits and uses of mushrooms as well as methods on how to grow them...." Read more
"Far too much detail for me.....I was looking for more of a cookbook approach with interesting facts dropped in.......this book is very comprehensive..." Read more
Customers are mixed about the difficulty level. Some mention it's very useful and works great, while others say it has good information but is not suitable for beginners, pointless, and not so good at practical application. Some say it'll be intimidating at first for advanced growers.
"...It was a little intimidating at first. It definitely deals with things on at least a farm sized scale and easily on an industrial scale...." Read more
"A lot of information to have to sort through. Not a quick start book." Read more
"Very useful. Good read!!" Read more
"...I flipped thru the 570 pages and was like well this is a pointless book. Bummer. Internet has all the info you need" Read more
Reviews with images
![Great book/maybe not for beginners](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/transparent-pixel._V192234675_.gif)
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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There is however a wealth of useful information that can be gleaned from this book about. For instance:
-- Temperature for mycelium run of a particular species
-- temperature to initiate fruiting at
-- humidity to hold the room at
-- substrata to use for the different species
-- different ways to sterilize substrata
-- how to take a spore print
-- how to inoculate substrata
-- Basic principles of farming mushrooms
-- how to assess your environment and practices to improve your sterility controls
+ more more more
I am no science wiz, but I am curious and daring. For the amateur scientist who likes to take their hobbies a little to seriously sometimes, this is the uber book of mushroom cultivation. For the strict beginner that needs to be walked through things slowly and methodically...or just doesn't want all the scientific mumbo-jumbo, this could be an information overload that will frustrate you. If you're ready to do some additional research to figure out how to scale things down and where to find alternative equipment that doesn't cost tens of thousands of dollars, this book will be great for you. I dream of a corner of my basement set up as a clean room for culturing spores and tissue from plants.
Top reviews from other countries
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I've just started the book
but even a brief flick through, knowing of Stamets and basics of cultivation, its clear this is a font of knowledge desirable by any amateur grower
A warning to any buyer
-1 careful when removing the book of amazon packaging, the adhesive on the sealed edge is that gunky sticky horrible stuff and it sticks to this book like nothing else.
It took 10mins even with isopropyl
-2 this book isn't beautiful, it feels like a large work book and there's a lot of pictures of it's damage when it arrives "new".
Mine was the same, clearly storage or transit has issues, perhaps this explains the discount
As nice as beautiful books are, it is the contents that matter so still deserves 5*
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