How to Grow Protein Rich Mushroom Indoors in Kitchen Garden?

Introduction

Today i am going to write on a non-traditional vegetable that very few of us grow in kitchen garden. The modern techniques now available in urban gardening have provided freedom to grow such vegetables. One of these is Mushroom. Surprised?  Growing Mushroom is fun and easy. Mushrooms are an excellent source of protein and can be a replica of meat especially for vegetarians. Keeping this in view, my today topic will focus on how to grow Mushroom in indoor kitchen garden?

Are you a Beginner? Learn How to Start a Kitchen Garden

What are Mushrooms?

Mushrooms are a kind of fungus but edible and nutritious as well. Round 400 among 20,000 varieties are edible. One thing should be kept in mind that some vibrantly colored Mushrooms are extremely poisonous and capable of causing immediate death. So if you have a plan of growing Mushroom in your indoor kitchen garden, here are three top edible varieties that can be grown suitably in urban gardening system.

• Button Mushrooms

Button Mushroom

• Oyster Mushrooms

Oyster Mushroom

• Enoki Mushrooms

Enoki Mushroom

How to Grow Mushroom?

I hope so far I have activated your taste buds. Do you remember the flavor and texture of Mushrooms that you bought from a super store? If yes, then I have a superb idea of growing Mushroom. Yes, your own fresh Mushrooms at indoor kitchen garden. Trust me it’s not that difficult as it seems. Mushrooms need dark, moist and cooler place to grow. In urban gardening, you have the liberty to customize your way of growing Mushroom.

To start growing Mushroom in your indoor kitchen garden, you need spores. Mushroom needs spores (particularly known variety) mixed with grains i.e. wheat or millet seeds known as ‘spawn’. Spores are the whitish colored mycelium of mature Mushroom. This spawn can be obtained from local lab, nursery or online seed store. However, my recommendation is to look for freshly prepared spawn of known variety from local Mushroom spawn lab. Many online seed stores also sell these spawns of high quality. These may be expensive than lab or nursery option, but their viability is better.

Spawns of Mushroom

Growing Mushroom Spawns

Spawn needs a growth medium also referred to as substrate i.e. sawdust whose texture highly resembles the woody sections of forest where you must have observed umbrella shaped bodies of Mushrooms. So in urban gardening of Mushrooms in your kitchen garden, you need sawdust and any medium sized plastic bag available to you. Keep in mind that sawdust needs to be pasteurized first. Pasteurization can be performed by adding the sawdust in hot water with temperature 60-70 degree Celsius. Leave it for half hour. It will kill dangerous micro-organisms leaving behind some friendly microbes that are helpful for growing Mushrooms. Remove the sawdust from water, leave it cool down. Place some of this spawn in plastic envelope; it may contain slight moisture which can be felt by keeping little sawdust in palm of hands.

Mushroom in Sawdust

The Final Stage

Here comes the last stage of growing Mushroom in your indoor kitchen garden. Now add spawn by spreading it all over the growth medium i.e. the sawdust. Add another layer of sawdust followed by the addition of spawn. This layering ensures rapid growth of spores. Seal the envelop and isolate it in some cool dark and moist place in your home. Don’t peep through the envelope and have some patience.  After a week, you can examine the spread of whiteness all across the sawdust. Seal and leave it again.

After few days, small rosette shaped structures with a tiny stalk can be seen with naked eye. From now on-wards, allow some aeration in the room and keep the mouth of envelope open. There is no need to water the growing Mushroom. Just keep the surroundings of plastic bag moist. After a month of inoculation, well grown Mushrooms can be harvested from your indoor kitchen garden.

Indoor Kitchen Garden Mushrooms

Enjoy an extra topping of your own grown healthy-fresh Mushrooms in pizza or supply them to local market or vegetable shop on demand; an excellent home business option for Mushroom lovers. I hope my readers are now well aware of how to grow Mushroom?

Cheers and Happy Growing 🙂

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