There are many varieties of exotic mushrooms. Oyster, pom pom blanc, shiitake, maitake, reishi and enoki are just some of the varieties that mushroom , both for personal use and as a commercial venture. As consumers worldwide become increasingly interested in fine dining, the demand for exotic mushrooms grows. Researchers throughout the world are examining exotic mushrooms for their seeming anti-cancer properties, as well. This increases demand for exotic mushrooms even further. The techniques and species of exotic mushrooms that growers cultivate vary, but many mushroom farmers find that growing exotic mushrooms is a satisfying challenge.
Instructions
1. Decide which species of mushrooms to cultivate. Growing mushrooms for export involves researching the needs and supply and demand in various countries. For instance, shitake mushrooms are plentiful in Japan because they form the basis of many Japanese foods. Portabello mushrooms do not grow in Japan and therefore may be a good mushroom to export to Japan.
2. Prepare a shady growing area. Most exotic mushrooms are cultivated inside oak logs. Insert plugs with mycelium cells into pre-drilled holes in the logs. Watering these logs bi-weekly produces the first mushroom crop after about a year. Resoaking the logs in freezing water once every two months shocks the logs into ongoing refruiting for several years.
3. Prepare enough logs for a good-sized crop when growing exotic mushrooms. On a mushroom farm, these logs stack in a log-house type of structure--two logs lay horizontally, two more lay vertically on the horizontal logs, then more logs are laid horizontally, etc. Growing mushrooms for export demands an area which is large enough to allow a large mushroom crop to grow. The University of Nebraska/Lincoln's National Agroforestry Center (UNL/NAC) suggests that a 500-log operation is a good size for a beginning mushroom cultivation farm.
4. Plan free afternoon hours during the weeks when the logs fruit. Mushrooms should be harvested in the cooler afternoon hours.
5. After harvest, place the exotic mushrooms into cardboard boxes and refrigerate them. Refrigeration will help preserve them as they are shipped to their destination.
6. Consider drying the mushrooms to reduce the danger of spoilage during shipment. Drying mushrooms involves placing the mushrooms over warm dry air, preferably in sunlight. Drying mushrooms increases their vitamin D content. Seven pounds of fresh exotic mushrooms will yield about one pound of dried mushrooms.
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