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 There are many people who, in any season, are able to treat you to a mushroom delicacy by inviting you to dine at their family table. As it turned out, they rarely go to the forest for mushrooms - they go down to the basement much more often, and one even goes to his garage to return with a full basket (bag, string bag) of the most exquisite gifts of the “green kingdom”.
You taste the mushroom "deliciousness" with them and involuntarily think: "These are the artisans! And what do they know that I do not know? Why can't I treat my family and my friends like this? " But meticulously questioning is inconvenient (think, I envy). I turned to the relevant literature. And there seemed to be nothing difficult in this matter ...
A brief historical excursion
So let's figure it out. It all began, as they say, at the turn of the 17th century in France, when the cooks of noble gentlemen, who poured slop as usual somewhere in the backyards, began to notice that if they pour the water in which the mushrooms were washed into heaps of rotted horse manure, then there these very mushrooms begin to grow very quickly - the subject of the owners' gastronomic hobbies. The agile mongrel realized: why buy this delicacy from the peasants, who collected it on their plots ("champignon" in translation - "field mushroom") and, due to the rarity of these finds, broke a considerable price? Isn't it better to warm your own hands while growing mushrooms? No sooner said than done...
The fashion for French delicacy came to Russia in the middle of the 18th century. But, of course, its carriers turned up their noses from the "dung" cultivation of champignons. The serfs were instructed to look for the wild-growing mycelium of this creation of Nature, but there was already a reference point for the artificial reproduction of her gifts: in the autumn they took the mycelium along with pieces of soil, which, being dried for the winter, was placed on fertilized beds in the spring.
Time passed. Interest (and, frankly, consumer demand) in relation to champignons only increased.
The value of champignons
Why are they so honored? Among the mushrooms classified by experts for human nutritional value, champignons are by no means included in the first category, which defines, say, white ones. Alas, their place is in the second, third and (for some species) in the last, fourth.
 But on the other hand, no one will take away the taste advantages, its other advantages over many mushrooms from the champignon. Let's evaluate, for example, such a phenomenon as a high content of valuable protein plus yield. If, for example, grain crops give only 48 g of pure protein from one square meter of ripe ears, then champignons "manage" to give 3300 g from the same area - almost 70 times more protein! And it is no coincidence that we have a lot of farms that have put the cultivation of this mushroom on an industrial basis, in which many technological processes are entrusted to automation. It would take a long time to tell how the production of a valuable product is organized there and why it still appears so rarely and is so expensive in stores. But we have a completely different task.
Where can I get mycelium?
Can anyone who wants to start growing champignons on their own? The answer is yes. And we can add that when he fulfills his desire, he will only complain about why he hasn’t done it yet.
The main problem that a novice amateur will probably be concerned about is where to get the planting material - mycelium, in other words, mycelium? This problem was solved for many with the help of specialized trade enterprises such as "Seeds" or "Seeds by mail". But demand was usually high and supply limited and irregular.
Someone tried to get mycelium directly from farms specializing in mushroom cultivation and located near large cities. Experienced amateurs shared the mycelium with someone. Finally, it occurred to someone to acquire planting material, so to speak, in "wildlife", and the results were quite satisfying, although the products grown did not belong to the selected varieties and were inferior to them in yield.
Where to grow champignons?
But here you are somehow acquired mycelium. Although this is the main thing, it is still half the battle. Have you thought about where you will grow mushrooms?
If the gardener can afford to grow them in the beds only in spring and summer, then the owner of a basement, cellar, insulated garage, insulated farm for keeping livestock or any similar premises can do this all year round, because two main requirements are the relative constancy of temperature and humidity - in these premises will be respected. In many urban-type buildings ("high-rise buildings"), the project provides for basement "cells" (only a few square meters), which are, as it were, a continuation of the auxiliary footage of each apartment and are usually used for storing vegetables or excess belongings. These "cells", as practice shows, can turn into not bad "plantations" for growing mushrooms, if a craftsman equips them with racks here, increasing many times the meager area allotted to him by a small room.
The most "normal" temperature of the fruitful development of the fruiting body of the champignon, oddly enough, is room temperature - 20-25 ° С. Interestingly, the champignon tolerates significantly lower, but constant temperatures (near Paris, 400 years ago, this mushroom was bred in old quarries, where, regardless of the season, it was always 12-14 °. But it does not tolerate heat: already at 35 ° mycelium is capable of perishing. High humidity mushroom is also not needed - the same as for humans, determined, for example, by commercially available household psychrometers, is considered optimal. 60% is considered optimal. If the room you have chosen approaches the specified parameters, then there is no reason for it Do not use for mushroom plantation. ”By the way, light (whether it penetrates or" even gouges out the eye ") does not matter. Unlike plants, the mushroom can synthesize protein without it, and it is so nutritious that it is not without reason called" forest bread Finally, the time of planting the mycelium is also not regulated - after all, the conditions in which the mushroom will grow and bear fruit remain more or less constant.
A novice amateur, of course, will take an interest in what containers are best for planting mushrooms in the basement. Experts recommend wooden boxes with an optimal height of 25 cm. As for their area and size in length and width, this is how the conditions of the room allow. However, it is more advisable to have boxes with an area of half a square meter. They are not so heavy to move and at the same time allow judging the yield of the plantation (if you do not forget to weigh the batch of ripe fruit bodies removed from them every time).
A rack for installing boxes can be made to the full height of the basement, from floor to ceiling, so that they can be pulled out and inserted into it like "cassettes". Some amateurs give up the rack and stack strong boxes on top of each other. In the absence of materials or in the absence of a carpentry craftsman in the family, some people prefer to break up beds for planting champignons right on the earthen floor of the basement.
Champignons are grown not on any kind of soil, but on a specially prepared mixture, which is called a substrate. Its preparation is quite within the power of everyone. What is needed for this? How to prepare the substrate?
Substrate preparation
Here's one relatively affordable way. It is necessary to stock up on horse manure in the stables, which is removed from the stalls along with straw bedding, and weigh this stock.Find a suitable place where it can be folded in a dense compact pile like a pyramid. Pour water over it so that, after being saturated with it, the manure and straw mixed with it still do not seem wet to the touch, that is, they have about 60% moisture. Now we introduce into the "pyramid" a little ammonium sulfate at the rate of 3 g per kilogram of still dry straw-manure mixture. This nitrogen fertilizer will make it warm up and speed up the process of manure decay. Therefore, it is necessary to cover the "pyramid" (straw, old bags, rags, etc. will do) to keep it warm and not let it dry out.
Five days later, you need to make the first "cut" of the hot mixture. It is more convenient to do it manually with a pitchfork, with which it is shaken, beaten, mixed, as a result of which the entire stock of the mixture is involved in the process of further "burnout", and not only the central part of the "pyramid". During the mixing, gypsum is added to the mixture at the rate of 4 g per kilogram of dry manure. When the procedure is over, the "pyramid" is again covered to warm up. In total, 3-4 interruptions are carried out until the mixture turns into a homogeneous mass, it stops smelling of ammonia.
And still, let's check if the substrate is ready: if the straws in it are so overwhelmed that they are easy to break, then it is ready.
It may happen that a city dweller will not be able to get horse manure, but he has the opportunity to buy another suitable fertilizer - dry chicken manure. Then the amateur is offered another method of preparing the substrate. But this time too, you will have to go to the countryside and stock up on wheat straw, which, of course, will not be a problem. In total, of the components of the future substrate, an amateur will need 40 kg of chicken manure, 2.5 kg of carbamide (in solution), 6 kg of gypsum and 250-300 liters of ordinary water for 100 kg of stored straw.
First, all the straw must be mixed with 15 kilograms of droppings and all available urea. To make the process of “burning out” the straw successful, we regularly spray the mixture with water. On the fourth day, we make a break (see above) and add the entire amount of gypsum to the mixture. On the eighth cut, we repeat. On the 10th day, we consume the last water, with which the mixture was sprayed every day all this time, we put the mixture in any suitable container, interlayering it with the chicken droppings we have (25 kg). After another day, we make the third interruption, and after another two days we can assume that the substrate is ready.
Of course, the amateur himself will recalculate, based on his capabilities, how many components he needs.
We advise only to adhere to the indicated ratios. It should also be added that in the first method of preparing the substrate, some people use a mixture of horse manure with cow or pork manure, but in all cases rotted manure should be avoided (the latter also applies to straw). Instead of wheat straw, according to practitioners, rye and corn stalks and even fresh fallen leaves of trees are suitable. All this will also be good to "burn out" when preparing the substrate.
Laying the substrate in the boxes should be gradually and carefully tamped with a wooden pestle each layer, so that as a result it is a dense, even and smooth mass, not reaching 2 cm to the edges of the box. If you are planning to make a bed on the basement floor, then lay a layer of substrate 45 cm high, but then tamp it so that its height is 30 cm on the same area, then carefully level the bed.
 After tamping, the thermal processes in the substrate may intensify again, so it is too early to plant mycelium. We will wait for the temperature at a 5-centimeter depth to drop (it may take several days) to 27-28 ° С. This will be the most appropriate moment to land.
If you have purchased planting material in the form of the so-called "dung mycelium" (the name is from the fact that its industrial production is based on manure), then carefully break the mycelium into pieces the size of a plum.Having made these blanks, laid out on a flat surface, take a sharp peg and, as if "picking out" the surface of the substrate (but not completely), make a depression under it according to the size of the planted piece, place the last one there and return the raised soil to its place. The distance between the planting objects, which we make in a checkerboard pattern, is 20 cm, and the layer of their soil covering is 2-3 cm. In the same way, we break it into pieces and plant the mycelium of "wild" champignons, if it was not possible to acquire the cultural one.
The commercially available "grain mycelium" is planted in a different way (the name is given because the planting material is produced on a substrate of cereals). A 3-centimeter layer must be removed from the ground by putting this mass in a basin. Then sow the mycelium grains, then sprinkle evenly with the indicated mass and lightly roll for density.
Mycelium care
If the air temperature in the basement is not high, the mycelium will grow deeper, and ultimately will give a good harvest of mushrooms in less than a month and a half, and fruiting will last for three months. If the room is hot (above 25-26 °) and it is poorly ventilated, it is difficult to count on a high yield.
For better fruiting, it is recommended to sprinkle rapidly growing mycelium 10-12 days after planting. This is done with ordinary soil, however sifted and moist. The layer of powder on the surface of the substrate is 3-4 cm. (Please note that the powder must be loose enough to allow air to pass through.)
Is it necessary to water the soil in which the mushrooms grow? In the truest sense of the word - no. But it may happen that you have to moisturize a little by spraying, keeping it constant at 60 percent humidity. There is an easy way to check this moisture. If the soil, slightly compressed in a fist, forms a lump and does not leave a wet mark on the palm of your hand, then everything is in order.
What to do with the harvest?
The reader, who realizes that the yields will be rapidly high, cannot, of course, not be agitated by the question: what to do with this abundance of products, literally "shooting" during the active period of a rather long fruiting mycelium?
Fortunately, many types of mushrooms can be pickled and dried. There are also ways to quickly freeze them both fresh and fried (however, in the latter case, the mushrooms are preserved only when fried in butter or margarine). At home, this will have to be done in the refrigerator at a temperature of -18 ° C. If the freezer is not spacious enough to process many large fruit bodies at once, then you can cut the mushrooms before this procedure. It is more convenient to store the “stiffened” product in a plastic bag and at significantly lower temperatures. By the way, with quick freezing, you can preserve not only champignons for a long time, but also other valuable species of mushrooms collected, for example, in the forest.
The creator of his own mushroom plantation should measure the rate of its yield with the real needs for this product. And it is best to plant mycelium in boxes at intervals to prevent the mushrooms from ripening in too large batches at the same time.
The constant consumption of mushrooms in large quantities is known to be discouraged by medicine. It is believed that a completely healthy person who has made them his staple food is capable of hurting himself. There are also direct contraindications: for metabolic disorders, ulcers, gastritis, hepatitis, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, liver, kidneys and some other ailments. We believe it is clear to the reader that moderation and discretion are reasonable when eating mushroom.
And yet a great product promises such culinary opportunities, which are difficult to resist, and the amateur who wants to take up the cultivation of champignons should also master the art of preparing dishes from these wonderful mushrooms.
B.P. Brusilov - Culinary savvy
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Pickled champignons "Spicy" |
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Champignons in sour cream (multicooker Philips HD 3060) |
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Pickled champignons |
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Stuffed champignons |
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Champignons baked in bacon with nut-cheese filling |
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Mushroom salad |
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Champignon mushrooms in Norman style |
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Stuffed and deep-fried champignons |
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Grilled champignons (sandwich maker Steba SG 35) |
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Baked champignons with "Dor blue" cheese |
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Champignons with onions, carrots and sour cream (Steba DD1 pressure cooker) |
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Stuffed champignons (multicooker Redmond RMC - 01) |
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Stewed champignons in cream, or Dinner for breakfast |
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Stuffed champignons |
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Mushrooms stuffed in an air fryer |
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Champignons in white wine |
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Champignons with "fast" squid |
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Champignons stuffed with gherkins |
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Braised champignons (gas hob, electric oven) |
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Light-salted champignons in cabbage brine without straining |
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Stuffed champignons |
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Champignons with carrots in the microwave |
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Salad with fresh mushrooms |
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Hot smoked champignons in Brand 6060 |
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Baked champignons |
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Chicken legs stewed with zucchini, eggplant and mushrooms (Brand 6050 pressure cooker) |
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Roast potatoes and mushrooms (Panasonic SR-TMH181) |
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Fresh champignon salad with grapefruit, avocado and blue cheese |
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Hot appetizer with cauliflower, mushrooms and brisket baked in cream |
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Sandwiches with mushrooms, cheese and sage in garlic dressing (sandwich maker or contact grill) |
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Green broccoli soup with champignons |
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Baked eggplant with mushrooms |
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Chicken with mushrooms - champignons (Cuckoo 1055) |
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Rice with mushrooms and chicken fillet (Cuckoo 1054) |
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Mashed potato soup with champignons |
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Rice with champignons and Chinese cabbage in a Panasonic multicooker |
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Buckwheat porridge with mushrooms and onions (multicooker Moulinex Minute Cook CE4000) |
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Quiche with tuna and champignons "Lazy" |
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Canned Beans Salad with Fried Mushrooms |
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Roast turkey with mushrooms in curd-cream sauce (multicooker Redmond RMC-02, gas hob) |
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Soup with champignons and barley in a multicooker Steba DD2 |
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Risotto with mushrooms |
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Champignon and celery puree soup with aromatic rye croutons |
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Jellied mussels, avocado and champignons |
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Mushroom soup with champignons in a multicooker Brand 701 |
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Chicken broth soup with champignons and noodles |
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Roast pork with mushrooms and potatoes |
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Mushroom caviar from frozen champignons |
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Champignon schnitzel |
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Soup from wild mushrooms and champignons in a pressure cooker Polaris 0305 |
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Toasts with champignons |
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Vegetarian lentil soup with potatoes, mushrooms, celery and carrots (Polaris 0305) |
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Soup-puree of champignons and white beans in chicken broth (Kromax Endever Skyline BS-93 soup blender, gas hob) |
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Arugula salad with salmon and mushrooms |
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Smoked turkey salad with fried mushrooms |
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Salad "Marinated champignons with vegetables" |
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Potatoes with champignons in the Comfort Fy 500 pressure cooker |
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Crab stick and champignon cutlets |
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Risotto with mushrooms and mascarpone |
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Spicy salad with beans, fried onions and mushrooms. |
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Fresh champignons and avocado salad |
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Potato salad with raw mushrooms |
CHAMPIGNONS (common, field, forest) are edible lamellar mushrooms. The name comes from the French word for mushroom. Sometimes champignon is also called a peppercorn. Champignons grow on humus soil, manure, in pastures, meadows, pastures, in forests, orchards; often form "witch circles", bear fruit from May to late autumn. The cap is 3-25 cm in diameter, hemispherical, later flat-convex, dense, whitish, less often brownish or light brown (in the forest mushroom), with a smooth surface or hairy, scaly (in the forest mushroom). The plates are loose, frequent, white in young mushrooms, pink when ripe, then dark (a sign of overripe and unusable mushroom).
The stem is even, dense, less often loose or hollow (in the forest mushroom), always with a ring (the ring-shaped cuff is the remainder of the film connecting the cap with the stem). The pulp is white, slightly red at the break, with a pleasant aniseed aroma and sweet taste.Young mushrooms are eaten (before the spores ripen), when the film connecting the cap and the leg is not yet torn. According to the fair admission of experts, champignon is a delicious mushroom. No wonder in cooking they are used along with porcini mushrooms for the preparation of delicious, festive dishes. You can prepare a delicious fried dish, soup, caviar from champignons; they are pickled, dried (dried mushrooms contain up to 15% protein), salted, preserved.
Care should be taken when picking mushrooms. A deadly poisonous mushroom is similar to champignons - a pale toadstool, from which they differ in pink plates.
In many countries of the world, including Russia, the cultivation of champignons on an industrial scale has been established. A subspecies of field champignon is bred - double-pore champignon in champignon and ordinary greenhouses, as well as in cellars, quarries, abandoned mines, where you can maintain a constant temperature of 10 to 20 ° C and good ventilation. The champignon does not need light.
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