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Oyster mushroom is considered the most common and safe mushroom. It grows in the wild, and also successfully lends itself to cultivation in personal plots. The fruiting body is rich in vitamins, useful substances, but there are contraindications for eating for a certain category of people.
Where does oyster mushroom grow
Известно до тридцати видов популярного гриба, но на частных участках и в промышленных масштабах выращивают около десяти разновидностей вешенки. Популярность плодовых тел обусловлена безопасностью приема в пищу, хорошими вкусовыми качествами, простотой выращивания.
Mushrooms growing in nature love old stumps, tree trunks
To successfully search for fruiting bodies in the forest, you need to know where to look for them. In nature, the oyster mushroom grows on the stumps and trunks of deciduous trees. Less common are species that take root on coniferous trees. Steppe oyster mushroom is considered universal, capable of taking root in any area. The common fungus is a parasite.
More information about oyster mushroom can be found on the video:
Going on a “silent hunt”, you need to know about the existing varieties. The most common types are:
- Lemon oyster mushroom has a bright yellow color. Distributed in the Far East. In the wild, it is more common on the elme tree. From here came the second name – Elm oyster mushroom. Houses can be grown on a substrate or chock of poplar, aspen, birch.
The elm species is distinguished by the yellow color of the hat and legs
- A horn-shaped species lives on the territory of deciduous forest plantations. Mushrooms love warm weather and grow from May to October. Often found on oaks, mountain ash, birch. With the onset of cold weather, it is useless to look for them.
The horn-shaped species loves warmth
- The species of steppe oyster mushroom does not parasitize on trees. Mushrooms are formed on the roots of umbrella plants. Hats can grow up to 25 cm in diameter. Harvesting begins in the spring. For the fruiting bodies of this species, they do not go to the forest, but to the pasture of cattle or wastelands where umbrella plants grow.
Oyster mushroom steppe is large in size
- A feature of the lung oyster mushroom is its white color and a hat with lowered edges. Families grow in large groups on the trunks of old birches, beeches or oaks, they are not afraid of low temperatures.
Oyster mushroom is easy to recognize by its white color
- Pink oyster mushroom grows in the forests of the Far East on the trunks of deciduous trees. It attracts with its bright pink color, but is poorly valued by mushroom pickers because of its low taste.
Pink oyster mushroom has an unusual bright color.
- The royal oyster mushroom grows on the ground. The mycelium itself is born on the roots of plants. Hats grow large, are distinguished by excellent taste, the presence of a large amount of protein and other useful substances.
Residents of warm regions begin to collect royal oyster mushrooms in March
It is enough for an experienced mushroom picker to find a productive place once and visit it annually with the onset of the season.
What does an oyster mushroom look like
The most unpretentious is considered oyster mushroom. Because of the shape of the cap, it is called oyster. Outwardly, an ordinary fruiting body looks like an ear with a funnel. In the photo, oyster mushroom resembles a group of oysters stuck to a large stone. In nature, an ordinary mushroom grows on old trees starting to dry out, fallen trunks. The hat is covered with a smooth matte skin. In a young ordinary oyster mushroom, it is beige, with time it acquires a gray color. The cap of the old mushroom is dark gray. The family is large, grows from one mycelium. A multi-level bunch grows on a tree. Each ordinary mushroom is tightly pressed to each other.
On the stump, oyster oyster mushroom resembles a group of ears or oysters
Can you eat oyster mushrooms
Common forest oyster mushroom, as well as grown at home on a substrate, is suitable for eating. The chance of getting poisoned is zero. The exception is ordinary oyster mushrooms collected in polluted places, near roads, industrial enterprises. You can get poisoned by artificially grown mushrooms heavily poisoned with pesticides.
The taste of the mushroom
The taste of an ordinary oyster oyster mushroom is comparable to champignons, if it is skillfully cooked. Young bodies are soft, slightly elastic. The forest dwellers are dominated by a mushroom aroma. Artificially grown ordinary oyster mushrooms are less fragrant, but similarly tasty when fried, pickled.
Benefits and harm to the body
An ordinary oyster mushroom grown in ecologically clean conditions accumulates a large complex of vitamins (B, C, E, PP, D2), amino acids and minerals. Little fat. However, they help to reduce the level of cholesterol in human blood. The available carbohydrates do not contribute to the deposition of fats, since 20% consist of easily digestible sucrose, glucose, and fructose. Polysaccharides that destroy tumors bring great benefits to the body. Oyster mushroom is considered low-calorie. Fruiting bodies can be used without fear by people who are prone to fullness.
The pulp of common forest and home-grown oyster mushrooms contains vitamins and nutrients
With inept use, even environmentally friendly ordinary oyster mushrooms can harm the body. The pulp of fruiting bodies contains chitin. The substance is not absorbed by the body. Chitin cannot be completely removed from mushrooms, but only partially by heat treatment. Children under the age of 5 years are not recommended to give ordinary oyster mushrooms. Teenagers and the elderly include a small amount in the diet. Allergics to spores of ordinary oyster mushrooms are dangerous during collection.
False doubles
A common mushroom grown at home from mycelium is safe. If the collection is carried out in the forest, then by mistake you can get on doubles. Most often they are of two types:
- Orange forest oyster mushroom is recognized by its bright color, unusual for an edible mushroom. The fruiting body is attached to the tree with a hat, that is, there is no leg. Young mushroom families emit a melon aroma. After full ripening, the smell of rotting cabbage appears.
- From June to November, on dry wood, you can find Wolf’s sawfly. Cream or light brown caps grow sideways to the tree trunk. Red spots appear on old mushrooms. The sawfly gives off a pleasant mushroom aroma, but the flesh contains a lot of bitterness.
There are two false twins: orange oyster mushroom and wolf’s sawfly
Doubles of ordinary oyster mushroom do not contain toxins. If accidentally taken, they will not cause death, but too bitter taste is unpleasant in the mouth.
Collection rules
When harvesting from a tree, the first important rule is not to take little-known mushrooms. It is difficult to confuse oyster mushrooms with other gifts of the forest, but it is better to play it safe. Ordinary oyster mushrooms have a strong stem. During the collection in the forest, they can simply be twisted by the hats made of wood. When growing on a substrate, it is optimal to cut the crop with a knife. Twisting can damage the mycelium. In the forest, it is desirable not to collect wet fruiting bodies, they quickly begin to rot.
In order not to damage the mycelium, it is better to cut the crop with a knife
The harvest season runs from spring to autumn. The exact time depends on the weather conditions of the region. With the artificial cultivation of ordinary oyster mushroom, the crop can be harvested year-round, if there is a heated room.
Use
Young fruiting bodies with a cap diameter of up to 7 cm are suitable for eating. Mushrooms are not peeled, but simply washed well with water from debris. After washing, the fruiting bodies are boiled, after which they are used for further cooking.
Growing oyster mushroom
To grow oyster mushrooms in your area, you will need a humid room. A cellar or barn in a thicket of trees is perfect. Mycelium is bought ready-made. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three months, but should not be frozen. It is important to know that about 1 kg of mushrooms will grow from 3 kg of mycelium. Here you need to calculate and plan the future harvest.
At home, oyster mushroom grows on a substrate loaded in plastic bags
For planting mycelium, a substrate is needed. Load it into plastic bags. Straw, hay, sawdust, crushed corn cobs, seed husks are suitable as a substrate. Before loading, the raw materials must be boiled for 2 hours, left to cool. The water is drained. The finished substrate, when squeezed by hand, should release a few drops of water.
The wet mass is loaded into bags. Mycelium is poured through each layer of the substrate 5 cm thick. Bags are tied, put on racks or hung. When the mycelium begins to germinate (after about 20 days), cuts are made on the bags in the right place with a knife. Fruiting bodies will grow from these windows.
Until mycelium germinates, the bags are kept in the dark. With the formation of fruiting bodies, lighting is turned on around the clock. Inside the room, the humidity is maintained at a minimum of 80%, the air temperature is in the range of 18-22 ° C, and ventilation is carried out.
Two waves of harvest are usually collected from one gas station. Fruiting bodies can germinate after the second harvest, but in small numbers. Usually mushroom pickers do not wait for the third wave of harvest. The spent substrate is stored in a compost heap to obtain fertilizer.
Conclusion
Oyster mushroom can be grown from its substrate. To do this, half-cooked wheat is loaded into a jar, pieces of mushrooms bought at the nearest supermarket are added. The container is tightly closed with a lid. After a few days, the wheat will be overgrown with white moss, which is the same mycelium for planting.