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Oyster mushroom is considered the most common and safest mushroom. It grows in the wild, and also lends itself to cultivation in personal plots with success. 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
Up to thirty species of the popular mushroom are known, but about ten varieties of oyster mushrooms are grown on private plots and on an industrial scale. The popularity of fruit bodies is due to the safety of eating, good taste, and ease of cultivation.
Mushrooms growing in nature love old stumps, tree trunks
To successfully search for fruit bodies in the forest, you need to know where to look for them. In nature, the oyster mushroom grows on stumps and trunks of deciduous trees. Less common are species that take root on conifers. The 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 in the video:
Going on a "quiet hunt", you need to know about the existing varieties. Most often, the following types come across:
- Lemon oyster mushroom has a bright yellow color. Distributed in the Far East. In the wild, it is more often found on the elm tree. Hence the second name came - Ilmovaya oyster mushroom. Houses can be grown on a substrate or a block of poplar, aspen, birch.
Ilm species is distinguished by a yellow color of the cap 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.
Horny species loves warmth
- The species of steppe oyster mushroom does not parasitize trees. Myceliums are formed on the roots of umbrella plants. Caps can grow up to 25 cm in diameter. Harvesting begins in spring. For fruit bodies of this species they go not to the forest, but to cattle pasture or wastelands, where umbrella plants grow.
Oyster mushroom is large in size
- A feature of pulmonary oyster mushroom is a white color and a cap with drooping 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 appreciated by mushroom pickers due to its low taste.
Pink oyster mushroom has an unusual bright color
- The royal oyster mushroom grows on the ground. The mycelium itself originates on the roots of plants.The hats grow to a large size, 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 an oyster mushroom looks like
Oyster mushroom is considered the most unpretentious. Because of the shape of the cap, it is called an oyster cap. 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 young common oyster mushroom, it is beige, eventually acquires a gray color. The cap of the old mushroom is dark gray. The family is large, it grows out of one mycelium. A multilevel bunch grows on the tree. Each common mushroom is tightly pressed against each other.
On a tree stump, oyster mushroom resembles a group of ears or oysters.
Is it possible to eat oyster mushroom
Common forest oyster mushroom, as well as grown at home on a substrate, is suitable for eating. The probability of getting poisoned is zero. An exception is the common oyster mushrooms collected in polluted places, near roads, industrial enterprises. You can poison yourself with artificially grown mushrooms, heavily poisoned with pesticides.
Mushroom taste
The taste of ordinary oyster mushroom is comparable to champignons, if it is skillfully cooked. Young bodies are soft, slightly elastic. The forest dwellers have a mushroom aroma. Artificially grown common oyster mushrooms are less aromatic, 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. Fat is low. However, they help to reduce the level of cholesterol in the human blood. The available carbohydrates do not contribute to the deposition of fat, since they consist of 20% of easily digestible sucrose, glucose, and fructose. Polysaccharides that destroy tumors are of great benefit to the body. Oyster mushroom is considered low-calorie. Fruiting bodies can be safely consumed by people prone to overweight.
The pulp of an ordinary forest and oyster mushroom grown at home contains vitamins and nutrients
In case of inept use, even environmentally friendly ordinary oyster mushrooms can harm the body. The pulp of the fruit bodies contains chitin. The substance is not absorbed by the body. Chitin cannot be completely removed from mushrooms, but only partially by heat treatment. It is not recommended to give ordinary oyster mushrooms to children under the age of 5 years. For adolescents and seniors, small amounts are included in the diet. For those allergic to spores, common oyster mushrooms are dangerous during collection.
False doubles
The 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 the doubles. Most often they are of two types:
- Orange forest oyster mushroom is recognized by its bright color, unusual for an edible mushroom. The fruit body is attached to the tree with a hat, that is, there is no leg. Young mushroom families give off a melon aroma. After full maturation, the smell of rotting cabbage appears.
- From June to November on dry wood you can find wolf saw-leaf. Cream or light brown caps grow sideways to the trunk of the tree. Red spots appear on old mushrooms. Sawwood gives off a pleasant mushroom aroma, but the pulp contains a lot of bitterness.
There are two false doubles: orange oyster mushroom and wolf saw-leaf
Oyster mushroom doubles do not contain toxins. If taken accidentally, 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 pick up little-known mushrooms. It is difficult to confuse oyster mushrooms with other gifts of the forest, but it is better to play it safe. Common oyster mushrooms have a sturdy stem. When collecting in the forest, they can simply be twisted by means of wood hats. When growing on a substrate, the crop is optimally cut with a knife. Unscrewing it can damage the mycelium. In the forest, it is advisable not to collect wet fruit 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 lasts from spring to autumn. The exact time depends on the weather conditions in the region. With the artificial cultivation of common 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 to remove debris. After washing, the fruiting bodies are boiled, after which they are used for further cooking.
Growing oyster mushroom
To grow oyster mushroom on your site, you need a damp room. A cellar or a shed in a thicket of trees is perfect. Buy ready-made mycelium. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three months, but must not be frozen. It is important to know that about 3 kg of mushrooms will grow from 1 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
A substrate is needed to plant the mycelium. Load it into plastic bags. Straw, hay, sawdust, crushed corn cobs, seed husks are suitable as a substrate. Before loading, the raw material must be boiled for 2 hours, left to cool. The water is drained. When squeezed by hand, the finished substrate should release a few drops of water.
The wet mass is loaded into bags. Mycelium is poured through each layer of substrate 5 cm thick. The bags are tied, placed on shelves, 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. Fruit bodies will grow from these windows.
Before mycelium germination, the bags are kept in the dark. With the formation of fruit bodies, lighting is turned on around the clock. Inside the premises, a humidity of at least 80% is maintained, the air temperature is in the range of 18-22 ° C, and ventilation is carried out.
Two waves of the crop are usually harvested from one dressing. Fruit bodies can germinate after the second harvest, but in small quantities. Usually mushroom pickers do not wait for the third wave of the 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 of the boiled wheat is loaded into a jar, pieces of mushrooms purchased at the nearest supermarket are added. The container is tightly closed with a lid. A few days later, the wheat will be overgrown with white moss, which is the very mycelium for planting.
