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Cover of Growing Mushrooms at Home

Growing Mushrooms at Home

Hybrid Learning Solutions · e-book

R149 incl. VAT

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About this book

A practical, South African guide to growing edible oyster mushrooms safely at home, from bought spawn, in a spare room, garage, Wendy house or cupboard, for the family and a little income. Twelve chapters follow a young agriculture graduate turning his family's Wendy house in Khayelitsha into a growing room that supplies restaurants, the extension officer who advises him, and a retired nurse in Bloemfontein growing in her garage for her family and her church's soup kitchen: why grow mushrooms and a first plan; how mushrooms grow; safety first, above all never eating a wild mushroom, and what to do if someone does; choosing the right oyster mushroom for each season, and reliable spawn; setting up a growing space, load shedding and a starter budget; substrates, pasteurising with hot water or lime, and spawning cleanly; bags, buckets, colonisation and contamination; fruiting and its common problems; harvesting, storing, drying and cooking; spent substrate, compost and the garden; selling mushrooms, costing per kilogram, the cold chain, fresh produce rules and honest labels; and records, SARS, the Consumer Protection Act, POPIA and growing bigger. 30 diagrams and photographs, worked examples, practice exercises with answers, a safety card, a growing-space checklist, a pasteurisation guide, colonisation, fruiting and harvest records, a contamination chart, a cost-per-kilogram sheet, a glossary, and 144 Exam prep questions. A Skills Series title. Lecturers: a free Facilitator Guide (session plans built around a grower's portfolio, practical safety rules, teaching notes and every answer) is available to colleges registered with HybridE. To register your college, contact Thandeka on 073 431 6763.

What is inside

  1. Chapter 1: Why Grow Mushrooms
  2. Chapter 2: How Mushrooms Grow
  3. Chapter 3: Safety First
  4. Chapter 4: Choosing What to Grow
  5. Chapter 5: A Growing Space
  6. Chapter 6: Substrates and Spawn
  7. Chapter 7: Bags, Buckets and Colonisation
  8. Chapter 8: Fruiting
  9. Chapter 9: Harvesting, Storing and Eating
  10. Chapter 10: Spent Substrate and the Garden
  11. Chapter 11: Selling Mushrooms
  12. Chapter 12: Growing Bigger and Next Steps
  13. Appendix: Checklists, Guides, Records, Glossary and Where to Learn More

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