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H**R
Home-scale to commerical-scale mushroom growing
I've been lucky enough to hear Tradd speak in person a few times, and his lectures are always visually appealing, intellectually revealing, and completely inspiring. His book is more of the same --- which is to say awesome!I've been particularly wanting more information on rafts, totems, and propagating mushrooms on cardboard, and this book form of the lectures I'd attended didn't disappoint. In addition to providing step-by-step directions (with great diagrams and photos) on those topics, the text provided additional home-scale experiments that I'm itching to try, including propagating shiitakes using stacked rounds, raising oyster mushrooms on old clothes and coffee grounds, and producing homegrown morel spawn/microbe slurry for outside inoculation. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry --- the beginning of the book has great information to bring beginners up to speed.)The last third of the book consists of species-by-species cultivation accounts, and I'll save that for more intensive reading later. For now, this book is one of the few titles --- about three to five per year --- that contains such a breadth and depth of information that it merits a permanent place on my bookshelf.For those of you new to mushrooms, this is probably the book I'd recommend reading first. It's like a combination of the inspiring accounts of Mycelium Running with the hands-on information of Stamets' older text, but with a more homestead-scale appeal. But I should warn you that you'll need to commit serious time to reading Tradd's chapters slowly and in order since my initial skim was a bit disappointing --- raising more questions than it answered. Only after I read every word did the true wonder of the book gel together into a beautiful whole. So even if you're an intermediate mushroom growing, start with chapter one and prepare to be inspired!
M**L
Like learning from a good lecturer
Only part way through and it’s been excellent reading. Easy to follow, points are backed up and easy to understand. I am intrigued and on my way to learning more. I feel like this was an excellent investment so far!
M**G
Wonderful, informative book, great gift
Quality of the book is very apparent! Words are not too small, it's easy to read. Have skimmed a few chapters already and I look forward to reading it. I love gathering info on topics that interest me. This book makes me want to learn about other aspects of mushroom growing I never considered. Will be a great gift for my hubs, too, who is also interested in mushroom growing.After some reading of reveiws, I purchased two books on the topic: Organic Mushroom Farming & Mycoremediation AND Growinf Gourmet & Medicinal Mushrooms. I would say the same about both books from what I've read so far.I have a background in Biology, science, and lots of experience in just learning new hobbies or needy things, etc. My husband does not. Both books are perfect for either background and easy to learn and incorporate into your own needs/experience. Glad I choose both.
S**Y
Excellent read, but missing detailed info on remediation and pearl oysters
I love this book. Tradd Cotter is informative as hell but also easily digestible to a total amateur like me. It's really oriented to someone who's looking to grow commercially, so it focuses much, much more on growing indoors rather than outdoors. If you don't have the money, equipment, and space to set up a sterile semi-lab, a lot of this stuff may be as irrelevant to you as it was to me, but still interesting and insightful. I appreciate that he never really forget to explain things in the simplest terms, though he maintains dedication to scientific detail throughout. My only complaints/confusions are that the title seemed to suggest that the book would be in large part dedicated to discussing mycoremediation techniques, but it devotes only one chapter to the subject and does not go into very much detail. Also, in section 4, it lists specifications and substrates for every kind of oyster mushroom BUT pearl oysters, which are pretty commonly cultivated, especially for mycoremediation. That really confused and surprised me, especially since I'm not growing any mushrooms but pearl oysters at the moment, and remediation is my main interest. Whoops! Still worth the purchase and the read, though.
D**E
Biok
This was a gift my grandson asked for. The looks of the book was good. I am sure he will love it. I did not like the fact it was not shipping out till Jan 29th. His birthday was the 11th
J**G
Very Thorough Book! Even For Advanced Growers!
This book is excellent. I have been running a gourmet mushroom business for 4 years. The author goes through every detail of growing gourmet mushrooms. Following the ideas in this book will get you started, even if you have little equipment to grow mushrooms. It has a lot of information good for every skill level. I just started reading this book this Summer and found it very helpful in what I do. It helped me eliminate several common problems and has helped me become a better grower. I highly recommend this book!
C**Y
This book is amazing
Everything I hoped it would be and more.Fix your soil with mycelium, learn to grow a ton of different mushrooms with a bunch of different methods.But the best part is he ranks mushroom species for the level of difficulty cultivating them. And he tells you which method is best for each species he covers.Truly a must have if you are into mushrooms or permaculture
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