On May 7, in Lijia Mushroom Stick Professional Cooperative located in Badu Town, Longquan City, Zhejiang Province of China, the first full-automatic inoculation machine of Shiitake mushroom’s Solid Spawn has gotten its success in trial production, rate of inoculation goes faster than 500 sticks. For the first batch of Shiitake mushroom sticks (2000 sticks), percentage of success reaches 98%.
“This full-automatic inoculation machine realizes automatic hole-punching, spawn-input and bagging, inoculation speed attains at least 500 sticks per hour, percentage of success reaches 98% while staff employment could be reduced by half,” introduces person in charge of the project warmly, adding that the machine comprehensively lifts the inoculation efficiency of mushroom sticks. Most importantly, it holds crucial realistic significance to the acceleration of transformation & development, and competitiveness improvement of mushroom industry in Longquan City.

On April 22, Morel mushrooms cultivated under walnut tree are showing desirable growth trend in mushroom base of Qianyao Village, Luoyang City, Henan Province of China, growers are engaged with mushroom picking.
“Our village incorporates 122 poor households totalling 505 poor population. In order to help them get rid of the hat of poverty, we decided to plant Morel mushrooms in walnut forest that covers 2076 mu of area,” introduces head of Qianyao Village warmly, adding that this kind of interplant pattern not only simplifies the process of sunshade, but also saves cost. Besides, residues of Morel mushroom also provide nutrition for the growth of walnut tree, thus enhancing the output of walnut and improving the utilization rate of land.
“The first batch of Morel mushroom were sold out after they appear on market. Now, the second batch are about to be picked, by now, we have received orders of at least 50 kg. Looking into the future, i am confident in turning this characteristic industry into the GOLDEN ROAD that leads villagers to end poverty and grow prosperous,” said head of Qianyao Village excitedly.

Verbruggen Mushrooms

Due to the corona virus a lot of mushroom growers are not able to sell their mushrooms to restaurants, caterers and catering industry anymore. Especially the exotic mushrooms are heavily impacted due to the current global crisis. Preventing them from going to waste a few companies in the Netherlands developed quite some creative ways to save these mushrooms.

"Verbruggen paddestoelen", a Dutch oyster mushroom grower is active in multiple initiatives to save their mushrooms. In the Netherlands a lot of regional projects are coming to life to support the local companies and farmers in this process. These initiatives are called #supportyourlocals.

This initiative is assembling boxes of fresh food directly from the farmers, which people can buy and enjoy at home. Normally these products are not sold in this way, but strange times demands different kinds of thinking. Oyster mushrooms are getting more known to consumers in this way as well, which is ofcourse a very good thing.

It is also possible to buy the oyster mushrooms directly at Verbruggen. Next to this there is an app called "Too Good to Go" where consumers can save food from going to waste.
Now the mushrooms of Verbruggen are being offered via this platform too ♥.

An appropriate title for a blog written on Easter Monday.

Normally the 7th day is a day of rest. Good for people after a week of working but not always good if mushrooms take a rest. Read: they stop growing. This can happen during the fructification and if the reaction of the grower is too slow, the flush grows out to be too small.

Fructification is split into two sections. 4 to 5 days for making the mushrooms or forming the primordia. The second part is roughly from day 5 till the start of the first flush. During the first part RH, ambient temperature and CO2 are the main parameters to control the number of primordia. Compost temperature is for me not that important at that time. After day 5 the RH is lowered to let the primordia grow out to be mushrooms. The CO2 is dropped slowly and we also start dropping the temperature to reach 17.5° C ambient temperature at the start of the flush (my favourite temperature to work with).

On day 7 one can see mushrooms developing in the size of 2 to 5 millimetres. And then this phenomenon can occur. You look during your morning check and everything looks good. The next day, nothing has happened. General reaction is waiting. But if you look carefully, in most of the cases the room is not taking enough fresh air. CO2 is okay, RH is okay, air temperature is okay and the compost temperature is declining. If the minimum fresh air setting is too low, the room can have a lack of oxygen and mushrooms just stop developing. Simplest thing to do is to drop the CO2 setting to 800 ppm for a couple of hours. To avoid this however and the best way to handle this, is to make sure that the minimum fresh air setting is around 25%. Then the climate unit will always use enough fresh air and mushrooms keep growing. By the way, this happens mostly with strains which tend to give bigger mushrooms. Because they already tend to give fewer mushrooms.

Mushrooms are good for you! Adding four to five medium sized mushrooms (100 g) to your diet provides important vitamins and minerals, essential for a healthy body and active lifestyle.
Mushrooms are a source of:

B Complex Vitamins – Mushrooms are a good source of B vitamins such as niacin, riboflavin, and panotothenic acid. These B vitamins help to provide energy by breaking down proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. B vitamins also play an important role in the nervous system.

Minerals – Mushrooms are a source of important minerals such as selenium, copper, and potassium. Minerals are necessary for the proper function of the human body and play different roles from making healthy red blood cells to protecting body cells.

Fibre – Mushrooms contain both soluble fibre and insoluble fibre, which helps to maintain good bowel health.

Vitamin D – Vitamin D works with Calcium and Phosphorus to make strong bones. Mushrooms are the only source of vitamin D in the produce aisle and one of the few non-fortified food sources.

Mushrooms are low in:

Fat
Carbohydrates
Sodium
Cholesterol
Sugar

Some easy ways to add more mushrooms and nutrients into your diet:

Add ½ cup white button mushrooms to your omelet or scrambled eggs. Benefit: one 1 extra gram of fibre.
Mix 1 cup of diced portabella mushrooms into pasta or pasta sauce. Benefit: three 3 extra grams of fibre.
Include 1 ½ cups sliced crimini (brown) mushrooms in risotto or other rice dishes. Benefit: five 5 extra grams of fibre.

Source: Mushrooms Canada

On April 16, in one of grottoes located in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Pleurotus geesteranus are showing good growth trend.
“In grottoes, temperature is kept at 20 degrees Celsius or so throughout the year, they are the nature incubator and are quite suitable for mushroom cultivation. And, they also help cut facility cost,” introduces Mr. Zhou Kerong, person in charge of the mushroom grottoes passionately, introducing that under the guidance of experts, he successfully output over 60,000 mushroom bags in 2018, and earned 20,000 CNY of revenues.
This year, Mr. Zhou cultivates over 40,000 mushroom bags in grottoes, daily fruiting volume reaches up to 500-1000 kg. And, Pleurotus geesteranus cultivated in grottoes are sold at 8-16 CNY per kg. Next step, Mr. Zhou intends to expand his cultivation scale and fully make full use of natural grottoes so as to produce more profits.

Affordable, nutritious and delicious, fresh mushrooms are making their mark. Even though they look simple, mushrooms have a whole lot going for them in the nutrition department.
Essential Nutrients

A half-cup serving of cooked sliced mushrooms has a mere 14 calories, virtually no fat, 1 gram of fibre and is a source of phosphorus, potassium, copper, selenium, niacin and pantothenic acid. Mushrooms are also a good source of riboflavin, and are the only vegetable in the produce section with natural Vitamin D. All that goodness with little calories and fat makes mushrooms a nutrient dense food and a healthy choice.
Antioxidants

Fresh mushrooms contain a powerful antioxidant called L-ergothioneine. Ergothioneine is found in both raw and cooked mushrooms. Portabella and crimini mushrooms have the most, followed by white button mushrooms.
Fibre

Mushrooms offer both soluble and insoluble fibre, which helps to maintain good bowel health.
Cancer-Fighting

Fresh mushrooms offer nutrients such as beta-glucans and conjugated linoleic acid, compounds that are currently being studied for their chemo-preventive potential. Recent research suggests that mushrooms (and mushroom extracts) may have powerful anti-tumour activity, for both breast and prostate cancer.
Immunity

A strong immune system helps protect against infections from bacteria and viruses. Emerging research indicates that certain mushroom extracts (including extracts from the white button mushrooms), may have a positive effect on the immune system.
Weight Management

Fresh mushrooms are nutrient dense, meaning they are high in nutrients and low in calories. They also have high water content, are low in fat, and contain some fibre; three factors that will help keep you feeling fuller for longer. Researchers have found that people who eat satisfying portions of foods that are less energy-dense have greater success at weight loss and maintenance.

Fresh Mushrooms Can Help!

Recent Studies Show that fresh mushrooms can help with:

Blood Pressure
Arthritis
Diabetes
Heart Health
Gout
Healthy Aging
Childhood Obesity
Diverticulosis

Source: Mushrooms.ca

Casseroles are a fantastic way to feed a hungry family of four or serve at a potluck to feed a group of twenty, especially when one uses the Blend and Extend method.

Recipe and photo by The Brunette Baker.

Prep Time: 10 mins. | Cook Time: 20 mins.
Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef
1 punnet white or crimini mushrooms, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 large green bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes
2 15-ounce cans tomato sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder (Add more or less, depending on your heat tolerance)
1 pound cooked elbow macaroni
Directions

1. In a large saucepan, add olive oil and sauté onions and peppers for about 5 minutes. Add in ground beef, mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until ground beef is thoroughly cooked.

2. Add in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, and sugar; stir well. Allow sauce to boil for about 5 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer.

3. Add cooked macaroni to meat and mushroom sauce and stir to combine. Adjust salt and pepper and add in chill powder. Give a good stir to ensure all flavours have come together.

4. Serve hot. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and serve with garlic bread.