Growing Wine Cap Mushrooms In The Garden

Dennis Morgeson Agent for Horticulture

Washington County

Wine Caps or Strophariarugosa-annulata

• Native mushroom to the Eastern U.S.

• Can be found naturally in garden beds, forest edges, and even lawns

• Easy to grow and cultivate in a garden setting

Wine Caps

• Wine caps feature a white stalk with a wine colored cap

• Crisp slightly nutty flavor

• Good for braising, sautéing, and grilling

Nutrition Benefits • Mushrooms have been eaten for

thousands of years • Low calorie, fat free, low in

cholesterol and sodium, and provide nutrients such as selenium, potassium, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin D, and more

• Stimulates the immune system, helps control weight by increasing satiety

• Good substitute for meat! • Some research even shows

mushrooms help fight cancer and shrink tumor growth. Also promising results for Alzheimer's and other diseases as well!

Other Benefits

• Fungi are natural soil builders, weed suppressors and an attractive landscape ornamental

• Can be grown as annual or perennial

Notice the greener ring of grass where these non edible fairy ring mushrooms are growing.

Where To Grow Them?

• Create Mushroom Beds • Pathways • Around Perennials and Shrubs • Any non-tilled beds/areas • Growth and fruit can happen

slowly or quickly place them in often visited areas

Sun or Shade?

• Wine caps will grow in a wide range of light conditions but…

• Prefer full sun or “garden shade”

Getting Started

• Materials: – Fresh (less than a year

old) Woodchips – Avoid coniferous species

or make less than 50% – Fresh Straw Bale? – Saw Dust Spawn

Getting Started

• Measure a spot about 16 square feet

• 5lbs of spawn will inoculate approximately 16 square feet

• Doesn’t have to be one continuous section but at least 4 square feet

When To Inoculate

• Spring is best time to inoculate but April-September is fine (spring inoculation generally gives fruiting in the same season)

Inoculation

• Remove organic matter down to “bare soil”

• Add ½” of sawdust or wood shavings evenly

• Sprinkle spawn evenly over sawdust

• Add 4” of woodchips or straw over spawn

• Soak area thoroughly • Dry Dog Food?

Maintenance

• Wine caps require very little maintenance

• They can live and fruit for years

• Add 2-4” of fresh woodchips in the fall to protect mycelium and as fresh ‘food’

Maintenance

• After one season the patch or colony of mycelium and be broken up and sprinkled over new areas as inoculation….

• Unless?

Harvesting

• Make sure to properly identify the mushrooms before consuming!!!!

• Wine caps: – Have a reddish-brown cap that changes from dark to

light as the mushroom matures – Gills that begin light black and turn darker as the

mushroom matures – They have a “king crown” ring or annulus around the

stem – No noticeable bulge where the mushroom meets the

ground

Identifying

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq1fLandtYA

Where To Get Spawn

• http://www.fieldforest.net/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_15_10

Eat!