How To Grow Giant Stropharia
A common headache in gardens is grass that creeps from paths into beds. A solution is to use wood chips on all the paths surrounding the garden. It’s pretty common, and you probably already do this. But here’s how to take things a step further …
Sprinkle Giant Stropharia Mushroom Spawn on Wood chips
Otherwise known as King Stropharia, Garden Giant, Wine Cap Stropharia, or Stropharia rugosoannulata. It comes as a white-ish block covered in fungus which spreads readily through moist wood chips and straw in the garden. After wet spells, usually in sunny spots near low growing plants typical of veggie gardens, the underground fungus will “fruit” producing distinctively large burgundy caps with lilac gills, a light colored stalk with a distinctive cog-wheel ring, or “veil scar” on the stalk of the mushroom.
Why Grow Them …
If the thrill of growing veggies is exciting, wait until you discover huge delicious mushrooms that pop out of the ground and grow to harvest size over the course of three or four days! It provides an incentive to check on things frequently, especially a few days after a rain, making this a spectacular sidekick that belongs in any garden. It has an unmistakable appearance, so you can feast with confidence. And it requires little to no care.
Here’s how …
Purchase mushroom “spawn” online.
Douse chips well with water right afterwards. Add in a little straw if you can, too.
After a few days rain, check to see if they’ve sprung and enjoy with dinner
Enjoy!
— Ben Samuelson