Mushroom Growing

Chestnut Mushrooms Growing In A Field

With the temperature dropping recently in the South of England and plenty of wet, damp weather, conditions seem to be perfect for many different, more Autumnal types of mushrooms and it seems that Chestnut mushrooms have also been very happy with the recent conditions, as I’ve noticed many of these coming up in the past week or so.

Chestnut Mushrooms Growing

I’m not certain what these mushrooms are called, whether its a Chestnut mushroom (as they are labelled as in the shops), a Button mushroom, a Closed Cap mushroom, a White mushroom, a Horse Mushroom, a Portobello mushroom, they all seem to be the same type of mushroom – also known as Agaricus Bisporus. This is the number 1, most cultivated mushroom in the world, but when found growing in the wild it will have a more intense, nuttier flavour than the shop mushrooms which are usually far less fresh and less flavoursome.

Chestnut Mushroom Growing Wild

You will find few varieties of Agaricus Bisporus mushrooms growing in fields in the wild, and they like the presence of horses

 (whether this is due to the horses grazing on the grass, keeping it short for the mushrooms, or due to the natural fertilizers that the horses will produce on the ground, I’m not completely sure). Many mushrooms love to grow in or around horse manure, and maybe this is why many Agaricus Bisporus mushrooms will appear in a field that also contains horses.

Horse Mushrooms In The Wild

The Chestnut/Horse mushrooms that we picked a few days ago were growing on damp, wet ground and they almost always appeared to grow in small clusters – if you saw one mushroom you would probably find about 4 or 5 of them scattered around that one position. On some occasions they even grew in lines, almost like the fairy ring mushrooms. The only negative with these mushrooms is that often the maggots will have worked their way up the stems and inside, so when you cut them at the base of the stalk have a quick look to check for any holes in the bottom of the stem. If there are some, try cutting the mushroom in half (up the stem) to see how much damage the maggot has done. Usually if you see any sign of maggots then its best to just lay the mushroom back down on the field in the same position, so that it can continue to drop its spores.