Fungus among us!
Teen grows mushrooms
Florence, Alabama
Istock photo
Florence, ALABAMA – A teenager discovered a fascinating
new hobby
when he started exploring those humble,
delicious,
mysterious fungi called
mushrooms.
We interviewed Tyler Moses, age 13, from
Wilson High School in
Florence, Alabama, to find out more:
Real News (RN): What got you interested in mushrooms?
Tyler: I knew a person who hunted wild morel mushrooms,
which are a highly-prized edible (able to be eaten) kind.
I did a search on Internet. The idea of growing mushrooms
stuck in my head. After about two months of reading on the
subject, I bought what I needed and got started.
It’s been my obsession ever since.
RN: Why are you growing mushrooms?
Tyler: It sounded like an interesting hobby that few people
have the pleasure of enjoying. It also sounded like a way
I might make a little money.
RN: How do you do it?
Tyler: Most mushrooms are grown from
spores or cultures.
Once the process is understood, it’s fairly simple. It consists
of
inoculating (planting) a small amount of
substrate
(what a mushroom grows from,
usually in jars) with spores.
This is then
incubated at 78 - 82 degrees until mycelia
(mushroom roots) fill the jar. Temperature,
humidity
and light intake are carefully
controlled. Pins (small immature
mushrooms) grow. They
mature and can be harvested.
 Tyler Moses, age 13
RN: What is important for kids to know about mushroom safety?
Tyler: Never eat a wild mushroom! Some are poisonous and
identifying them can be tricky.
RN: What do you hope to do in the future?
Tyler: I hope to one day start a small business growing mushrooms.
For more information about growing mushrooms, see:
www.rnrk.com/weblinks.html
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