Customer Reviews

Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was pleasently surprised at the overall quality of this book when I received my copy in the mail. It is chock full of photographs with an entire section in the center devoted to color photographs. It is extremely well written and presents the facts of mycology, the current limitations of the field, and interjections of personal experience. Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms is much more than just a "how to" book, it discusses the science and life cycle of mushrooms along with brief histories of mycology. It is textbook quality (BTW college textbooks go for around $100 each these days) and provides specific guides for growing choice species in the latter portion of the book. It is not an identification guide however and I recommend picking up an audobon society field guide as a companion to this source. Some basic knowledge of chemistry and agriculture will help you get the most out of this book.

If you don't have a previous edition, be sure to get this one. If you have an older edition and have an interest in cultivating any of the added species, this edition is essential. If you just want to keep up to speed on Paul's new ideas, this book is the way to do it. We recommend it highly.

One of the best books around that I have read on growing mushrooms. It is comprehensive and well written. Paul Stamets seems to be quite an authority on developing prime environments for growth, cultivation, and harvesting.

I will need at least a year to read and understand this book, it a encyclopedia well worth any university course (and more)