Subject: Hi...I'm a clueless newbie!

From: [email-masked] (Mick Ishmael)
Date: 3 Apr 1995 09:53:15 -0700

at least when it comes to mushrooms.Where can i find the FAQ...and can 
someone tell me about them things i see at the grocery (common commercial 
mushrooms)?

I remember a TV program a while bact that said you could grow a certain 
variety of mushroom on (hickory charcoal?)...anybody know what i'm 
refering to?

thanx.

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From: Chris Schadt <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 1995 19:04:50 -0700

On 9 Apr 1995, mspear wrote:

> Commercial Agaricus farmers are just like any other
> farmers.  There are some who use a lot of pesticides.  However the
> successful ones got that way by keeping costs down and quality and
> productivity up.  As in most crops this means minimal pesticides,
> Integrated Pest Management, sanitary practices instead of poisons.
> 
> The average Agaricus operation is around 4 million pounds per year. 
> It's got lot's of employees and has the usual constraints of FIFRA
> regulations, insurance inspections, FDA rules and the like.
> 
> The average shiitake or oyster grower is much smaller, not nearly as
> professional, has much less time in the business, and can "fly under
> the radar".  Pest and disease control without poisons are not as well
> worked out for the exotics.  In short these guys tend to use whatever
> they need to and can get away with it.
> 
> The blanket assertion that Agaricus is pesticide laden and shiitake is
> not probably should be discarded.
> 
>     ---- Mark

Another consideration not adressed here is the fact that Agaricus farmer 
most often use straw and chicken manure purchased from farms over which 
they have little control as to what chemicals are being used.  Being as 
how Agaricus are famed for their accumulation of toxins and metals in 
fruiting bodies I can see how this initial cultivation of compost 
material might be an extremely important step in eliminating toxins from 
the product.

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From: [email-masked] (CAVETOCAVE)
Date: 6 Apr 1995 03:23:32 -0400

Don't eat the common commercial one if you are trying to avoid commercial
toxins.
Because of the problems of growing out of compost, fungicides (for the
lower fungus) and pesticides )for the flying inscects eggs/larva are used.
Eat shiitake' or tree oyster or wild from the woods types and you will not
have that problem.
Also if taste is a priority, same same.

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From: [email-masked] (mspear)
Date: 9 Apr 1995 19:28:45 -0400

> Also if taste is a priority, same same.

I disagree.  Commercial Agaricus farmers are just like any other

    ---- Mark

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From: Ernest Ezis <[email-masked]>
Date: 30 Apr 1995 12:25:44 GMT

--  
Ernest Ezis 
[email-masked]