The Stropharia Rugoso Annulata is a first experiment in a series to grow edible mushrooms in the so-on edible rooftop garden. We choose this specimen of mushrooms to start with, as it is relatively easy to grow on mulch, so one does not need the more complex and delicate method of working with spawn on logs.
Over the weekend, I spend a saturday afternoon by cutting willow-wood into woodchips. According Mycobois, the supplier of the mushroom-brood, this is an appropriate kind of wood to grow the King Stropharia. Early february, I spread the spawn over 2 square meters, on a wind-protected and relatively shady spot in the rooftop garden. Over the spawn I spread the willow woodchips in a layer of 10 cm. In the top layer of the woodchips I divided the rest of the spawn insmall holes, 20cm apart from each other. Along the information, the mycelium should start growing through the woodchips, and in a few months the whole surface of the chips should be covered by mycelium roots.
Around the months of may/june, I can expect the fruits, the Stropharia mushrooms. This should go on over a few months, till it becomes too cold in october.
Stropharia rugoso annulata, commonly known as the wine cap stropharia, “garden giant”, burgundy mushroom or king stropharia, is an agaric of the family Strophariaceae found in Europe.
Unlike many other members of the genus Stropharia, it is widely regarded as a choice edible and cultivated for food.
The king stropharia can grow to 20 cm high with a reddish-brown convex to flattening cap up to 30 cm across, the size leading to another colloquial name godzilla mushroom. The gills are initially pale, then grey, and finally dark purple-brown in colour. The firm flesh is white, as is the tall stem which bears a wrinkled ring. This is the origin of the specific name which means “wrinkled-ringed”.
It is found on wood chips and bark mulch across Europe in summer and autumn. Described as very tasty by some authors, king stropharia is easily cultivated on a medium similar to what it grows on naturally.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stropharia_rugosoannulata
