Coprinus comatus, Shaggy Mane Mushroom, Garden inoculum, spawn, grain spawn

Description

Add some gourmet edible mushrooms to your garden this spring when you lay your fertilizer/mulch. A 5lb bag is enough to inoculate all of your fertilizer, given time to colonize. For fastest cultivation a 1-4 ratio by volume is recommended. This is a wild collected specimen from St. Mary's Colorado.
Coprinus comatus
, the
shaggy ink cap
,
lawyer's wig
, or
shaggy mane
, is a common
fungus
often seen growing on lawns, along gravel roads and waste areas. The young
fruit bodies
first appear as white cylinders emerging from the ground, then the bell-shaped
caps
open out. The caps are white, and covered with scales—this is the origin of the
common names
of the fungus. The
gills
beneath the cap are white, then pink, then turn black and deliquesce ('melt') into a black liquid filled with
spores
(hence the "ink cap" name).
[2]
This mushroom is unusual because it will turn black and dissolve itself in a matter of hours after being picked or depositing spores.
When young it is an excellent
edible mushroom
provided that it is eaten soon after being collected (it keeps very badly because of the autodigestion of its gills and cap). If long-term storage is desired, microwaving, sauteing or simmering until limp will allow the mushrooms to be stored in a refrigerator for several days or frozen. Also, placing the mushrooms in a glass of ice water will delay the decomposition for a day or two so that one has time to incorporate them into a meal. Processing or icing must be done whether for eating or storage within four to six hours of harvest to prevent undesirable changes to the mushroom. The species is
cultivated
in China as food.
Be sure to identify any mushroom you harvest before consumption.
Coprinus comatus, Shaggy Mane Mushroom, Garden inoculum, spawn, grain spawn.