STOCKSCH 290B
Jan. 25 – May 4, 2022
3 Credits
ENROLL HERE
Instructor: Dr. Mike Davis Email: rmdavis@ucdavis.edu
Mike Davis earned his Ph.D. degree in Plant Pathology from University of California, Riverside and became a member of the Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, in 1986 as a Cooperative Extension Specialist, a position he held with a joint Professor title. He retired from UC Davis in 2015. Mike’s career focused on the study of diseases of citrus, vegetables, and field crops and practical applications of disease management measures. He always had an interest in mushrooms and taught courses in mushroom identification, cultivation, and phylogeny. In addition, he published a number of papers on mushrooms, including the classification of new species. He is lead author of Field Guide to Mushrooms of Western North America published in 2012.
Course Goals: The course introduces methods of growing edible mushrooms, including culture maintenance, basic mushroom substrate preparation, composting, spawn generation techniques, inoculation methods, harvesting, and pests and pest management. The history of mushroom production and recent trends in the diversification of edible mushrooms will be discussed. The biology of individual edible mushrooms will be covered.
Introduction to Mushroom Cultivation Syllabus
Outline of Topics:
- History of mushroom production
- Biology of edible mushrooms
- Sterile technique and culture maintenance
- Substrate preparation
- Composting
- Spawn generation techniques
- Inoculation methods
- Incubation and harvesting
- Pests and pest management
- Agaricus bisporus cultivation
- Wood decomposers: Shiitake, oysters, mitake, and reishi cultivation
- Collecting wild mushrooms
Class Lecture Schedule:
- Introduction; History of Mushroom Production
- Sterile Technique and Culture Maintenance
- Fruiting Substrates
- Substrate Preparation – Straw and Sawdust Blocks
- Mushroom discussion: Enoki , Oyster, and Shimeji
- Mushroom Biology and Fungal Genetics
- Spawn Generation Techniques; Inoculation Methods
- Mushroom discussion: Shiitake and Reishi
- Agaricus Production: Phase I Composting
- Incubation; Harvest; Ventilation
- Mushroom discussion: Black Poplar and Button
- Agaricus Production: Phase II
- Cloning Mushrooms; Culture Collections
- Mushroom discussion: Lion’s Mane and Maitake
- Agaricus Production: Casing; Pinning; Harvest
- Fruiting Containers; Evaluating Mushroom Strains
- Other Cultivated Mushrooms (Straw, Wood Ear, Nameko, others)
- Pest, Disease, and Weed Control
- Troubleshooting: Small-Scale Commercialization of Edible Mushrooms
- Mushroom Nutritional and Medicinal Value
- Other EdibleFungi; Biological Efficiency
- Collecting Wild Mushrooms
Grading: Grades will be determined by the results of two quizzes (10% each), two written assignments (20% each), and a comprehensive final examination (40% of total).
Readings:
Required: Lynch, T. (2018). Mushroom Cultivation
Recommended: Stamets, P. (1993). Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms
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This class is part of the Sustainable Food and Farming Online Certificate Program and will count toward the Associate of Science degree as well as the Online B.S. degree. Online classes cost $482/credit.
To begin planning for the future, see….
Annual Class Schedule
NOTE: The UMass Sustainable Food and Farming Certificate has been declared eligible for Veterans Educational Benefits. For instructions see: Veterans Benefits.
If you are not interested in earning college credit, there are many non-credited workshops and short courses you can take outside of the university. For a list see: non-university workshops and courses.