Preface
This volume is the result of my research, lecturing and consulting in many countries during more than thirty years.
There has often been a lack of good information on growing oyster mushrooms and often that has resulted in misinformation. I have tried to include all information that I have seen a need for and other information that my consulting clients have told me they want or need.
Wise growers and wise consultants never stop learning, no consultant has all of the answers. Formal education in mushroom growing is limited and often the instructors have less experience than they claim. Successful mushroom growers may have no formal education in growing, but they are usually very intelligent. The old saying that “necessity is the mother of invention,” is as true and maybe more true in mushroom growing than in any other endeavour.
Several of the ideas presented are those of my grower-clients, others are things I have learned from other consultants. In the broadest sense, everything in this volume has come from observation!
Ralph H. Kurtzman, Jr.
Berkeley, CA U.S.A.
September 2005