This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English AgricultureReport.
Year after year, mushrooms of every size and shape push their wayup from under dead leaves or from inside dead trees.
The yearly growing season begins in late summer and continuesthrough autumn. During that brief period, people who like to eatmushrooms spend a lot of time walking through fields and forests.They look for what some people call “the food of the gods.”
Mushrooms are a fungus. They grow on dead organic matter.Mushrooms do not grow from seeds. They are formed by spores. Sporesare produced by fully grown mushrooms. They fall from the undersideof the top of a mushroom.
Mushrooms drop their tiny spores only once. However, they dropmillions of them at the same time. The wind spreads them over a widearea. When spores land on a tree that has fallen, they begin togrow.
At first, a spore produces long tube-like growths called hyphae.A number of hyphae form what is known as a mycelium. In time, themycelium grows into a mushroom.
Mushrooms are rich in vitamin B. They contain more protein thanmost vegetables. And studies show they can lower cholesterol in theblood.
It is possible to grow your own mushrooms – either inside thehouse or outside in the garden.
Companies sell mushroom mycelium that you can use to start yourown mushroom garden. Or you can buy small containers of organicmatter with mushroom spores inside. You add water and put thecontainer in a room at the correct temperature as directed. Thenwait for your mushrooms to grow.
The hunt for wild mushrooms has taken place throughout the worldsince ancient times. And, like most hunts, there is some danger.People have to be careful not to eat mushrooms that are poisonous.
Until two-thousand years ago, mushrooms could be eaten only whenthey were found in the wild. Then the Chinese began to grow theshiitake mushroom. Shiitakes are popular for their taste and becausethey are easy to grow. They grow naturally in warm areas of Chinaand Japan.
The European button mushroom is also popular. It grows veryquickly. During a thirty-day period, it is possible to get twobutton mushroom crops from one container of mycelium.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by BobBowen. This is Steve Ember.