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Growing mushrooms – is that possible? In fact, it is not that difficult to grow your own mushrooms. We will explain to you which varieties and methods are best suited.

Growing mushrooms at home: why it’s a good idea

Mushrooms – which are not plants, by the way – are low in calories, but provide important nutrients. Most mushrooms are a relatively good source of protein and can also contain important ingredients such as the important nerve cell component potassium, B vitamins or iron and phosphorus. Mushrooms, for example, contain 91 percent water, potassium, phosphorus and vitamins B1 and B2.

In contrast to wild-collected mushrooms, you don’t have to worry about the fact that home-grown mushrooms are contaminated with heavy metals or radioactive. If you grow mushrooms yourself, you can harvest all year round.

When it comes to where they grow, mushrooms are undemanding. However, they prefer shady places to sunny ones. Many varieties, such as mushrooms, can even do without light, which is why you can even grow mushrooms in the basement. They don’t like direct sun that much because they dry out too quickly there. Some mushrooms depend on sufficient humidity, more about that in the next sections.

This is what you need to grow mushrooms

You don’t need much to start your mushroom cultivation. Essentially, there are two things: the fungus and a substrate.

You have two options when choosing the mushroom: Either you only buy the mushroom culture, the so-called mushroom mycelium. Or you buy a mushroom culture kit, where everything you need is already prepared. Making a mushroom culture yourself is quite difficult for you as a hobby mushroom grower, so you will probably have to buy it. Ready-made sets also have an advantage: the substrate is usually already penetrated by the fungal tissue, so that the fungus very quickly begins to form its fruiting body, i.e. the part that we eat. That’s why you already have the first harvest successes after three to five weeks.

Choosing the substrate is easier. Ordinary residual products are used here. For example, you can use the following as a substrate for growing mushrooms:
coffee grounds
straw
sawdust
wood (untreated and unvarnished)
tree stumps

Make sure the substrate is as clean as possible. Because mushroom cultivation needs a lot of moisture, which in turn promotes the growth of germs or mold. If in doubt, you can treat your substrate with steam over 60 degrees Celsius. This kills germs and unwanted fungal spores.

You can fill the substrate in a bucket, pot or box, for example. Depending on the location you choose, a mushroom grow bag may also come in handy. It prevents the mushrooms from drying out. Mushroom growing bags are used in particular when your chosen location is very dry. You can buy together with the mushroom cultures.

Grow mushrooms yourself: This is how you start your mushroom cultivation

Once you have the mushroom culture and substrate together, you can get started. With these tips you will succeed in growing mushrooms:

Before you put the mushroom culture in the substrate, water the substrate and then let it drain. It should be damp but not soaking wet.
Also make sure that the humidity in the area is high. 80 to 95 percent relative humidity is ideal. The basement, bathroom or kitchen are probably best suited here. If you don’t have a room with high humidity, you can support the growth of your mushrooms with a mushroom grow bag or indoor greenhouse.
Make sure the temperature is right: Mushrooms like a warm, humid climate, so the temperature should be between ten and 25 degrees Celsius. But it is worth taking a look at the packaging of your mushroom culture. This often indicates a temperature window.
Mix the mushroom culture under the substrate and fill it in a bucket or box. The layer should be a few centimeters thick.
Now it’s time to keep wet and wait. Check daily that your substrate is still damp. It is best to moisten it with a spray bottle. Be careful not to let the water stand in it and always use fresh tap water – otherwise mold can form here too.
If you only work with a mushroom culture, it will take a few weeks for the mycelium, i.e. the subterranean networks of your mushroom, to develop. Only then does the fruiting body form.
When the mushrooms are the size you want, you can harvest them. The best way to do this is to cut them off with a clean knife.
As a rule, a mushroom culture will sprout three to four times after you have harvested it. In between, she always needs a few days off.

Cooking Tips

Frying Pak Choi: You Have to Pay Attention to That

To fry Pak Choi, you only have to pay attention to a few points. We’ll show you how to prepare the delicious Asian cabbage in a pan or wok.

Pak Choi, or Bok Choy or Pak Choy, is related to Chinese cabbage and is particularly popular in Asian cuisine. The vegetable looks similar to the local chard, but has its own taste with a mustard note. In this article you will find out how to fry pak choi deliciously.

Frying Pak Choi: Preparation

Basically, it is very easy to prepare Pak Choi in a pan or wok. Before you can start roasting, you must first prepare the cabbage:
Cut off the base of the stalk so that the leaves come loose one by one. If necessary, remove wilted leaves.
Wash each leaf thoroughly with water. To dry them off afterwards, you can shake them off or use a salad spinner.
Separate the leaves from the stems by either plucking them off or cutting them off with a knife. Keep the leaves separate from the stems, as you don’t want to add them to the pan at the same time afterwards.
Cut the stems and leaves into bite-sized pieces. Since the thicker stems in particular need a little longer in the pan, you can cut them a little finer.

Frying Pak Choi: This is how it’s done with a pan or wok

After you have washed and cut the pak choi, you can fry the cabbage. In Asian cuisine, the wok is usually used for this. In this you can serve Pak Choi particularly crispy. If you don’t have a wok, you can also fry the cabbage in a normal pan.

In Asian cuisine, pak choi usually goes into the wok with many other ingredients – for example other vegetables and diced tofu. But you can also serve Pak Choi separately with a side dish. The only important thing is to fry the stems first, as they take longer to cook.

How to fry pak choi:
Heat some oil in a pan or wok. In principle, you can use any oil that is suitable for frying. The Pak Choi is particularly tasty with sesame oil.
Then first put the chopped stalks into the pan and fry them for about three minutes.
Then add the leaves and fry them for about one, maximum two minutes.
Take the pan off the stove and season the fried pak choi with salt, pepper and some soy sauce.
Variations: Of course, you can also season Pak Choi creatively. Depending on your taste, some chilli paste, lemon juice, roasted sesame or peanuts are suitable.

Cooking Tips

Harvest and Dry Sage Correctly – You Should Pay Attention to This

If you harvest and dry sage properly, it can be stored for a long time. So you can use it at any time of the year to refine and season dishes. Even harvested and dried sage is also suitable as a tea for a sore throat.

6 tips for the right sage harvest

The real sage is a popular herb for refining dishes. But sage can also provide relief as a variety of home remedies, for example for sore throats or gastrointestinal complaints.

It is important to harvest the sage correctly in order to have sufficient supplies for the cold season, when the sage no longer sprout.

You should pay attention to these tips for a productive harvest:
Harvest time is from May to August. Normally, the sage begins to bloom at the beginning of summer. In its heyday, however, its aroma content is very weak, which would make it uninteresting as a herb.
If you grind consistently and evenly, you’ll reduce woodiness and blooming. The young shoot tips in particular are rich in essential oils and aromatic ingredients.
Never cut into the woody part of the shoots, otherwise the shoot will not sprout again.
Do not wash the harvested sage, just wipe it off to avoid unnecessarily slowing down the drying process and losing valuable ingredients.
To avoid loss of aroma, you should dry or freeze the sage immediately after harvesting.
You should harvest the last time around the end of August so that the shoots can fully mature before the first frost and are therefore protected. To protect the hardy shrub from frost, you can put leaves, fir green or straw around the root area. Attention: Not all sage species are hardy.

drying sage

Dry or Freeze Sage – Which is Better? The answer: both are possible! The essential oils are preserved both dried and frozen.

Sage really dry
In the air:
Dry the sage at 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (21 to 27 degrees Celsius) in a well-ventilated area. That takes about ten days.
You can simply spread individual sheets on newspaper.
If you have harvested stalks, tie them together with string and hang them upside down.
In the oven:
It is also possible to dry the sage in the oven at 40 degrees Celsius within about six hours.
Turn the leaves regularly and leave the oven door ajar (say, with a wooden spoon between them). However, this method is not very energy-efficient and therefore not recommended.

Freeze sage properly

To freeze sage, you can put the sage leaves uncrushed in a screw-top jar or freezer container.

Food

Storing Apples: You Have to Pay Attention to That

If you store apples correctly, they stay fresh and tasty longer and can even be stored for many months – just like grandma used to do! Utopia tells you what you should consider here.

Why is proper storage of apples important?

The ripening process of an apple continues even after it has been picked and the texture of the harvested fruit changes. If you store apples incorrectly, they can overripe, rot, or dry up.

In order to avoid food waste, save money and simply enjoy the healthy fruit for longer, you should follow a few tips and store apples correctly.

Store apples separately from other fruit

Anyone who has ever put together a decorative fruit basket with apples, bananas, plums or pears knows how quickly the fruit ripens.

Apples give off the plant hormone ethylene, which causes the other fruits to ripen faster or even rot. Potatoes also suffer if they are stored with apples – they become shriveled and old faster. Therefore, you should always store apples separately.
You should also make sure to keep your apples cool and dark, ideally in a closet or basement. The vegetable drawer in the refrigerator is also suitable, but it should not contain any other fruit and vegetables because of the ethylene. The fridge shouldn’t be too cold either, because apples don’t tolerate frost.
If you still have old plastic bags at home, you can also use these for storage: the film retains moisture and the fruit is protected from drying out. But make sure that not too much water accumulates in the bag.

Stock up on apples to keep them fresh through the winter

With a few tricks, you can not only store the apples for a few days or weeks, but make them durable for the whole winter or even until the next harvest in autumn. This is far more ecological than buying imported apples from overseas.

Keep the following points in mind when storing apples:
Find a dark, cool storage place with a constant temperature – preferably between three and four degrees Celsius. For example, a basement compartment, a garage or a shed is suitable. Under certain circumstances, an unheated hallway or a cool pantry may also be suitable.
Make sure there is enough humidity so that the apples don’t dry out and shrivel up. For example, regularly set out bowls of water or loosely cover the apples with a perforated plastic wrap, if you have one. In this way, moisture is retained, but excessive condensation can escape.
At the same time, make sure there is enough air supply so that the apples don’t get moldy. If you’re storing them in wooden crates, only put one layer of apples per crate and make sure the fruit doesn’t touch each other. Boxes with side or bottom slots are particularly suitable.
If you store your apples in a shed in the garden, be sure to protect them from frost and rodents, such as mice!
Before storage: Only choose apples that are in good condition for storage – i.e. only fruit without bruises, signs of eating or rot. It is best to store the apples with the stem.

Cooking Tips

Freezing Porcini Mushrooms: You Should Pay Attention to This

If you freeze porcini mushrooms, you can make them last much longer. We explain how it works and what you should consider before buying or collecting the mushrooms.

Freezing porcini mushrooms: You should pay attention to this

If you want to freeze porcini mushrooms, they should be fresh. When you buy porcini mushrooms, an organic seal guarantees you organic cultivation that is free of chemical-synthetic pesticides. With your purchase you can also support regional suppliers, such as the farm or organic market in your area.

If you are looking for porcini mushrooms in the forest, you should note that mushroom picking is strictly forbidden in nature reserves. In other forests you are usually allowed to collect for your own use, but find out about it beforehand.

Freezing porcini mushrooms: this is how you do it

If you want to freeze porcini mushrooms, the mushrooms should be in an unprocessed state if possible. This way you can keep them for up to 12 more months by freezing them. We explain in three steps how to freeze raw porcini mushrooms:

Clean mushrooms: First, carefully clean the porcini mushrooms with a cloth or brush. Don’t wash the mushrooms with water at this point, because that way they will go mushy very quickly.
Cut the mushrooms into small pieces: Use a paring knife to remove the stem ends of the porcini mushrooms. Now cut the mushrooms into small pieces. Halve, quarter or slice the mushrooms.
Freezing: Put the porcini mushrooms in an empty screw-top jar and freeze the mushrooms at around minus eighteen degrees.

To use the porcini mushrooms for various mushroom dishes, you can heat the porcini mushrooms while they are frozen. If you let them thaw for a long time, they lose their firm consistency.

Food

Eat Pumpkin Raw? Information And What You Should Pay Attention To

Many pumpkin dishes are part of the autumn season. But did you know that you can also eat pumpkin raw?
Pumpkin soup or pumpkin puree are classics, but if you’re looking for more variety, you can also eat pumpkin raw. You can eat many types of pumpkin uncooked without worry, but to be on the safe side, you should still follow a few tips before doing so.

Eating pumpkin raw: when is it safe?

There is a rule of thumb when eating raw pumpkins: edible pumpkins are good raw vegetables, but you should stay away from ornamental pumpkins! Because ornamental gourds contain the bitter substance curcurbitacin, which is toxic even in small amounts and can cause nausea and tachycardia, according to the Federal Center for Nutrition (BZfE). The best way to recognize a decorative pumpkin is that it is much smaller than its grocery store relatives and often a much more striking color and shape. It is also marked as such in the store.

On the other hand, you can eat almost all types of pumpkin available in the supermarket raw without hesitation. According to the BZfE, the toxic curcurbitacin was mostly bred from them by the producers. The following pumpkins taste best in raw recipes:

nutmeg squash
Butternut Squash
Hokkaido pumpkin

Already knew? You can not only eat pumpkin from the shops raw, but sometimes also with the skin! For example, you can save yourself the trouble of peeling the Hokkaido pumpkin before processing it.

Better not to eat pumpkin from the garden raw

While growing your own pumpkins in the garden is a good idea, it’s best not to eat your harvest raw. Because even if you use seeds from which a pumpkin should actually grow, so-called reverse mutations can cause poisonous cucurbitacins to form again in the pumpkin. This crossbreeding is particularly dangerous because you often cannot tell with the naked eye whether the bred pumpkin is poisonous or not.

Incidentally, such a mutation can also occur if you use your own seeds from the previous year. Even with tested organic seeds, there is a risk that your pumpkin will crossbreed with a poisonous ornamental pumpkin that may be growing in your neighbor’s garden. That’s why it’s best to play it safe and only eat pumpkin raw if you bought it from a store.

Eating raw pumpkin: This is how you do the taste test!

A certain residual risk also remains with purchased pumpkins. Before you can safely eat pumpkin raw, you should always do a taste test. In general, only use pumpkins that you bought in a grocery store.

This is how the taste test works with raw pumpkin:

First cut off a small piece of the raw pumpkin. Refrain from seasoning the pumpkin, otherwise you will no longer be able to perceive the pure taste.
Now put the piece of pumpkin in your mouth and see if you notice a bitter taste.
Don’t swallow the gourd, instead spit it out after the test.
If the pumpkin tastes bitter, it may contain harmful bitter substances.
In this case, do not eat the pumpkin raw and do not cook it either! It is better if you dispose of the pumpkin on the compost to be on the safe side.

Cooking Tips

Freeze Pizza Dough: You Have to Pay Attention to That

Freezing pizza dough is useful if you have misjudged the quantity or want to build up a small supply. We’ll explain how to freeze.

Freeze pizza dough in portions

Ideally, you freeze the pizza dough before it has risen – this way the pizza doesn’t get soggy. If you’ve made a lot of pizza dough, you should freeze the dough in the portions you need for one pizza at a time.

When freezing, it is important to pack the dough airtight. This works with cling film or freezer bags, but for the sake of the environment and your health you should avoid plastic. A good plastic-free alternative is a beeswax wrap.

You can freeze pizza dough particularly well in a cake tin: Roll out each portion of dough into a circle and place them in a round cake tin. Always put a layer of baking paper between the flatbreads (you can use the baking paper later).

Then you pack the whole thing airtight, for example in wax paper. The advantage of this method: You can take individual pizza bases straight out of the fridge. They thaw faster thanks to their flat shape and you don’t have to roll them out after freezing.

thawing and shelf life

Well packaged, the pizza dough can be stored in the freezer for up to three months. That’s enough to create a small supply.

You should defrost the dough slowly, ideally over a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator. This allows the pizza dough to rise again. If it has to be quick, you can save yourself the hassle, the pizza will be a bit crispy.

Cooking Tips

Baking Basic Bread: You Have to Pay Attention to That

Baking alkaline bread is not difficult and does not take long. We present three recipes with which you can bake the healthy and low-acid bread in your kitchen.

Alkaline bread differs from conventional bread in the way it is made: For alkaline bread, the grain must first begin to germinate before it is crushed. The baking result most closely resembles crispbread. Basic bread is said to prevent an overly acidic diet. However, this has not yet been scientifically proven.

The big advantage is rather that with basic bread you do without unhealthy foods such as white flour or sugar.

Alkaline bread can consist not only of germinated (!) grain, but also of germinated oilseeds such as pumpkin seeds or sesame. In addition to herbs and spices, fruit and vegetables can also be part of alkaline bread. This works for example with bananas, zucchini and celery.

We recommend that you use organic food from regional suppliers for the following recipes. In this way you can support food with a low transport distance and a good carbon footprint.

Bake basic bread: Recipe for buckwheat bread

The first recipe is for a basic bread with grains. You can prepare it with chia seeds or alternatively with sunflower seeds or sesame:

You need these ingredients for a buckwheat bread:

500 grams of buckwheat flour
2 tbsp chia seeds
120 grams of buckwheat
100 g pumpkin seeds
3 tsp honey
450ml + 440ml + 400ml water
50 g amaranth
3 tsp sea salt
some olive oil
You should start preparing your basic buckwheat bread the day before:

Soak the buckwheat and pumpkin seeds in a glass of water in the morning. Use about 440 milliliters, twice as much water as seeds. Then let them dry overnight. The best way to do this is to spread the seeds out on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and place them on the heater.
Soak the chia seeds in a glass filled with water overnight. The chia seeds should be completely covered with water. Use about 400 milliliters of water for this.
Preparation:

Puree the buckwheat grains and pumpkin seeds in a blender and then set them aside for a moment.
Blend the soaked chia seeds and water again in the blender.
Now put the chia seeds, buckwheat, pumpkin seeds, honey, water, sea salt and amaranth in a bowl and stir vigorously with the buckwheat flour.
Spread the batter on a greased baking sheet.
Let the basic bread dry in the oven at around 40 degrees for eight hours.
Turn the bread and let it dry for another eight hours, then it will have the right consistency.
Tip: If you like, you can sprinkle your bread dough with sunflower seeds or sesame seeds before you put it in the oven.

Baking basic bread: A sweet variant

You can bake sweet basic bread with the help of fruit, sweet spices and nuts. How about a sunflower seed bread with banana and cinnamon?

You need these ingredients:

500 g wholemeal flour
100 g sunflower seeds
150 grams of flaxseed
1 liter of water
1 banana
3 tsp honey
3 tsp vanilla
3 tsp cinnamon
some sunflower oil
How to prepare this basic bread:

Fill a jar with 1 liter of water and let the sunflower seeds and flax seeds soak in it overnight.
Then let the seeds dry for a few hours without the water.
Puree the dried sunflower seeds and flaxseeds.
Peel the banana and cut it into small pieces.
Put the banana, honey, vanilla and cinnamon in the blender and blend until smooth.
Mix the seeds, the mixture from the mixer and the whole wheat flour.
Spread the batter on a greased baking sheet.
Let the basic bread dry in the oven at around 40 degrees for eight hours.
Turn the bread and let it dry for another eight hours, then it will have the right consistency.

Food

Risk of Confusion With The Porcini Mushroom: You Should Pay Attention to This

If you confuse a porcini mushroom with other mushrooms, this is not a problem as there are no poisonous doubles. In this article you will find out which other mushrooms you could confuse the porcini mushroom with.

One of the most popular edible mushrooms is the porcini mushroom, also known as the porcini mushroom. The porcini mushroom belongs to the thick boletus family and lives in root symbiosis with trees. The name spruce boletus, which is common in some places, indicates that the boletus is often found under spruce trees.

There are no poisonous doubles for the porcini mushroom, but it can happen that you confuse it with the common gall boletus and thick-stemmed specimens of the chestnut boletus.

Characteristics of the boletus

The dark brown hat of the porcini can reach a diameter of up to 25 centimeters. The robust, bulbous stem is an average of ten centimeters long and reaches a diameter of two to eight centimeters at the base. In the transition to the cap, the handle is significantly narrower. On the underside of the cap you can see whitish tubes on young porcini mushrooms, which take on a yellow-green color with age.

The porcini has light, firm flesh and tastes pleasantly nutty. Porcini mushrooms do not have a special smell. In older specimens, the pores under the cap are often infested with vermin. Therefore, you should pay attention to this before preparing it in the kitchen and detach the spongy tubes from the cap. The pores hardly change color when pressure is applied.

Boletus mistake: common gall boletus

The common bile boletus belongs to the thick boletus family and is therefore related to the porcini mushroom. Hence the similarities. The common bile boletus is also called bitterling and is not considered an edible mushroom due to its extremely bitter taste. This means that the common bile boletus is not poisonous but inedible.

The most important characteristic, in order not to confuse the common bile boletus with the porcini mushroom, is the color of the pores. The bile boletus has whitish tubes under the brown cap that turn pink with age. The stalk of the bile boletus is slightly darker and veined like a net. The odor of the gallbladder is unpleasant. The flesh has an extremely bitter taste. Therefore, the bile boletus is not popular in the kitchen at all, since a single fungus can spoil the whole dish.

Chestnut boletus vs. porcini

The chestnut boletus also belongs to the thick boletus family and is related to the porcini mushroom. In the vernacular, the chestnut boletus is also called “Marone” because the dark brown hat in the moss looks similar to chestnuts.

The cap of the young chestnut boletus has a hemispherical shape and later becomes irregularly curved. The diameter is up to fifteen centimeters. The whitish tubes, which turn olive yellow when old, are striking and turn blue when pressure is applied. The light flesh also turns blue when you cut the mushroom. This has also earned it the name “blue mushroom”. The stalk, which is shaped like a cylinder, is brownish in color and lighter than the cap and is significantly slimmer than that of the porcini mushroom. The chestnut boletus smells pleasantly slightly sour and is a popular, tasty edible mushroom.

If the pressure point on the tubes and the cutting point on the stem turn blue, it is not a porcini mushroom but a chestnut boletus. You can rule out the additional confusion of the chestnut boletus with the bile boletus by the taste test. Since the chestnut boletus is a tasty edible mushroom, you can harvest it as soon as you have ruled out confusing it with the gall boletus.