'Field Mushroom' — a tasty, edible mushroom, used in various ways: fresh (boiled for about 10 minutes) in first and second courses, pickled or marinated. One of the most delicious mushrooms. Grows: mainly on open spaces, in gardens and parks, on pastures, on forest clearings, in grass, on roadside verges, in groups. Cap: diameter 8-15(20) cm, initially conical or broadly bell-shaped with a curled edge, later spreading and sometimes wavy-edged, silky, whitish, creamy, turning slightly ochre with age, yellowing at damaged areas or under pressure.
Gills: frequent, thin, initially white, later dark, black-brown. Stipe: 6-10 cm long and 1-3 cm in diameter, widened at the base, fibrous, hollow with age, white, later yellowing, with a two-layered membranous ring. Flesh: dense, fleshy, white or yellowish, slightly yellowing when cut.
The entire cultivation process of mushrooms consists of three stages. The first stage — substrate preparation, the second — inoculation, i.e., introducing mushroom spores into the prepared substrate, and the third stage — fruiting. The substrate material includes chicken manure, cow, sheep, and pig manure, as well as straw — wheat or rye straw is best.
The best component for preparing mushroom substrate is horse manure, but due to its scarcity, cow manure is usually used. The ratio of manure to straw should be approximately 35-50 kg of manure to 100 kg of straw. It should be remembered that if the amount of straw is less than 100 kg, the fermentation process may not start. Initially, straw is soaked for two days. On the third day, the compost pile is laid. The most convenient size for the pile is 1.5–2 meters wide, 2–2.5 meters high, and any length. Straw and manure are laid in the pile in layers — no fewer than 3–4 layers of manure and 3–4 layers of straw. The thickness of each layer of manure and straw — 25–30 cm. Each straw layer is additionally lightly moistened and sprinkled with 600 g of urea.
At a rate of 2.5 kg of urea per 100 kg of straw. In warm seasons, the pile can be laid under open sky. The area where the pile is laid should be concrete or asphalted to avoid contact with soil. Contact of compost with soil is dangerous because pests' spores may enter the compost, making it difficult to eliminate them later. The area must be equipped with a rain shelter. In cold seasons, the pile is laid in a special compost room. In this room, the temperature must be maintained at no less than 10–12°C and good ventilation must be ensured, as the composting process releases ammonia. After the pile is laid, composting begins inside it. The beginning of this process is indicated by rising temperature inside the pile and the smell of ammonia.
