Last week the GIY Guide explored the basics of mushroom hunting, which is as fine an excuse to spend a day out in the woods as any. But for the true mushroom fanatic, it can be an equally rewarding endeavor to grow your own. After all, just because you go out looking for mushrooms, doesn’t guarantee you’ll come back with any. But by cultivating a crop of them, you’re bound to wind up with at least a plate or two for dinner.

Disclaimer! Alas, I’m no expert on the finer nuances of mushroom growing! But fortunately most people’s first foray into mycology is with a pre-packaged mushroom kit: “just add water”. Though die-hard DIY-ers tend to shy away from the convenience (and expense) of readymade retail items, the upside to starting out with a kit is that after a first flush or two, you can introduce the remaining mycelia to the environment of your choice—hopefully jumpstarting a regular crop in a patch of great outdoors near you.

The most common types of kit mushrooms include oyster mushrooms and shiitakes, both of which make extremely tasty additions to any menu. One recommended California purveyor of certified organic mail-order mushroom kits is GMHP: Gourmet Mushrooms and Health Products. In addition to oysters and shiitakes, they have morels and a curious-looking puffball fungus called the pom-pom blanc. A company with an astounding array of mushroom kits, plus mushroom cultures and clones for advanced growers is Fungi Perfecti, from Olympia, Washington. Another great resource for advanced growers is this intensive instructional mushroom-growing (DVD) guide: Let’s Grow Mushrooms!

After you’ve harvested as many flushes from your kit as possible, the next step is to find a place for the remaining last strands of mycelia. Introducing “wood” mushrooms such as shiitakes and oysters to blocks of sawdust, “logs” of grain-enriched straw, or holes drilled in freshly-cut stumps will generally yield the best results, while portabellos, white buttons, and wine caps prefer to colonize habitats of compost or manure. Resist the temptation to over-manipulate a new habitat; the mushrooms will know better than you whether it will support them—but if they take to their new digs, you won’t have to travel very far to hunt them next year.