pick yr. own mushrooms......

[minnowfish]

i want to find some wild edible mushrooms to cook with but i just can't seem to find any place to pick your own around ontario. does pick your own mushroom farms exist?

or is it something i have to chance upon in the woods?

[abscissa]

Given the way mushrooms are raised it would very much surprise me to see a "pick your own" farm. Mushrooms aren't plants and aren't raised outside in soil in the sun.

[jayt90]

That's exactly right. They are raised in sterile conditions; even the stallion manure they prefer has to be sterilized. But you can buy kits for home growing, in a basement or garage. Try Dominion Seeds, Stokes, or Richter's for online sources close to home. Dominion has a costly morel kit, but I think that is risky, and I don't think it is guaranteed to grow.

If you pick your own, take a guide, make spore prints, and ask an expert. Two of the safer picks are morels, this week, and young puffballs, in the fall.

[kajekat]

There's a farm on Guelph Line, north of Burlington -- used to be called Kent, but now I think it's changed hands (maybe it's Money's now). Not sure if you could pick your own, but they were open to the public during the week.