Mushrooms

[FutureSail87]

So im new to sailing /live aboard life. Im doing research on foods that can be cultivated on boats, and canning meats etc for long term food supply. For some reason i can find zero information about growing edible mushrooms on a boat. All i find is stories about wooden boats with bad mushrooms. I know growing veggies is very complex on a cruising boat, but mushrooms love damp dark conditions. Perfect on a boat. So why are people not growing shitake , oyster, or similar edible mushrooms? Great source of food with little work. Plus storing away in dark while sailing would not adversely effect them. Any information you guys have to share or ideas would be great. Im thinking sprouts, simple plants, and mushrooms would all be amazing additions to reducing costs of living aboard. Thanks for your time.

[Attikos]

It can be done:

Palm Beach County mushrooms: Man arrested on rare charges for 'magic mushrooms.' - tribunedigital-sunsentinel

[FutureSail87]

No not psilocybin mushrooms as they are grown usually in a different way to edible ones. I won't go into detail on how i know this.... but the idea of growing for sale compared to growing for food is much different . Im just looking for insite on an actual cruising boat. Im sure this guys boat wasn't at the spec an actual live aboard's would. Obviously customs would be an issue on any fungus if traveling abroad , but for international waters and home country growing i think it would be a huge source of protein and amino acids . Plus the cost is basically nill to supply one to two people onboard a boat. Thanks for the information though.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by FutureSail87

So im new to sailing /live aboard life. Im doing research on foods that can be cultivated on boats, and canning meats etc for long term food supply. For some reason i can find zero information about growing edible mushrooms on a boat. All i find is stories about wooden boats with bad mushrooms. I know growing veggies is very complex on a cruising boat, but mushrooms love damp dark conditions. Perfect on a boat. So why are people not growing shitake , oyster, or similar edible mushrooms? Great source of food with little work. Plus storing away in dark while sailing would not adversely effect them. Any information you guys have to share or ideas would be great. Im thinking sprouts, simple plants, and mushrooms would all be amazing additions to reducing costs of living aboard. Thanks for your time.

I see you are new to CF.

Howdy and Welcome Aboard CF!

Your question about growing mushrooms on a boat is one I have wondered too, because I often cook with mushrooms.

Here is a list of threads from the CF Archives that speak about growing mushrooms, sprouts, and other veggies on boats. You may have to read all comments in some of the threads to find your answers, and some threads may have very different titles, so reading needed to see.

Good luck on your growing. I hope you will come back and report your success (or lessons learned).

https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=011403...=2046j581540j9

[FutureSail87]

THANKS! like i said i searched and searched google looking for threads and articles about this. Thanks for the link , i will definitely be reading through all of it. I hope to learn alot from this forum, and maybe even run into some fellow cruisers from here someday. I will definitely update when i figure out how possible it is. Im unsure how soon that will be. At this stage it may be a year or more before im 100% off land, but i will share all i can.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by FutureSail87

THANKS! like i said i searched and searched google looking for threads and articles about this. Thanks for the link , i will definitely be reading through all of it. I hope to learn alot from this forum, and maybe even run into some fellow cruisers from here someday. I will definitely update when i figure out how possible it is. Im unsure how soon that will be. At this stage it may be a year or more before im 100% off land, but i will share all i can.

Good.

I suppose one could start by growing mushrooms in a kitchen cabinet, as that is about how much space most boats will have available for stuff like that. Most boats have very limited storage space in the Galley.

Some CF members have successfully brewed their own beer on their boats, so I imagine stuffing some boxes (for mushrooms) into a space could work. Others grow other herbs.

I know that black mold (fungus) grows well on boats, but I would not want to have to live with it (on boats it makes it difficult to breathe).

Mildew grows very well on boats that are closed up without air circulation.

[FutureSail87]

Yes that makes sense. I am in construction by trade and very familiar with black mold. Its nasty stuff. I can't imagine it on a small SV. I have grown mushrooms on land in the past pretty successfully. Minus my tries with Morel mushrooms. They are just to finicky . Thanks again for the info.