Ballette mushrooms

Cardoncelli mushrooms

For all those who love mushrooms, the possibility of having a fresh harvest constantly available is certainly very interesting. Making a mushroom farm is very simple by purchasing ready-made mushroom bales. First, however, you have to choose which variety of mushroom you intend to grow. For example, you could buy cardoncelli mushroom bales. The botanical name of the cardoncello is Pleurotus eryngii; it is a much sought-after mushroom also in nature due to the high edibility of its meat. The name Pleurotus derives from the Latin, and means lateral ear, because it has an eccentric hat with respect to the stem. It has a whitish color, tending to brown; his hat has a diameter that can reach ten centimeters; its meat is firm and consistent, and emanates a good scent of bread dough.

The mushroom balls

The cardoncello mushroom is found in the woods, in the period from spring to autumn. It is a saprophytic fungus, which means that it proliferates on the trunks of dead wood, and often on the roots of the thistle, hence its common name. In Italy it is found mainly in Puglia, Basilicata and Sardinia. However, if you do not have the opportunity to go looking for mushrooms in the woods, the cardoncello is also one of those varieties that can be grown using mushroom balls. Mushroom balls could be defined as ready-made incubators. In fact, to cultivate cardoncelli it is possible to prepare a mushroom house independently, with suitable soil and obtaining the mycelia of the mushroom; or buy a ready-made ballet of cardoncelli mushrooms. In essence, it is a block of land in which the mushrooms are already grafted.

How to cure a mushroom ballet

The mushroom ballet can be purchased in agricultural consortia, in nurseries, and now it can also be found on the internet, and can be ordered online. The ballet appears as a compressed set of soil suitable for the growth of fungi, composed of seasoned manure, straw, organic residues and calcareous material. Inside this preparation, the mycelia of the fungus are already incubating. Therefore, all you have to do is put the ballet in a suitable place, that is, where the temperature fluctuates between 15 and 18 degrees. It is also essential that there is not too much light, and that the place is well sheltered. Generally the preferable places in the house are a basement, a garage or a cellar. The ballet must be freed from the wrapping in which it is located and watered regularly, using a sprayer, so that the

Mushroom Ballet: How to Grow and Collect Cardoncelli

Once this is done, all that remains is to wait: in two weeks the first cardoncelli will begin to appear, ready to be harvested. Even with the mushroom ball, the harvest must be done as usual: that is, the special small knife must be used to remove the stalk from the ground. Production is expected to continue for a few months, but once it is sold out, the ballet of cardoncelli mushrooms will no longer be usable. In the meantime, however, you will have an abundant and tasty harvest, which can be used in many different recipes. Cardoncelli mushrooms are very good sautéed in a pan or au gratin; they can be cooked in risotto or used to season polenta or pasta. They can be preserved using all traditional methods: in oil or vinegar, dried or frozen. When they are fresh, however, they must be cooked within 24 hours,