Mushrooms Talking About Too Much Rain and Not Enough Rain

Mushrooms talking...

Pieter wrote this in the Dutch CHAMPIGNONCULTUUR 1963-6

Nice weather today...

There will be few topics that are talked about as much between people as they are about the weather. 

Because different people have different needs in terms of weather, it will rarely be good for everyone. A farmer yearns for rain on the same day as a city man hopes it stays dry because he wants to take a trip. 

Mushrooms also talk a lot about the weather. They have time for it and they too often don't have a good time. Mushrooms are just like humans, then it rains too much and then too little. 

... then it rains too much.

The other day I ran into a couple of mushrooms, one with a few buckets in his hands and one holding an umbrella, they were just busy talking about the weather.

I've been eavesdropping on them for a while, and here's their story.

... If we are formed inside the casing layer, about a week after casing, then there is enough water as a rule.  When the grower then gets into the cell and he grabs a little casing, he can squeeze out some moisture. As soon as we're the size of a little pea, we'd like it to rain heavily. Then 21/2 to 3 liters of water per square meter may fall in a few days. Those mushroom growers sometimes forget that we, mushrooms, are largely made up of water. We need that water especially when we are growing a lot, so from small pin to adult specimens. 

... and then again too little.

You know what's very bad? If you're born as a button for the second break. These growers often don't pick the mushrooms from the first break soon enough and then you'll sit underneath as a second break. And just longing for rain. Those big mushrooms from the first break will take all the water from us.  Do you know what those growers should do? They should pick that first break as soon as possible and then immediately take care of a fresh rain. Sometimes we're really craving that. 

The other day the grower came to us for feeling if the casing was still moist enough. He kind of stroked his hands across the soil and grumbled with satisfaction that it was still fine. 

I almost got annoyed to death. I should have called on that grower to feel how dry we were here, at the bottom of the casing. We were also almost standing side-to-side, it could have been a large second break. A lot of us died then.

Too bad for us, too bad for the grower. 

P.J.C. Vedder

... a lot died back then. Too bad for the grower.

Interesting history for comparing with the high tech we all know at present!

Thanks for your visit and comment.