This invention relates to improvements in the production of mushrooms, and to a vendible product therefrom.

Current commercial mushroom production is essentially carried out using racks in the form of large single trays or shelves, or plastic bags or plastic blocks. Each of a plurality of e.g. racks supports a layer of growth mycelium, which is generally a layer of suitable compost inoculated with the desired mycelium, covered with a layer of growth support medium designed to help initiate and support the fruit bodies, commonly known also as casing. Because mushrooms grow from the mycelium at slightly different rates, some mushrooms are ready for harvesting before others. The mushrooms have to be harvested by hand by a picker scanning the array of mushrooms before him and individually selecting and sorting those that appear ready for sale. Each selected mushroom is harvested by means of severing the visible mushroom stipe with e.g. a sharp knife after plucking from the casing.

This method of selecting and picking each mushroom individually requires much effort and time from the picker and can mean that only a few mushrooms are picked and handled each time. Hand harvesting requires a considerable time for assessment and picking, just to procure one harvest from that tray. Generally speaking, a tray may be picked over many times before it is exhausted, usually grading the mushrooms at the same time often into as many as four to six different specifications. The picked mushrooms meanwhile must then be packaged and transported whilst fresh to the wholesaler, supermarket or other purchaser.

Mechanical harvesting is possible but tends to

damage slightly the mushrooms and is often considered suitable only for harvesting mushrooms that are to be subjected to further processing, such as canning.

I have now developed a method whereby the need to spend time and effort individually harvesting and grading mushrooms is eliminated and the time taken to remove a similar number of mushrooms by hand is considerably reduced. My method also provides immediate vendible packs of mushrooms which I believe will be attractive to the consumer and saves expenditure and time in the clearing-up operations once a rack of mycelium is exhausted.

According to one aspect of my invention, I provide a method of growing and providing for sale edible fungi e.g. mushrooms in which the fungi grow from a mycelial growth layer into and are supported by a covering layer of growth support medium, wherein a portion of edible fungi in contact with their growth support medium is separated from the bulk or remainder of the growing fungi and growth support medium.

The layer of growth support medium may be provided by or in a, or a plurality of, block(s) or generally tray-like mycelium-filament pervious container(s) whereby the edible fungi, e.g. mushrooms grow in the support medium comprising the block(s) or in the container(s) . In this embodiment, all or part of the growth support medium layer can be regarded as divided up rather than being in one continuous layer above a conventional mycelial layer. In this manner, one advantage of the invention is that a portion of fungi in contact with its growth support medium is readily separable from the bulk or remainder of the growing fungi and growth support medium.

In another embodiment wherein the container(s) is used, that part of the growth support medium layer not in the container(s) may be used to form an intermediate layer, between the mycelial growth layer and the

container(s) . According to another aspect of my invention, I provide a vendible pack of edible fungi e.g. mushrooms comprising the fungi supported in the medium that has been used to support their fructification and growth. Such a pack will desirably have the growth support medium supported in or surrounded by a, or a plurality of, generally tray-like container(s) .

According to a further aspect of my invention, I provide a method of providing a vendible pack of edible fungi e.g. mushrooms as described above which comprises growing the fungi in generally conventional manner and severing a portion of the growth support medium of desired size containing the fungi from the bulk of the growing medium, and packaging it for sale with the fungi supported in the said portion of the growth support medium.

In a preferred embodiment of this method, the portion of growth support medium to be severed will be provided in a or a plurality of tray-like mycelium- pervious containers and the mycelium filaments or strands will be severed below the container. This method provides an easily portable, readily wrappable unit that can be attractively presented to the ultimate consumer.

The term "fungi" is used herein to include any cultivable edible fungal fruiting bodies which grow from a casing, preferably edible mushrooms.

The term "mycelium-filament pervious" used herein in the context of a container describes any container wherein the base thereof may be open, perforated or punctured, or a netting, web or textiled material with or without support, which can be pierced by a mycelium filament(s) to produce a fruit body in the course of the natural growth development. Preferably a container having a base which is perforated with a plurality of apertures is used. It would in fact be possible to have

no form of base but have merely a tray or frame-or belt¬ like surround since the mycelial growth helps knit the growth support medium together and provides the medium at what would*be base depth with sufficient integrity for ultimate severing and removal. This integrity can, if desired, be enhanced by addition of a binding material, e.g. rockwool filament. The term 'container' is therefore used herein to include also a frame-like enclosure with a predominantly open base or even a belt simply surrounding all or a portion of the growth support medium.

In one embodiment, the mycelial growth layer is laid down in a conventional manner e.g. as a base layer in one large rack. Directly on top of this layer are placed a plurality of adjacent separate tray-like containers, preferably of moulded plastic or folded expanded polystyrene and the like, each of which has a generally flat perforated base and contains an adequate depth of growth support medium. The mycelial filaments are allowed to grow under conventional conditions for growing mushrooms e.g. under conditions of normal mushroom culture, such as are readily known in the trade, whereby the mycelial strands or filaments grow normally, up through the bases of the containers and through the growth support medium where they fruit into mushrooms.

In another embodiment, a layer of the growth support medium is laid down directly on top of the mycelial growth layer, and further growth support medium is then divided into the containers which are for growth of the fungi, and which are situated on top of the growth support medium layer.

In one of the above embodiments, one or more blocks of growth support medium of sufficient integrity may simply rest on the mycelium growth layer, optionally with a mycelium-filament pervious support between the medium and growth layer. The integrity desired may be

established by simple experimentation and created, as above, by use of a suitable binding material, e.g. rockwool.

Whilst each individual mushroom could be harvested in a conventional manner as described above, the exercise of my invention allows the commercial producer to remove and sell one portion or container (as herein defined) at a time. When a defined portion or container is considered ready to be removed, e.g. there is a sufficient number of mushrooms of the desired size or spread of sizes in the area defined by the portion, or the container, to make it practical and viable to harvest that portion or whole container, the producer simply severs all the mycelium strands or filaments below the portion or base of the container or frame which extends into the container, using a tool which is practical for this purpose, e.g. a knife, spatula or other suitably-sized cutting tool or, in certain circumstances, simply by lifting. The isolated container can then simply be packaged, wrapped if desired, or sold as such. The remaining containers are left until they are ready for removal in a similar manner.

Since the portions or containers are distinct from one another, the isolation of one does not affect the continuing development of the mushrooms in the adjacent portions or containers, or the removal thereof. The producer has thus eliminated the effort in selecting, picking and grading individual mushrooms. Furthermore, the portion or container can then be packaged or wrapped ready for sale, or the container can be designed to be sold as such in a place of purchase, e.g. a supermarket or greengrocer's shelf without further manipulation.

The vendible pack, e.g. the packaged portion or the container, may also add to the freshness of the mushrooms therein because they are still in contact with their growth support medium until ultimately picked by

the user. Furthermore, the purchaser of such a pack also has the ability to choose for himself when to pick each mushroom from the pack, thereby giving himself a greater degree of choice and control over the selection of mushrooms he purchases and uses.

It will also be appreciated that in the exercise of my invention, the fungi, e.g. mushrooms can be presented to the consumer untouched by human hand and undamaged by mechanical harvesting. Mushroom crops occur in flushes of approximately weekly cycles, usually three to five in number to comprise the harvesting period. The portions or containers may therefore be replaced for as many flushes as are considered commercial. Further growth support medium and/or containers may be added before harvesting the remaining portions or containers. The flushing time/cycle may be longer than normal.

Once all the portions or containers containing the fungi and growth support medium have been removed, and the mycelial layer is considered exhausted, the commercial grower then only has to clear away the residual mycelial layer and any growth support medium layer lying on top of it before relaying a fresh layer and placing further growth support medium on top. This saves in terms both of time and expense.

The number of portions or containers depends on the dimensions of the tray or rack which supports the mycelial layer and the spacing decided upon. Preferably, each portion or container is of a size which can be handled by one person when removed, more preferably, a size which can be handled by one human hand, though of course a range of sizes could be provided. In a further embodiment, a number of containers may be collectively held in a holder, such that that number of containers in the holder may be added or removed from the mycelium growth layer together. The containers may of course be of any shape

that is suitable.

The invention will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings which are by way of example only. Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of an apparatus designed to allow the method of the present invention to be carried out.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of another apparatus designed to allow the method of the present invention to be carried out.

Referring to Figure 1, there is provided a conventional rack 2 containing a conventional mycelial growth layer 4 of compost and mycelial inoculum. A conventional growth support medium or casing 6 e.g. of peat, chalk, water and further mycelial inoculum covers the mycelial layer 4 within a plurality of tray-like moulded plastic containers 8 each of which has a perforated base 10. Each container is approximately rectangular, of size about 125 x 100 x 30 mm, and approximately half full with the growth support medium 6.

The whole apparatus is situated in an environment where conventionally desired growth conditions, e.g. of temperature, humidity, lighting, air flow and oxygenation can be generated.

As the mycelium produce filaments 12, these filaments grow up through the base of the containers 10, into the growth support medium 6 connecting with the inoculated mycelium before fruiting into mushrooms 14. Exercising one of the preferred methods of my invention, a vendible pack of mushrooms is produced by severing all the mycelium filaments or strands 12 between the mycelial layer 4 and the base of the container 10 either using a spatula or not when it is desired to remove the container 8, and transferring the 'ready' container 8 to its place of packaging and purchase.

Referring to Figure 2, the rack 2 and mycelial growth layer 4 are the same as described for Figure 1 above. A conventional growth support medium or casing 6 as described for Figure 1 above is within a plurality of belt-like or frame-like containers 16 which have no base. In accordance with an embodiment of this invention, the container between container "A" and container "B" has been removed (in a manner similar to that described above for Figure 1) and is ready for packaging and/or wrapping. The area vacated by the removed container may now be filled by a fresh container 16.

Once all the containers 8 or 16 from all the flushes have been removed, the crop is terminated and the rack 2 is emptied of the residual mycelial layer 4 and then refilled with a fresh mycelial growth layer.