If, on the other hand, you're going to be growing a lot of mushrooms, but not necessarily on a commercial basis, then perhaps buying some growth medium when you need it is a better way to go. Remember that with mushrooms you can't just use soil, because mushrooms are rich in protein, and so use up a lot of nitrogen. Well, in case you decide you want to go in for commercial mushroom growing, here's how you go about preparing it. Firstly, mushroom growth medium consists of a roughly equal quantity of manure and straw.

These need to be mixed thoroughly in a large, flat container with holes in the bottom. As you mix these two ingredients, you need to keep adding a third in, which is gypsum. After the mixture is well mixed, all you need to do is to throw some burlap sacking over it. This sacking keeps the heat that the mixture generates inside. You need to check the temperature of this mixture at regular intervals - perhaps once every day.

The temperature will climb. When it touches about a hundred and sixty degrees Fahrenheit, you should remove the sacking and remix the pile thoroughly. Spray water on to the pile thoroughly while mixing it. Now you need to put the burlap sacking back on the pile and to wet it completely. Once again repeat the whole process, checking the temperature of the pile every day. When the temperature climbs as before, repeat the remixing process.

This process needs to be repeated at least four times. At some point the pile will not smell of ammonia any more. It will also take on a distinctive fluffy quality instead of looking sticky. Now it is almost ready to use. You now need to cover the manure with the burlap sacking and then wet the sacking thoroughly. After this, just leave it alone for a week. At this point the mushroom growing medium is ready, and just needs to be put into the containers for you to be able to plant your mushrooms in it.