P. cyanescens is indeed the best variety of mushroom for home cultivation, as reported in the Fall'95 ER. They are up to seven times as potent as P. cubensis, and can be grown outdoors in all temperate climates with no need for sterile techniques. They grow on fresh chips of Alder, Maple and Fir. I have used fresh Alder (Alnus spp.) brush chipped in the Spring. I mix jars of spawn into garbage bags of fresh woodchips and lay one-foot deep beds on the inoculated chips under bushes where they will receive permanent shade. They need to be reasonable damp during the year, and covering the chip piles with several inches of leaves insures this. It takes two years to produce a harvest in my northern climate (near Canadian border). After the first year, the wood chips will be completely white with the enveloping mycelium. At the end of the second growing season, late in the Autumn (November), they will fruit. Many times I have harvested my main crop in the first snows -- they seem to like cold temperatures to fruit. Each bed will give only one good fruiting season. Therefore one needs to start new beds every year. Take a shovelful of the white chips from the one-year-old beds to inoculate fresh wood chips. This is a very low-tech and safe way to grow powerful mushrooms almost anywhere. -- Johnny Appleseed