mycelium heist - will this work?

On the school field next door to my back garden, mushrooms are growing - fruiting now.  I'm calling them Agaricus campestris, I've eaten them multiple times anyway.  I'd really like to get them growing on my lawn, as I can't always get to them before they get damaged.  What I am thinking is that if I take a spade-sized wedge of lawn and soil from my lawn and swap it with an identical shaped wedge from the school field, no-one will notice.  But will this bring enough of what the mycelium needs to start a new colony?

It might work - but it also might fail if your lawn isn't suitable for the mushrooms. Most Agaricus species prefer pasture, land that has had animals grazing it, so if you have livestock that may increase your chances. A tried-and-tested way to spread mushrooms is to blend pieces of the cap (which contain a lot of spores) into a slurry and to spread that where you wish them to grow.

Luke Mitchell wrote: Most Agaricus species prefer pasture, land that has had animals grazing it, so if you have livestock that may increase your chances. A tried-and-tested way to spread mushrooms is to blend pieces of the cap (which contain a lot of spores) into a slurry and to spread that where you wish them to grow.

I'm hopeful then - as the school field has had no animals on it for many many years (unless you count middle school kids!)  The main difference is that the field is mown short and all clippings are left on, whereas i remove clippings from my lawn (probably not very efficiently though).  I think it's worth trying.

Here's a video about making and using meadow mushroom spore slurry:



I've had success with this method with morels and some other species. Agaricus mushrooms all prefer soil high in calcium and nearly neutral pH. Paul Stamets recommends using organic molasses as your source of sugar in the slurry. He also adds a pinch of salt to inhibit bacterial growth. Good luck!

Update - I have done the deed and there is a patch of school field in the middle of my lawn.  The school turf is much more species rich with plantain, yarrow and daisies.  I also picked some mature fruiting bodies and broke them up over my lawn.  But now, there is another patch I want!  Huge mushrooms of a slightly different type came up a few days ago.  I haven't eaten any as it took a while to be reasonably confident what they are.  But I would like to get them growing in my lawn too as I am now pretty sure they are edible - I think Agaricus fissuratus.

These are the smaller ones - they cook down rather greyish and are much more delicate in nature.  Difficult to clean them without them breaking up.

Thank you for the update and excellent photos. Here is more about Agaricus fissuratus from mushroomexpert.com:

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/agaricus_fissuratus.html

The only one of that type you really need to look out for there is the yellow stainer, And it is instantly obvious when you bruise the stem or the cap.
I also stole a couple of horse mushrooms this year and spread them about in my orchard, I've been putting my mushroom cleanings under our huge beech tree for several years, when we moved in there was (and still is) a yellow russula and deceivers growing there, I have now got amethyst deceivers to grow, so spreading spores around can certainly work. I need to go on a bit of a drive in the next few days as I want to find some of the parasol mushrooms that grow on the verge of the coast road, my verge is the same so hopefully they will take.

Awesome. Also, I did the slurry thing and it worked but it was just a 15 foot, cross-garden move.

Burn after reading.

Hester Winterbourne wrote:Update - I have done the deed and there is a patch of school field in the middle of my lawn.  The school turf is much more species rich with plantain, yarrow and daisies.  I also picked some mature fruiting bodies and broke them up over my lawn.  But now, there is another patch I want!  Huge mushrooms of a slightly different type came up a few days ago.  I haven't eaten any as it took a while to be reasonably confident what they are.  But I would like to get them growing in my lawn too as I am now pretty sure they are edible - I think Agaricus fissuratus.

Done the deed. I love it. Naughty permie.

The horse mushrooms have popped up locally now as the weather changes towards Autumn. This thread is just what I needed to find out how to propagate the fungi onto my field. I think I will go for the slurry method, rather than digging up the road side though!
Anyone else got tips on propagating from found fungi?

You are so lucky over there! Here we haven’t seen an agaricus in decades. At least no one I know has. They used to grow in all the sheep pastures.