Ep 7. Mushroom Farmer

Mike Rowe returns for an all-new episode of Dirty Jobs, as he tackles another unconventional and dirty profession. In season 2 episode 7, Mike travels to a farm in Texas to work with a mushroom farmer.

Upon arrival, Mike meets the farmer, who gives him a quick rundown of what he'll be doing for the day. Mike learns that to grow mushrooms, you need to have a lot of compost. To create the compost, the farmer uses manure from a nearby farm as well as other organic materials.

Mike's first task is to help shovel the compost into a machine that will mix and grind it up. The compost is then loaded into large bags and placed in a room for a few weeks to allow the temperature to rise and the compost to break down.

The next step in the process is to inoculate the compost with mushroom spores. This involves breaking up the compost and mixing in the spores by hand. Mike quickly learns that this can be a messy job, as the spores are delicate and can easily be disrupted by the slightest disturbance.

Once the spores have been added, the bags are moved to a temperature-controlled room. Over the next few weeks, the compost will transform into mushroom mycelium. Mike checks in on the bags periodically, making sure that the temperature and humidity levels are just right.

Finally, it's time to harvest the mushrooms. Mike puts on gloves and grabs a basket, ready to pick. The mushrooms grow quickly, and the farmer estimates they'll have about 100 pounds ready to harvest in just a few days. Mike quickly learns that mushrooms grow in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and that it takes a trained eye to know when each one is ready to be picked.

After picking, the mushrooms are cleaned and sorted by size. The larger ones are sold to restaurants and markets, while the smaller ones are used to make mushroom powder. Mike gets a chance to taste some of the finished product, and is surprised at how flavorful and versatile it is.

Throughout the episode, Mike discovers that mushroom farming is both challenging and rewarding. It takes a lot of hard work and attention to detail, but it can also be a profitable business for those who are willing to put in the effort. As always, Mike provides plenty of humor and witty commentary along the way, making it an entertaining episode for all.