WHEN you produce mushrooms, it's worth playing it by the book.

You've heard of book worms, so how about book mushrooms? Edible gourmet fungi can thrive on old books, turning them into compost and solving the problem of phone directories clogging up wastefill sites.

The process is described in a book re-cycler kit produced by Pickering-based Gourmet Woodland Mushrooms Ltd.

It is the kind of novel green thinking (if you'll pardon the pun) which has earned Gourmet Woodland Mushroo-ms Ltd two major accolades in the past. There was an innovation award from the Department of Trade and Industry for its work in creating a mushroom container which allows it to grow in the fridge; and an award from the Sustainable Development Fund administered by the North York Moors National Parks and allowing the firm research the economic, social and ecological benefits of forest mushroom farming in the North York Moors and Howardian Hills. Now the firm which has found a way of putting low value, low grade timber to profitable use by cultivating high value crops of "wild" culinary mushrooms on piles of logs in the woods, is pitching for the best Environmental Business of the Year title in the 2004 Evening Press Business Awards.

Formed in December 2002 by Adrian Ogden, a professional mycologist and Peter Watson, a forester, the company offers a range of mushrooms for amateurs and professionals alike.

Rather then relying on spores to begin cultivation, pure culture mycelium - or mushroom spawn - is produced from selected productive strains that have been rigorously tested both indoors and outdoors. The company also produces DIY kits allowing gardeners to grow wild mushrooms on garden logs and stumps. With more than 30 mushrooms at the research and development stage, the company has released ten new edible strains on to the market.

And then there are the kind of books they publish which are worth simply...devouring.

Updated: 15:49 Monday, September 13, 2004