The Mushroom Festival is celebrating its 38th year in Kennett Square in 2023 so to commemorate the special occasion, here is a list of 38 interesting facts about mushrooms.

1. Mushrooms have been eaten for thousands of years and can grow almost anywhere.

2. J.B. Swayne is credited with starting mushroom growing in the United States. Swayne started to cultivate mushrooms in Kennett Square which is, of course, the Mushroom Capital of the World.

3. Early Romans referred to mushrooms as the “food of the gods.”

4. Mushrooms love the dark. They thrive on it.

5. Mushroom production has becoming increasingly high-tech, with more and more computers being used to monitor production at each step.

6. A mycophile is someone whose hobby is to hunt edible wild mushrooms. .

7. One portabella mushroom has more potassium than a banana.

8. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of certain fungi—the equivalent of the apple, not the tree. Fungi, including those which produce mushrooms, are not plants. They are related to molds, mildews, rusts, and yeasts, and are classified in the Fungi Kingdom.

9. There are over 38,000 varieties of mushrooms available, over 3,000 in North America alone, with varying colors, textures, and flavors. There are so many varieties of mushrooms, both edible and toxic, that mass consumption is pretty much limited to those commercially grown varieties which can be trusted to be edible. 

10. In ancient Egypt, only Pharaohs were allowed to eat mushrooms because it was believed that the mushrooms appeared magically overnight. It was speculated at that time that lightning may have created the mushrooms. 

11.  According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the average American eats about four pounds of mushrooms every year.

12. The first recorded effort to cultivate mushrooms occurred around 1700 in France.

13. Mushrooms are useful not only as food and medicine—there are new uses being discovered all the time. Some mushroom varieties are being used in bioremediation to absorb and digest substances like oil, pesticides and industrial waste in places where these substances threaten the environment.

14. In 1990, the Mushroom Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act was passed by the U.S. Congress to strengthen the mushroom industry's position in the marketplace, maintain and expand existing markets and uses for mushrooms, and develop new markets and uses for mushrooms. In 1993, the Mushroom Council was established to achieve the goals of this act.

15. Almost any mushroom except for the regular white mushroom is considered to be an exotic mushroom.

16. Mushrooms can grow very fast. As a consequence, the term "mushrooming" has become a popular word that can be attached to almost anything that grows quickly.

17. Mushrooms are a fungus and, unlike plants, they do not require sunlight to make energy for themselves.

18. Penicillin and streptomycin are examples of potent antibiotics derived from fungi.

19. Mushrooms are a superfood. They are the only food in the produce section of the local grocery store that produce Vitamin D.

20. Mushrooms contain disease-fighting properties, antioxidants, and a wide variety of important nutrients.

21. Portabella mushrooms, which are known for their meat-like texture and flavor, can reach a size of six inches in diameter.

22. Mushrooms contain more protein than most vegetables.

23. The American Mushroom Institute was founded right here in Chester County in the 1950s.

24. Mushrooms are comprised of 85 percent to 95 percent water.

25. Traditional Chinese medicine has utilized the medicinal properties of mushrooms for centuries.

26. Mushrooms are one of the most difficult commodities to grow. It is very labor-intensive to produce a consistent, high-quality crop.

27. Fresh mushrooms don't freeze well. If it is necessary to freeze them, first saute them with butter or oil in a non-stick pan. Then cool slightly before freezing them in an airtight container.

28. Mushrooms rank the highest among vegetables for protein content.

29. Some of the oldest living mushroom colonies are fairy rings growing around the Stonehenge ruins in England.

30. Mushrooms are low in calories and contain no fat or sodium. Consequently, they are a very popular ingredient in salads.

31. In the Blue Mountains of Oregon is a colony of Armillaria solidipes that is believed to be the world’s largest known organism. The fungus is over 2,400 years old and covers an estimated 2,200 acres 

32. Some mushroom spores can sit dormant for decades—or longer—and still grow if the conditions are right.

33. Mushrooms are available in fresh, dried, and in powder form.

34. Even the Bard, William Shakespeare, once waxed poetic about our favorite fungi, referring to “midnight mushrooms.”

35. Mushroom growing in the United States began after the Civil War and the growing seasons were very short at first. That has changed now, thanks to improved technology.

36. The stem of a mushroom is a good source of flavor and nutrients so there is no need to remove it. When you do need to remove the stem, chop it and add to stuffings, casseroles, soups and sauces.

37. New species of mushrooms are still being discovered each year.

38. Two-thirds of the white button mushrooms consumed the U.S. come from Pennsylvania mushroom farms. Pennsylvania farms produced 446.58 million pounds of white button mushrooms.