Continental practice in the area of picking mushrooms has a lot to be said for it according to the people in Ireland who know about these things.
The latest regime that has prompted positive feedback is not exactly rocket science – it involves pickers picking a house twice in the one day. The thinking behind this "double-pick" strategy is simple enough – due to growing conditions in summer months, extra CO2 and extra heat, the first pick will only catch the quickest developing mushrooms, while the second pick later in the day will catch a whole lot more of quality mushrooms.
The double pick method maintains quality and uniformity and is beneficial to the grower in the long run, as the better quality will get a better price.
Question is - how does the grower best employ the pickers to meet this method? Flexibility has got to be part of the answer - that's flexibility on all sides. Better prices and better quality should mean better money for pickers too.
