Mushroom Growing Kit

A neighbor friend of my daughter introduced her to “cottagecore.” I had to Google it. So you don’t have to:

Cottagecore is an internet aesthetic popularised by and young adults celebrating an idealized rural life. Traditionally based on a rural English and European life, it was developed throughout the 2010s and was first named cottagecore on Tumblr in 2018.


The aesthetic really appeals to Audrey who has always been a nature-lover. Mushrooms and frogs in this vein are of particular interest to her.

For her recent birthday she asked her grandparents for a poster depicting the various types of wild mushrooms. They sent it along with a grow-your-own (shiitake) mushroom kit. It wound up being a pretty engaging experience for the whole family. I knew nothing about growing mushrooms and was amazed by how easy it was (as long as instructions were closely followed, especially for temperature and humidity). And fast! From start to finish we had a harvest in about a week.

If you have curious kids, or heck, if you are curious yourself, I recommend giving it a try. Bonus that the mushrooms are delicious. We enjoyed the last of the first batch tonight in fried rice.

Yes, but be careful as there are some claiming they have morel growing kits. Of course, the best biologists in the world have not been able to duplicate the morel so I guess these kit people are..........right! The kits you used do work for those mushrooms and there are some other types, but not morels.

Puckjam wrote:Yes, but be careful as there are some claiming they have morel growing kits. Of course, the best biologists in the world have not been able to duplicate the morel so I guess these kit people are..........right! The kits you used do work for those mushrooms and there are some other types, but not morels.

You can try seeding morels but results are hit or miss. I'm going to give it a shot this year and keep my fingers crossed:

https://www.happysprout.com/gardening/how-to-grow-morel-mushrooms/#:~:text=If%20you%20have%20a%20deciduous,soil%20before%20planting%20your%20morels.

I run into these guys at the Woodstock (summer) Farmer's Market (well worth a visit if you've never been). They sell growing bag kits in addition to some pretty amazing mushrooms.

https://bloomshroomery.wixsite.com/bloomshroomery

https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/bloomshroomery/

Hi,

Just last week, the subject of mushroom growing kits came up during Q&A for an Illinois Mycological Association meeting.

This long time mycologist did not think it was a good idea to raise fungi who are not regional to the area. It has been documented a yellow oyster mushroom has already escaped from home growing to the wild. Some have been found in our region.

It is unknown what impact a foreign mushroom may have in a non-native environment. Based on this alone, he does not dabble in kits.

One exception is growing shiitake mushrooms on logs. There was once a report they had escaped into the wild. Later investigation found it had been inoculated with shiitake plugs.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:This long time mycologist did not think it was a good idea to raise fungi who are not regional to the area. It has been documented a yellow oyster mushroom has already escaped from home growing to the wild. Some have been found in our region.

Does use of this article have anything to do with The Last Of Us?

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:This long time mycologist did not think it was a good idea to raise fungi who are not regional to the area. It has been documented a yellow oyster mushroom has already escaped from home growing to the wild. Some have been found in our region.

Does use of this article have anything to do with The Last Of Us?

=R=

I'm pretty sure I know several people who are being controlled by cordyceps.*

*on a loosely related note we rewatched the Bhutan episode of Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown over the weekend. He visited with the director Darren Aronofsky and they drank a local spirit flavored with cordyceps. Glossed over it the first time but it carried a different meaning after Last of Us.

Hi,

Our club president has been bombarded with queries related to Cordyceps. One of these days he will give a talk related to The Last of Us.

Mushrooms in the news, who knew?

Regards,
Cathy2

You can try seeding morels but results are hit or miss. I'm going to give it a shot this year and keep my fingers crossed:

If it worked, you could be rich. Instead, you will just be a miss. Come on, if they could be grown, the market would explode. Instead, the dry ones cost somewhere north of $100/oz.

When I was in college, a roommate brought back spores from Amsterdam. We seeded out limestone basement and voila in a few weeks, we had more magic mushrooms than we knew what to do with

Puckjam wrote:You can try seeding morels but results are hit or miss. I'm going to give it a shot this year and keep my fingers crossed:

If it worked, you could be rich. Instead, you will just be a miss. Come on, if they could be grown, the market would explode. Instead, the dry ones cost somewhere north of $100/oz.

Not sure where you're buying them, but $100/oz is well over market.

spinynorman99 wrote:

Puckjam wrote:You can try seeding morels but results are hit or miss. I'm going to give it a shot this year and keep my fingers crossed:

If it worked, you could be rich. Instead, you will just be a miss. Come on, if they could be grown, the market would explode. Instead, the dry ones cost somewhere north of $100/oz.

Not sure where you're buying them, but $100/oz is well over market.

That's more of a per-pound price.