Carried on the Wind

Feb. 12, 2007 - Fun with Fungi

A few weeks ago I mentioned that we'd gotten two mushroom kits from Fungi Perfecti. Here are some pictures of our shiitake patch:

Day One
After receiving our patch we put it in the fridge for a few days, then soaked it in water overnight. This is what it looked like when we got it out. You can see the little "mushroom bumps" forming.

Day Two
Look at how much they grew in the first day! The sticks kept the humidity tent from touching our growing mushrooms. We had to mist the patch a few times a day to keep it moist. Peregrine enjoyed doing this and seeing how quickly our mushrooms were growing!

Day Four
Growing, growing, growing.....

Day Seven
This was just before we harvested them. The evening before I'd set our patch on the dining room table. In the morning the table was covered by a fine powdery "dust"- mushroom spores!

We cooked them up and ate them and they were delicious! This was a great project; we were all amazed to watch our mushrooms grow and learn a bit more about the fascinating fungi kingdom. In another week we'll soak this patch again and grow our next crop of shiitakes. We also have a bucket of coffee grounds inoculated with oyster mushroom spores. After two weeks the surface is covered with white mycelial growth that looks rather like mold and soon our mushrooms should begin to form. I'd eventually like to get some outdoor mushroom patches going, but this is a great introduction to the fun world of fungi!

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Feb. 12, 2007 - Moist Mush'

Posted by Erik

And they were delish!

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Feb. 12, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous

How neat! Thanks for sharing the process with us Rebeca! I'm amazed at how quickly they grew!

~Corin

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Feb. 12, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by debdillon

You inspired me and I ordered some last week for delivery next week. Thanks for passing this on, I'm going to show my kids to encourage them on (10 yr old was rather dubious).

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Feb. 12, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Jocelyndixon

Helllo again...
I'm a bad person... I just shipped your contest prize! LMK when you get it!!

Love,
Jocelyn

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Feb. 13, 2007 - WOW!!!!

Posted by heartathome

Wowzers, that is so incredibly fun and cool and exciting!!! Our boys would think growing mushrooms was a hoot and a half! Would you mind sharing your fungi source?

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