The more I learn about mushrooms, the more I want to know practical ways to interact with them. You HAVE to watch this video to see some of the exciting ways mushrooms are being used.
We ordered a Pearl Oyster Mushroom Patch from Fungi Perfecti, Paul Stamet’s company.
It consists of organic straw that is inoculated with Pearl Oyster mycelium. When it arrived, it looked fully colonized, and the directions state that it should start growing Pearl Oysters in 7-14 days. It had, in fact, started growing while being shipped, as you can see from the square mushroom in the picture to the right. The mushroom looks the way it does because it was not receiving enough air while in the box.
We broke off the early growth and placed the mushroom patch on a plate. This will help catch extra moisture that condenses on the bag since we need to spray it down multiple times a day.
We used purified, non-chlorinated, and non-softened water in a small spray bottle to spray the patch down. Then, we covered the patch with a humidity cover.
The mushroom patch is being left on the dining room table, so we can watch it grow and maintain consistent moisture levels.
We’ll keep you posted on the progress on our Facebook page!
5 June: Primordial is starting to form on the package!
7 June: Mushrooms continuing to grow!
10 June: Harvested the mushrooms, cooked on 19 June.
