I always seem to have some ‘fascination’ going…

[Currently, Galapagos giant tortoises.]

A while back it was fungi.

I wound up purchasing a ‘grow to eat’ oyster mushroom kit. [y’all can buy whichever species tickles your shroom fancy. Portobello, crimini, button, white, oyster….]

Wicked cool.

The kit contains a hunk of plastic wrapped spores in a peat/wood chip blend.

As per zee instructions;

I opened the box, removed the spore loaded package, cut an ‘X’ in the plastic, took a fork, & ‘roughed up’ the surface, [don’t be a bastard & gouge, ya don’t want a mushroomicide, no…think more ‘zen garden’, raking the surface gently with tines], then soak over night, ‘X’ side down, in water.

Submerging the spore loaf is crucial to getting the mushroom party started.

The next morning, I took out the soon to be shroomtastic brick, wiped it dry, then slid it back into the original box. [It has an easily removable front for your mushrooms to bloom.]

Twice daily, pull back each of the 4 triangles of plastic and mist the heck outta the surface. Don’t be stingy with water, man.

By the 3rd day, you get real close, scrutinizing the surface…

…where for art thou, shrooms?

Then, one day you awake to a grotesque sight. The loaf is now loaded with little dark beads that, quite honestly, look like ticks.

I had a couple ‘ew’ moments, even at one point becoming fearful of them…but, I am prone to irrational foolishness.

Hey, this was my first experience with fungi…it just needed to grow on me. Har!

A day later, my gag reflex was no longer triggered… my near horror was replaced with a smile filled fascination as I observed mushrooms form.

Each day I greeted them enthusiastically, sing-songingly encouraging them ‘grow, babies, grow’ as I misted. And grow they did. My favorite part of the process was watching them form their gills.

How freaking adorable, & just plain cool. Then, once you harvest, you flip the spore loaf, & repeat-o-vision on the opposite side for another harvest.

*Pro tip– my first harvest, I noticed the upper most shrooms growth was stunted by the big bastards beneath them. So, I decided to leave them, assuming they would flourish when they had room. Wrongo. Nope, kids. Indeed, for shrooms, it does ‘take a village’. Despite frequent misting, the poor little guys shriveled into perfectly petrified mushroom art.

The oyster mushrooms were delish. They made a hell of a salad. I highly recommend getting your own kit, or, go wild, & get them all.
Shroom-me-doo