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The Fun Guy (Fungi) Residing In The Spare Bedroom

Posted on January 19, 2011 at 10:59 PM

About two weeks ago (January 4) I started a mushroom growing kit and put it in our spare bedroom.   Since then I have been keeping it misted with water and watching it with interest.   According to the information provided with the kit, the white mushroom mycelium begin to grow up into the casing (cover layer) within 7 to 14 days and by the 17th to 21st day the first mushrooms will be ready to harvest.   I must have a precocious box of white mushrooms because it is only day 14 and I have several harvest sized mushrooms and lots more on the way.   Interestingly mushrooms apparently will just about double in size every day when they are young (according to the info I have been reading) and I saw that happen right before my eyes!   I took a picture of the mushrooms on Tuesday morning and they looked like this:                       

                 

     

 

And by Wednesday evening (about 34 hours later) they looked like this:                           

                

      

 

Wow!                                                            

                  

Lots of little ones popping up that will come along quickly, but tonight I harvested the three bigger ones to use in our evening meal preparation.   While these are definitely harvestable sized, I could have let them grow larger as these are still just “buttons” with the cap not opened and the veil unbroken (the thin veil covering the gills under the mushroom begins to tear open).                             

              

   

 

I was surprised by how dense and heavy these mushrooms were.   Although there are only three of them, they weighed in at a half-pound!   I think I am just used to mushrooms that have been sitting at the store or in transit and have dried out considerably (making them lighter for the same volume).   These were fresh, fully hydrated, and sliced up beautifully.         

  

   

 

The fresh mushrooms were sautéed along with a very large clove of elephant garlic (diced) and some small onions (sliced thinly) and then combined with a few other simple ingredients to make a delicious beef stroganoff dinner.   All I can say is … yum! I have about twelve weeks of production (it declines over time) to look forward to from this one box. Let the good eating begin!                   

                          

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

Categories: Harvesting, Just For Fun, Recipes / Cooking

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18 Comments

Reply Lynda
01:41 AM on January 20, 2011 
They are fantastic! I've wanted to grow mushrooms forever...I'm going to order a kit right now. Thank you!
Reply vrtlarica
03:14 AM on January 20, 2011 
You got me thinking about growing my own mushrooms now. They are beautiful!
Reply Daphne
06:54 AM on January 20, 2011 
Oh yum. It will be interesting to see how many you get.
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
08:04 AM on January 20, 2011 
Lynda - I have wanted to try this for a long time too but just kept talking myself out of it.

vrtlarica - They really are beautiful and surprisingly easy to grow.

Daphne - I added them to my harvest tally and will be keeping track because I too am interested in seeing how much production I can get from this one kit.
Reply Mike
09:31 AM on January 20, 2011 
They are magnificent specimens! Was there a temperature recommendation for growing these? I wonder if they would grow in our basement this time of year.
Reply Deb Fitz
02:27 PM on January 20, 2011 
Hi Laura,
I just found your blog. This is great! I've already looked at your garden calender and realized that I'm behind on some of my seed starting. I'll be heading out to my little greenhouse and making up soil blocks in a little bit a getting caught up.

Today's blog is great!...and what perfect timing. I want to try growing shitake mushrooms, as well as the white buttons from a kit...I need oak or alder logs for the shitake plugs..........do you or anyone else know of a place I can get some logs ( 6-8" diameter x 3-4' long) in the Olympia or peninsula area of WA?

Nice meeting you!

Deb
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
09:53 PM on January 20, 2011 
Mike - The instructions say that they grow best in a room where the temperature stays between 60 and 74 degrees F. Short periods of plus or minus 4 degrees are usually okay. The ideal fruiting temperature range for Portabella and White Buttons mushrooms is between 63 and 68 degrees F. Dense White prefer a warmer 68 to 72 degrees.

Deb Fizz - I do not know of a source for logs in your area but Alder is likely going to be far easier to find than Oak in our area. Heck... I have an alder tree growing in my own woodlot! They are a very common tree in the pacific northwest and it should not be hard to track some down. Do you know anyone that heats with a wood stove? They may have some rounds of alderwood in their wood pile.
Reply Sinfonian
03:37 AM on January 21, 2011 
Wow, great production for sure. I bet they were tasty! Too bad your box will wear out over time. Sure would be great to have them reseed and keep at it year after year.
Reply GrafixMuse
09:22 AM on January 21, 2011 
How cool! I've been wanting to try a mushroom kit for quite some time.
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
11:45 PM on January 21, 2011 
Sinfonian - If I had a source of good wet horse manure and straw I could do a more sustainable operation letting them go to spawn. I have access to horse manure but not the wet manure/straw combo that is vital to a proper hot compost for mushroom growing.

GrafixMuse - I am going to keep track of how much production I get from the box. I know what a pound of mushrooms costs me and I know what my break even point is on the box - now I need to see if I reach or exceed that.
Reply Dan
12:04 AM on January 22, 2011 
Cool! The grew pretty fast.
Reply Tessa
01:31 AM on January 22, 2011 
Wow, I can't believe you have some already! I really need to try these- been wanting to for years ;)
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
10:53 AM on January 22, 2011 
Dan and Tessa - They really grow amazingly fast. I have another large group ready to be harvested today (Saturday).
Reply stefaneener
04:12 PM on January 22, 2011 
So yummy looking! That's really the way to go with mushrooms unless you know your foraging.
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
05:53 PM on January 22, 2011 
stefaneener - I am rather fearful at the prospect of foraging mushrooms because the stakes are high if you get it wrong.
Reply Wendy
12:52 AM on January 23, 2011 
Those mushrooms look delicious! I've often wondered about these kits.. it's great to see someone that is actually trying one and showing the results!

Stroganoff.. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

~Wendy
http://thesassybutterflyschaoticmusings.blogspot.com/
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
07:09 PM on January 23, 2011 
Wendy - The stroganoff was particularly good because the mushrooms were so abundant and fresh. :D
Reply foodgardenkitchen
11:43 AM on January 31, 2011 
I see I have in fact been missing posts... If only there were more hours in the day :)

That rate if growth is a "wow" moment! We have several mushroom logs that we innoculated with shitake and oyster mushroom spores but we've gotten only a couple of mushrooms from them. I dn't think we tend to them as well as they need tending (i.e., regular watering) and I think that this upcoming season is the year we should really see them sprout.

I'll have to take a look at the logs soom to see if they're doing anything...