Great for mild and cool climates (and cold houses)
These mushrooms are Certified Organic, GLOBAL G.A.P, USDA Organic, Certified South Carolina, and Certified Appalachian Grown™ products.
Now you can grow big crops of gourmet mushrooms right in your home. The Shiitake Countertop Mushroom Kit is so simple to use, all you need is water, coolish temperatures, and a good appetite. It's the ideal gift for children, gardeners, and anyone who loves fresh mushrooms.
This kit contains a blend of supplemented hardwood sawdust and grains inoculated with shiitake mushroom spawn. If that sounds complicated, it isn't—it just means that the growing medium is ready to go, so you don't have to plant or fool with it in any way. Simply set the prepared bag down and mist it to keep it moist. The mushrooms will immediately begin growing, and you will get several crops within about a 3-month harvest period.
Shiitake mushrooms grow year-round, and prefer cooler temperatures than many others. Room temps of 55 - 80 degrees are preferable, and if your house is consistently above 75 degrees, seek out a cooler location for the kit, such as away from sunshine and heater registers, low in the room (heat rises), etc. For most of us, these temperatures are ideal.
Shiitake mushrooms are a delicacy that supermarkets charge premium prices for. Now you can not only grow your own for pennies, but you can enjoy ultra-fresh mushrooms! Best of all, this kit re-crops after a short rest, so you will enjoy several harvests. Expect to harvest about 4 pounds of delicious mushrooms altogether.
Once the last delicious crop has been harvested, toss the hardwood sawdust and grain culture into your compost bin. It will greatly enrich the compost, continuing to feed your plants for years to come. Talk about a win-win. 5 lbs.
Please allow up to 2 weeks for your kit to be custom-made for you.
Note: If you don't want to start growing right away, the spawn may be refrigerated for 3 to 6 months, but never frozen. Do not let spawn sit in the sunlight.
| Genus | Lentinula |
| Species | edodes |
| Item Form | Plants |
| Additional Characteristics | Edible |
| Uses | Cuisine, Houseplant |
| Restrictions | *Due to state restrictions we cannot ship to the following: Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Hawaii, Alaska |
Spore prints are used for three main purposes: mushroom cultivation, mushroom identification (as different mushrooms have different colored spores), and, of course, art.
Making spore prints is not only an easy, fun way to get to know mushrooms but also a very cheap way to cultivate more mushrooms at home.
For mushrooms with gills (spores lie on the gill surface) and mushrooms with pores (spores inside the pores underneath the cap), follow these instructions.
If you don't want to separate the cap from the stem, make a hole in an index card, place the card on a paper cup and slide the stem of the mushroom through the hole until the underside of the cap is resting on the card; then proceed as above.
If the mushroom is hard, it is more difficult to obtain spore prints. Some polypores not only take a long time to mature and produce spores but also can often live a long time after they’ve produced and dispersed their spores. Try wrapping them in wet paper towels or newspapers overnight before putting them down on foil, paper or glass to make a spore print. Note that the spore bearing surface always faces down toward the ground as the polypore grows.
To study the spores with a microscope, scrape off some of the spores from your spore print with a needle or scalpel onto a microscope slide. Place a drop of water on the spores and cover with a cover slip.
To preserve your spore print, spray them lightly with an artist spray or hair spray. Hold the spray at least 12 to 15 inches away from the print.
A double extraction will pull out water-soluble beta-glucans and alcohol soluble triterpenes. Beta-glucans are a form of soluble fiber strongly linked to boosting heart health, improving cholesterol, and regulating blood sugar to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Oyster and shiitake mushrooms are believed to have the most effective beta glucans. Triterpenes compounds have revealed anti-inflammatory, anticancer, anti-tumor, antioxidant, anti-anxiety, immunomodulatory activities, and liver protective effects. Reishi mushrooms are considered the best source of triterpenes.
Ingredients:
• 80 proof or higher alcohol (vodka and brandy are popular choices)
• Organic dried mushrooms
• Purified water
Directions:
1. Fill a quart-sized glass jar halfway with dried mushrooms.
2. Fill jar with alcohol, completely covering the mushrooms, but leaving about a 1/2 inch of space at the top of the jar. Secure lid.
3. Let it sit for a month. Shake daily.
4. After a month, strain mushroom-infused alcohol into another jar and set aside.
5. Next, make a water extract by bringing a half gallon of water to a simmer in a stock pot. Add the mushrooms from the alcohol extract to the simmering water.
6. Simmer the mushrooms for about 2 hours, until the water has reduced to approximately 8 to 16 ounces. Make sure to keep an eye on the water level, as you don’t want it to completely evaporate. You may need to add water to the stock pot throughout the process.
7. Let it cool.
8. Strain and compost the mushrooms using a funnel and cheesecloth, reserving the mushroom-infused water.
9. Combine the water extract with the alcohol extract.
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