How to Grow Mushrooms at Home

The humble mushroom is taking over.  Whether you enjoy the culinary delights, appreciate the nutritional value, are looking for a sustainable meat alternative or just enjoy the cute caps – mushrooms are gaining in popularity. The special umami flavours of mushrooms are used to create and enhance the foods we eat.  Mushrooms are packed with vitamin B, vitamin D, minerals, and antioxidants and many have a meaty texture which adds to their appeal.

As luck would have it, it’s easy to grow your own mushrooms at home! Replicate some of that wonder found in nature within your own home and harvest mushrooms yourself by using your own mushroom growing kit.

Here are some of our favourite varieties that you can find in growing kits at a garden centre near you:

Shiitake Mushroom

Lentinula edodes – is one of the most popular varieties around the globe. Native to East Asia, their cultivation dates back over hundreds of years. The tasty umami flavour and texture are much sought after in savoury dishes. Also used in traditional Eastern medicine, shiitake mushrooms have many uses for a range of ailments. 

Oyster Mushroom

Pleurotus ostreatus – is a type of edible mushroom that grows in clusters and is widely cultivated for its culinary and medicinal uses. They are called oyster mushrooms because their fan-shaped caps resemble the shape of an oyster shell.

Lion’s Mane Mushroom

Hericium erinaceus – is a type of mushroom that has been used both in the kitchen and in traditional Eastern medicine for centuries. It is named after its long, flowing white tendrils that resemble a lion’s mane. The mushroom contains compounds called erinacines and hericenones, which have been shown to stimulate the growth of brain cells and improve cognitive function.

Growing Your Own Mushrooms

These popular mushroom varieties are now easier to enjoy! Try a home growing kit and you can harvest fresh mushrooms from your kitchen. These kits are made up of grow blocks infused with a special variety of mushroom mycelium. Mycelium is the living and growing part of mushrooms. The mushroom harvested is just the fruiting body or reproductive part of the mycelium. If you compare mushrooms to apples, mycelium can be thought of as the apple tree and the mushrooms are the apples. If you want to grow apples, you start by growing an apple tree. If you have ever seen a mushroom popping up from a lawn or out of a log you can be sure there is a whole network of mycelium underneath.

Taking care of these kits couldn’t be simpler. Within a few weeks, you will have a wonderful flush of mushrooms to harvest. A few tips to keep in mind include:

• Make sure to find a humid spot out of direct sunlight (the kitchen counter is usually a good home).
• Use the spray bottle included in your kit to mist the block daily and encourage a humid environment.
• While mushrooms are actively growing, mist multiple times per day to make sure the mushrooms do not dry out.
• Encourage a second flush of mushrooms by soaking the block in a pot of cold water overnight.

Each grow kit will normally produce 2-4 flushes of mushrooms.

Mushroom Decor

Mushrooms’ rise in popularity has them overflowing into the home décor realm too. We love the focus on woodland, and cottage vibes and can’t help but look to the cute little cap for the perfect aesthetic. Bringing the outdoors inside creates its special magic within your living space.

From jewellery to serving platters, we’re seeing toadstool-inspired trends that create a warm and soft interior space. Gone are the caricature caps inspired by cartoons. Instead, modern mushroom designs have more natural, earthy tones that play well with many existing home spaces.

Perhaps the interest in fungi-filled décor can be attributed to the sense of wonder one might feel when they stumble upon mushrooms growing in the wild. It almost feels like a fairytale when you luck out and discover a patch of unassuming champignons resting in their natural environment. Keep in mind that harvesting safe-to-eat mushrooms from the forest requires the proper knowledge of a mycologist – a mushroom expert.  So, we stick to at-home harvesting from our own grow blocks with reliable and easy-to-grow varieties.

It’s safe to say that we’ve jumped on the fungi-filled train with gusto! Beyond that, it couldn’t be easier to level up your love of all things mushrooms by growing them yourself. Contact us at mail@florissa.com to find out where to buy today!