Mushroom Shiitake Fruiting Kit

Plants
Item #31019
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Quantity

Description

Up to 45 pounds of Shiitake

Fresh mushrooms grown right in your home

These mushrooms are Certified Organic, GLOBAL G.A.P, USDA Organic, Certified South Carolina, and Certified Appalachian Grown™ products.

Grow delicious, gourmet Shiitake mushrooms right in your home with this simple and easy-to-use Shiitake Countertop Mushroom Kit. The growing medium comes to you all prepared and ready to go, which makes it an ideal gift for children, gardeners, and anyone who loves fresh mushrooms—whether they have a "green thumb" or not. We've done all the hard work 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 begin growing immediately and provide several crops within about a 3-month period. Best of all, they will re-crop after a short rest so you can expect a full harvest of about 4 lbs. of delicious, gourmet Shiitake mushrooms altogether.

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.

Details

Skip Product Specs
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

Product Review Summary

Based on 1 review
The average rating for this product is 5 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 5.0/5.0

Customer Reviews

June 02, 2014

Shiitake Fruiting Countertop kit

This shopper rated the product 5 out of 5 stars

The mushrooms started growing within 7 days of receiving the kit. i just have to keep it away from our kitten I use a plastic container with holes to keep it off. I would recommend this to everyone who loves Shiitake mushrooms. Easy to take care of.

Jane from OH

Creating a Spore Print

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.

  1. Cut off the stem and place the cap, with the gills facing down, on a piece of aluminum foil, a white piece of paper, an index card or a glass microscope slide.
  2. Put a drop of water on the top of the cap to help release the spores.
  3. Cover the cap with a paper cup or glass and leave for 2-24 hours, depending on the humidity and the freshness of the mushroom. The spores will fall on the paper, foil or glass, making a spore print pattern.

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.


Making Extracts

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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