The Evolution of our Mushroom Kits has everything to do with our die-hard fans and friends. We&rsquo
The Evolution of our Mushroom Kits has everything to do with our die-hard fans and friends. We’ve cultivated a following among citizen scientists–folks who like to share their discoveries to better the greater good. Like Tyler, photographer, foodie and part of the Good Sense Farm flock. We first met Tyler at Rooting DC two years ago! He bought an oyster mushroom kit and shared some of the results! Sharing spawn is infectious. Once you have a piece and you know what to do with it, you can make it live on forever. I was kinda nervous about selling spawn kits to new mushroom growers. There are so many variables that make it an interesting adventure but definitely not for the faint of heart. Tyler showed us that our babies had made to a good home. Fast forward to last November when we wanted to try offering Shiitake Mushroom Kits to folks, Tyler was eager to take one home. And he did. We were selling just the leathery brown “ready to fruit” blocks and the instructions were simple. “Take it home, spray it a bit and wait. The Shiitakes will come.”Seemed legit because that’s exactly what we do in the greenhouse. In my experience, shiitakes respond really well to neglect and don’t die easily. They are the perfect gift for the brown thumb in your life. Coming to Rooting DC? We will have lots of Shiitake Mushroom Kits!Seemed like a pretty low risk mushroom to try to offer to the community. I was wrong. Not a week after the holiday fairs had ended, I started receiving emails, lots of emails–progress reports really–about the mushroom kits that couldn’t. Keep in mind that it takes weeks, months sometimes to fruit mushroom in the wild. It was clear that, for someone expecting to eat shiitakes on Christmas Day, it was an acceptable option. I also took for granted how much different a regular room is to even the most basic greenhouse setup which is what we have on the farm. I shouldn’t have but I make mistakes sometimes. What was more tricky was that folks were expecting an answer..from me…sight unseen. Folks, if you want a farmer to diagnose a sick mushroom block, please send photos at least. #pleaseandthankyou Otherwise, it was an interesting challenge to help folks attain success.Tyler, our fearless friend, to whom I suggested several fixe, tried them and reported back on the results. In the end, we figured it out and he preserved the beautiful harvest with his camera lens. I Interviewed Tyler about the experience and want to share his words with you:“Having my own miniature mushroom farm in my kitchen has been one of my favorite growing projects of all time. Everyone who visits is always fascinated and is interested in getting their own. Taking care of it is pretty similar to having a terrarium and it’s really exciting to have beautiful, fresh, delicious mushrooms right at home. I’d also so much rather spend my food money in ways that support local farmers of color, instead of major grocery store chains that aren’t invested in DC communities.” TylerTyler also tested out our best troubleshooting ideas and gave us helpful feedback that we’ve incorporated into the new and improved Shiitake Mushroom Kit! The new kits look like this and were inspired by Tyler’s trials!All kits now come with a ventilated bucket for humidity control and ventilation. We’ve also enhanced the instructions. We started this one last week and little mushrooms are already bursting out of the surface. This weekend at Rooting DC, when you take you shiitake mushroom kit home, thank Tyler and our citizen science community. When we deliver our workshops, we will be lifting up all the folks we have touched and who have touched us. Our connection makes us stronger and we never want to forget that. If you want to get more connected to the fungal underground in DC, don’t miss our workshop “Building Your Fungal Fortune” in Sessions B (11:15am) and C (1:45pm) at Rooting DC. The Forum will be at Wilson High School at 3950 Chesapeake St NW, Washington, DC 20016. We’ll also have a table with yummies and grow your own resources! See you soon!Photo Credit: Tyler K. Grigsby took the leading photo. You can find our more about his work at tylergrigsby.com. -- source link
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