Our First Harvest

We just finished our first harvest.  We got about 20 mushrooms, letting about 4-5 get portobello size.  The rest we picked as crimini (baby portobello) mushrooms.  Our first harvest produced about 2lbs of mushrooms.  We made a few stir fry dishes and  did mushrooms baked with red sauce and cheese.  Needless to say we got our fair share of mushrooms last week.  Soo tasty.  Mushrooms taste amazing when they come right from the soil into your mouth.  We already have some fairly large new mushrooms beginning to grow, although the crop is not nearly as dense this time.  Below are some pictures of our first harvest.  

                                       

Day 30: So Much Growing

Over the weekend, our mushrooms have grown substancially.  The last time I posted we only had the beginnings of what looked like mushrooms.  Now we are to the point where we will have to pick some in order to make rooms for the other ones to continue to grow.  At this point our mushrooms are about doubling in size every day.  Also, yesterday Ben and I traveled out to Logan Square to attend the farmers market at the Congress Theater.  We talked with the mushroom guys from River Valley Kitchen, and they said it was very possible that over the course of the next three months, our little kit will produce 15lbs of mushrooms.  We can't wait!  I've posted pictures from the last 3 days.  Take a look.



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3/13

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3/14

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Day 26: Our Mushrooms are Growing!!!

We finally have little mushroom babies popping up.  You will see in the pictures the progression of the mushrooms in the pictures.  The mycelium turned really white and then little bubbles started to form.  Now we are starting to see growths that look like mushrooms.  Check it out, I'll post more later.

Mycelium turning white, bubbles forming.

Little mushroom pinheads starting to form.

Actual mushrooms!!!!

Day 17: And the bag opens!!

We were very excited this morning.  After a longer then average wait for the mycelium to form, we have finally reached 40% coverage and have opened the bag to allow mushrooms to begin to grow.  We struggled with getting the temperature right, but after applying a heating blanket for 3 days we finally got the results we were looking for.

Now for the long wait.  It will take 16-20 days at a temperature of 64-66 degrees F for mushrooms to begin to grow.

Here are some pictures of our current mushroom bag.

The white is the mycelium