(Rendered image above is a hand-drawn representation of this mushroom. Some mushrooms were processed or too aged before images could be obtained, and other mushrooms were found when we did not have access to a usable camera.)
Meadow Mushrooms (Agaricus Campestris) that are dried in a carefully controlled environment to preserve the viability of the spawn. Instructions to extract spores are included. (Kit includes a metal tin of dried spawn, and instructions for creating the appropriate substrate and for growing indoors or in the field or lawn.) This product is our standard Agaricus Campestris (Mountain Meadows Strain), which was gathered in meadows and not hybridized with other Agaricus strains.
A good quality edible mushroom, can be eaten raw or cooked. Requires less cooking than other white buttons. Known as "Pinks" in some areas, and by the name of "Meadow Mushroom" in mycological circles, this is considered to be an excellent culinary mushroom, with a mild flavor. Medicinally it helps the body to compensate for chemical exposure due to contemporary living, and may help balance the immune system.
This is a white button type mushroom which naturalizes more easily than commercial (A. bisporus) mushrooms. The cap is more flattened than commercial button mushrooms, and is generally a little smaller in size. It has pale pink gills when young, which brighten and then darken to a deep brown as the spores mature. The spores are brown in color. The mushroom has a partial veil, which creates a fixed ring on the stalk when the cap bottom edge separates from the stem, but the ring will reabsorb into the stem as the mushroom grows, so it may not be easy to see in older mushrooms. The cap is white in moist weather, but may discolor some to a brownish or grayish color in dryer weather.
Meadow mushrooms like disturbed pasture or lawns which have occasional manure applications (they like heavily grazed pastures for that reason). They tend to grow on areas that are kept down or where occasional traffic keeps the vegetation more spotty. They don't grow in thick, lush lawns. They like an area that receives full sun, and will fruit on warm days just after heavy rains, spring or fall (or during cool summers). They naturalize well and will form fairy rings. May be grown in containment on compost like other white button mushrooms. They will also grow well in container gardens, in containers as small as 8" - with pots that small though, you would want to sow the mushroom into many pots, so you get ample harvests.
Meadow Mushrooms are a prevalent mushroom which may be grown indoors or outdoors across most of the US.
May be used to culture into compost to create spawn, or can be direct sown into substrates or into the soil using several simple non-sterile methods.
Each order of dried spawning mushroom contains enough to create two batches of active spores, which may be cultured and expanded, and then sown into the desired substrates.
Dried Spawn is EASY to use! Just reconstitute in water, and either finely chop or use a blender, and pour the resulting spore and mushroom mixture over your substrate or onto the ground where they need to be sown.
Packaged in metal tins for longest storage and viability. We do not use plastic in handling this product (plastic leaches chlorides, which are fungicidal in effect), and our products are not exposed to chlorine or other harmful chemicals during growth, processing, or handling on our property. You may be assured of the highest quality and maximum growth potential.
NOTE: Dried spawning mushrooms must be selected and handled correctly to produce viable spores. They must also be used correctly to extract spores, and then to culture the spores into the receiving medium. Our proprietary methods ensure viable spores, and we give you instructions for culturing them in a non-sterile environment. (If cultured improperly in a non-sterile environment, things go terribly wrong.) You are not only paying for the mushroom spores, you are paying for our expertise in both the processes we carry out before you see the product, and the instructions we give you for using the spawning mushroom.
Cross contaminations DO occur with non-sterile mushroom spawn (they seem to occur with alarming frequency with supposed sterile spawn as well!). In general, these contaminations are harmless, they may produce other non-edible, or other edible mushrooms, but for the most part, the mushroom you paid for will outnumber the contaminations by many times, and will not establish ahead of the desired mushroom.
Additionally, when using non-sterile methods to culture in natural materials, prior colonizations of unwanted fungus may occur, resulting in the fruiting of unexpected, random mushroom types. This is not at all a disaster, and normally does not cause problems. These mushrooms will typically be inedible, and may be ignored - in our experience, the cultured mushroom still establishes well and will produce well in spite of the interlopers! The chance that a poisonous look-alike would grow instead is virtually non-existent - because dangerous look-alikes don't grow in the same environment as visually similar edible species.
We do advise that you KNOW YOUR MUSHROOM - and that you know what it looks like, so you correctly identify anything coming up. This is wise in every instance, because even when you are using "sterile" kits or materials, rogue mushrooms may grow.
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