(In the images above, you can see the paler pink gills of Agaricus Brunnescens (Agaricus Bisporus is darker by the time the veil breaks), and the deeper red staining color where the stem has been cut. The size of the A. Brunnescens cap is also impressive, larger than A. Bisporus Portobello caps - the cap shown is not even full size. The image also shows the lovely honey brown patterning of the cap.) Brookhaven Cottage strain.
Agaricus Brunnescens (The original Portobello mushroom) 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 garden. )
This is the ORIGINAL Portobello Mushroom! Still grown and distributed in the US during certain seasons of the year, when this mushroom holds up better than the more common brown Agaricus Bisporus. You've probably eaten it and never noticed the difference. When grown at home, the mushrooms are so fresh they have a much more solid and firm texture, and a fuller flavor than commercially cultivated mushrooms. Ours seem to have a more pleasant aromatic scent also - almost fruity. Produces very nice LARGE 6-7.5 inch caps for Portobellos, or 1.5-2.5 inch Criminis. They keep well for many days in the fridge, and freeze and dry splendidly for long term storage.
A thicker and slightly larger Portobello mushroom, with a firm cap, which naturalizes in compost or gardens with deep mulch, or may be grown in containment with compost. Paler pink gills when young than A. Bisporus, which darken to a deep brown after the veil breaks, as the spores mature. The spores are brown in color. Lovely honey brown mushroom caps with a pretty feathery pattern as the mushroom grows. Has a thicker and stronger cogwheel veil than the thinner and semi-evanescent veil of A. bisporus.
The gills of Agaricus Brunnescens have strong anti-viral properties.
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. Will grow in partially composted straw bales that have had manure or manure tea added.
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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