Cinnamon Cap Mushrooms - Day 1

I've decided to blog about our experience with growing mushrooms.  The picture below is the bag that the mushrooms will grow in.

In this bag are mushroom spores.  They are in a sawdust made from a hardwood material.  This sawdust is sterilized through a heating process prior to the spores being added to avoid contamination.  It's quite a sophisticated process.  The bag itself (as you can see above) has a white breathing tab which allows oxygen in and carbon monoxide out.  Essentially the bag (or mushroom spores) are breathing.  They need moisture and humidity to get the spores started and it is recommended to grow them in the kitchen.

The following are the instructions:

Growing Cinnamon Cap Mushrooms

Do not open bag

** Grow on your Kitchen Counter for Oxygen, Humidity and Light**

1. Watch for pins to appear and start growing upwards.

2. Make a 1" slit along the top seal.  Provide ambient humidity by boiling a kettle and allowing      evaporation from a water bowl.

3. When mushrooms reach the top of the bag, slit entire seal along the top.

4. Harvest the Cinnamon Cap by reaching in and pulling gently on the entire clump.  Clean off debris.

5. Re-seal the bag along the top seal.  Wait for a second flush and repeat steps 1 to 4 until the bag feels very light and is spent.  Water may be added when the bag feels light.

We enjoyed some of the shiitake mushrooms that we received yesterday from Micky.  Ralph cooked up some of them for breakfast this morning. They were really good.

If you are interested in learning more about the mushroom growing that is done at Wylies Mycologicals, I recommend reading this article.

http://www.northhuron.on.ca/mission-mushroom-impossible