So my partner has been on a mushroom kick lately. I think it started when she happened upon this YouTube channel. I was also pulled in after watching a few of their videos. I’ve always enjoyed mushrooms, incorporate them into a few of my dishes, but I really don’t know much about them.
White button, portobello, shiitake, oyster, and chanterelle. That’s the extent of my mushroom knowledge.
It blew my mind to learn just how many varieties there are, and that’s just the ones that are safe to eat. And the nutrition. That was another unexpected bit of information. I highly recommend the YouTube channel I linked above. After watching a few, I think you’ll have a better appreciation of our fungi friends.
Sidenote here: About ten, maybe fifteen years ago, I picked up a bed-full of mushroom compost in the back of my old pickup truck. A small town about twenty minutes east of here has a lot of mushroom farms, and occasionally they sell off the spent compost the mushrooms grow in. While it’s done as a growing medium, it makes for amazing lawn and garden fertilizer. 
I scattered it across my backyard and all the plants and grass loved it. However, I now have a lot of mushrooms popping up here and there. I don’t know enough about them to dare harvesting, but they’re pretty to look at and photograph.
But I digress – The point of this post is to note that I purchased a mushroom kit from North Spore. I figured, if I’m going to try my hand at mushroom farming, I should start with something simple. The kit is for Blue Oyster Mushrooms, which sound both tasty and pretty. 
I started the kit the other night and it can take up to two weeks to sprout, so I’ll update when that happens. Of course, it’s trial and error and when it comes to growing things, there’s always the chance it doesn’t work out. I’m keeping my fingers crossed this works. I like oyster mushrooms.
Now I need to find recipes so I’m ready to cook when they’re ready to harvest!
RB