Island ‘mushroom nerds’ selling locally prepared at-home grow kits | 24CA News

Mushrooms have taken off in recognition previously few years, and P.E.I.-based fungi forager René Lombard has seen it occur first-hand.

“I do more foraging walks and cultivation workshops, which is all outdoors,” stated Lombard, who’s recognized on social media as The Red Island Mushroom Hunter.

But now, alongside along with her pal Jon Zuccolo, Lombard has begun to department out in a brand new path. The duo are assembling and promoting do-it-yourself mushroom-growing kits.

“It’s been a bit of a journey to get here. For me, this was not an immediate progression,” Lombard stated. “Because of the boom and the interest in mushrooms at the moment, it just seemed like a natural progression for two mushroom nerds.”

The kits being bought by way of Lombard’s Facebook web page proper now characteristic lion’s mane, however Lombard and Zuccolo need to domesticate different varieties sooner or later, comparable to oyster mushrooms, shiitakes and maitakes, recognized within the wild as hen-of-the-woods.

The science behind the shrooms

The mushroom mycelium — the fabric that the fungi will develop from — is embedded in a sawdust block wrapped in plastic. Wherever the bundle is white with mycelium, you’d minimize a gap to show the mushrooms to air.

“Keep it humid and warm and it just produces this blobby brain-type mushroom that’s growing on the top,” stated Zuccolo, holding a lion’s mane develop package with about two inches of white stringy fungi rising out the highest.

With Lombard’s foraging background, Zuccolo is extra targeted on the scientific facet of the fledgling business. 

“I have a biotech company, so this is kind of like an offshoot of an offshoot,” he stated. “We don’t really have much to do with mushrooms in my company, but we have all the equipment that’s required.”

The kits started in Zuccolo’s lab, due to a petri dish of tissue tradition and agar.

“The tissue came from a supplier, but P.E.I. is actually a very good spot if you wanted to grow mushrooms,” stated Zuccolo. “All the raw material is produced here, more or less byproducts or waste products of agriculture.”

That consists of the sawdust combination, bran used within the rising medium, and even wild mushrooms rising throughout the Island.

Lombard and Zuccolo are specializing in increasing the business by organising an official firm within the subsequent few months. But they’re already seeing quite a lot of curiosity.

“There is a drive to grow your own food a little bit, so I think that’s definitely part of it,” stated Lombard. “And more and more research has been done into the health benefits of mushrooms.”

Dry them or fry them

After about two weeks of misting the sawdust block to maintain it humid, you must discover the mushrooms large enough to reap.

“If you just wanna fry them up and eat them, that’s one way to do it, probably the easiest and the way that most people do,” Lombard stated. “But you can also dehydrate them and make powders to spice food or to make teas out of.”

“I like to do them just pan-seared and topped [with] garlic and butter. And then once it’s nice and caramelized, add cream and then just basically pile it on top of pasta. It’s delicious,” stated Zuccolo.

Mushrooms should not very nicely understood. They’re someplace between plant and animal, so there’s one thing mysterious about them. Always has been.— René Lombard

Each package, at $27, might “flush” or produce mushrooms as much as three or 4 instances.

Lombard stated individuals are usually shocked by the velocity of progress.

“What I call the baby phase, they look a little bit more like cauliflowers,” she stated. “Literally overnight they’ll just pop up and with no warning… you’ll see it sort of thickening up and then just suddenly one day when it decides to, it just start to grow.”

It’s all a part of an attractive thriller for her.

“Mushrooms are not very well understood. They’re somewhere between plant and animal, so there’s something mysterious about them. Always has been,” Lombard stated.

“So being able to watch this mysterious mycelium turn into mushrooms is interesting — and obviously, they are delicious.”