Mr. Mercy's Mushroom Co.

Fat mushrooms. #fatmushroomsofinstagram #blackpearlking #oystermushroom

BEEP! BEEP! PACKAGE DEAL ALERT! We're vending at Kaslo GardenFest this Monday from 9am-2pm, and in addition to the usual #kingstropharia spawn and #growathome kits we'll be selling a complete log inoculation kit, including 100 dowels (choose from #oystermushroom or #shiitake), beeswax from @honeybeezen in #crestonbc, a wax applicator tool, a metal label, and AN ACTUAL FRESH BIRCH LOG, READY TO INOCULATE! All this for just $25 while supplies last. Offer extends to customers in #kaslobc and #nelsonbc until the logs are all gone. I'm dubious about shipping 40lb bits of tree via Canada Post, so customers further afield can order the dowels but supply their own growing media.

Follow the arrow to the mushrooms! Our friend @bluelotusethnobotanicals is at the @nelson.bc.farmers.market today, selling a great assortment of fungal and plant medicines, plus some of our fresh mushroom baskets. Head on down to Cottonwood Falls and say hi!

Made an outdoor #blewit (clitocybe nuda) bed this evening! Blewit is a beautiful late #Fall mushroom that grows from organic debris, including leaf mulch. The spawn I used for this project was from a tissue sample that I took from a mushroom found on our front lawn under a Horse Chestnut tree. I grew out the mycelium on agar, then transferred to grain spawn (so far a very standard process). From there I tried expanding it to a sawdust spawn like I use for most of my other str...ains, and it failed to grow very well. So I decided to replicate a more natural environment for my spawn media, and pressure cooked hydrated deciduous leaves (to sterilize and remove any other organisms), then inoculated that with the grain spawn. This worked amazingly well, and I've been very stoked to try out my LeafSpawn ever since! For the bed, I dug down in a shady spot, then layered wet cardboard followed by the spawn. I added a large garbage bag full of leaves, soaked the whole thing, and added more cardboard on top to trap moisture. I'll edge the bed with some logs to give it clear boundaries and keep everything in place. Wish me and the Blewits luck! I'll feel very, very pleased with myself if this works. #growingoutdoors #mushroomcultivation #mycopermaculture #blewitmushroom

We've gotten started on our woodland cultivation trial on the Wardner trail near our farm in Kaslo! Check out this short video made by my dad, John Mercy. There's been a lot of great feedback on the idea for this project, so we're excited to have some inoculations done and see how the mushrooms grow!

This is Kim's farm stand at @thimblehillnursery on the North Shore! As well as generously offering to carry some of our mushroom kits and spawn, Kim has a great selection of both plant starts and fresh produce, all grown on-farm. Definitely worth the trip out, whether you're in the neighborhood already, or making the drive from further afield. Stoked to see how this stand grows and changes over the season, and very happy to have farmers like Kim in the community, helping the rest of us to get growing!

The #oystermushrooms are getting huge! We've been increasing the amount of added nutrients in our fruiting blend, plus switching to a new supplier for some ingredients (Treasure Life Mills in Creston), and the changes seem to be paying off. Mushroom clusters as big as your head now available at a fine retailer near you!

Evening pick to fill our first order of the season for the @westkootenayecosociety Farms to Friends box program. Just look at these beauties! I'm pretty happy that this is my job.

Three very different mushrooms found around our neighborhood in the last few days. One has the texture of silk tofu but is over-ripe, one is poisonous and terrible-tasting to boot, and one is one of the tastiest mushrooms you can find around here. Do you know which one is which? If not, or even if so, you should check out our upcoming #zoom class on Principals of Mushroom Identification on May 15th. We'll talk about the anatomy and lifecycle of mushrooms, common characterist...ics to note when doing an ID, and popular local mushrooms to look for! It's an exciting time of year for the novice or advanced forager, as the landscape comes to life around us. I'm excited to keep exploring and finding new species and connections in this ecosystem, and I hope to have some of you along for the virtual ride! https://cereg.selkirk.ca/SRS/cecourses.htm

Had our first #nelsonbc CSA pickup of the year today! Kiara @keek_ki and Dale were stoked on the #blueoystermushroom and #bearsheadmushroom blend, and I was stoked on the creamy pasta that they told me they were going to put them in. As any farmer will tell you, all customers are great. But the type who pay you in advance in March for the whole season are next-level great. So thank you, and I hope you all enjoy your Summer of Mushrooms!

Happy to have our mushrooms back at the @kootenaycoop for the season! #oystermushrooms and mixed baskets in now, and check back for our #shiitake and #lionsmane in the coming weeks. The Co-op was our single biggest customer in 2020, and we're so happy to be able to supply them and all their many members in #nelsonbc and beyond again this year!

First #lionsmane of the year is in, and it's big and juicy! This week's harvest will be going to @bluelotusethnobotanicals for a dual extract tincture; check out their product line for this and other great fungal and plant based medicinals. Lion's Mane is also great fresh. Look for it featured in our #CSA boxes (starting next week), and in bulk at the @kootenaycoop... from mid May onward. #mushroomsofinstagram #hericium #certifiedorganic #kootenays

Very excited to be delivering to Ktunaxa Grill at @ainsworthhotsprings once again! Chef Cory @chaps13 has created this mushroom croustade, with toasted bannock, mornay sauce, and a sunflower sage pesto. They've also got one of the nicest patios in the #kootenays, plus of course #hotsprings (for hotel guests). For my money, that sounds like just about the best show in town. I remember coming to Ainsworth four years ago with a small basket of some of the first mushrooms I ever ...grew, wondering what I was doing asking the chefs at a fancy resort if they were interested in what I was producing. Luckily, they've been super supportive every step of the way, from that first little basket through to the 35lb order I dropped off today. Having local businesses like this on your side sure makes it easier to get started as a farmer around here. So cheers to Ktunaxa, and to everyone making food in the Kootenays what it is! See more