River City Mushrooms

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River City Mushrooms

River City Mushrooms Cultivating mycological literacy in Treaty 1 - Winnipeg, MB and beyond. Programs, workshops, grow kits, spawn and more 🍄 Join our mailing list 📬

An online repository of educational articles and experiments illustrating how to foraging for and cultivate edible & medicinal plants and fungi. The premise of this knowledge is to outline ways in which we can use both plants and fungi as a conduit for creating ecologically sound and interconnected food generating communities on a local and global level that will remain sustainable and resilient well into the future.

02/28/2025

Hey folks! We’re honoured to welcome our last panelist for the Fungi Film Festival screening evening: David Beer!

“David Beer grew up with a love for being in nature, harvesting various wild foods and farm produce with his Aboriginal family.

Caitlin also had a love of the outdoors from a young age and pursued becoming a Horticulturalist later on.

In 2018 David and his wife Caitlin founded Wildland Foods, a western Manitoba based company, as a way to share the unique products they harvest with others in a sustainable and healthy way.”

Join myself and our four panelists after the film screening for some insight as to how we all got involved with mushrooms and fungi, and what they mean to us 😎

Only two more sleeps until the screening on Sunday evening! Doors @ 5:30pm, part 1 starts promptly at 6pm. Hope you see you there! ✌️🍄‍🟫

02/27/2025

Surprise! & are teaming up to offer one lucky film fest attendee a door prize! Everyone that comes out to the Fungi Film Festival screening this Sunday has a chance to win! 🤩

Simply grab a ticket at the door on your way inside and keep it handy - we’ll announce the winner of the draw right after the last film concludes @ 9pm! You have to be in attendance to win.. so no sneaking out early! 😉

This door prize has a $165 value and includes 3 premium dual extract tinctures (reishi, lion’s mane and cordyceps) from Microbe Monastery and a 5 lb. white oyster mushroom grow kit from River City Mushrooms. 🍄‍🟫

For more information about and their production methods, you can check out their profile for a link to their website! See all you fun(gi) friends soon!! We can’t wait for Sunday to arrive ♥️

02/26/2025

Hey everyone! Today we’re very pleased to finally reveal to you all the surprise panelists for the Fungi Film Festival screening this coming Sunday evening! 🤩

I have had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with these fine folks on numerous occasions over the last few years and thought that this evening would not be complete without them! 👏

My own journey exploring the mycological landscape (both literally and metaphorically) in Winnipeg and beyond has brought me in touch with these wonderful humans. 😘

Get ready to put on your thinking (mushroom) caps and join us for a 40-50 minute long panel discussion following the conclusion of the films! 🤓

Stick around and hear about how our special guests found their way into the mycological sphere and what gets them most excited about mushrooms and fungi in Manitoba! 🍄‍🟫

It’s still not too late to grab tickets! doors open at 5:30pm and the first part of the film selection will start promptly at 6pm following a brief introduction. hope to see you there!🍿

02/21/2025

Hey folks! Now that we’re approaching almost a week before showtime.. we decided to run a little contest for you just to keep things fresh and exciting 😉

If you’ve been on the fence about joining us for Winnipeg’s first public screening of the annual Fungi Film Festival, now is your chance to get to attend.. admission on us! 🤩

How to Enter:

- Give a follow 🍄‍🟫
- Like this post 👍
- Comment and tag a fungi loving friend 🥰

Optional: Share this post your story for 3 extra entries! ✨
(If your account is private and you share this post to your story, be sure to send us a screen shot so that we know!)

Already purchased a ticket? No problem! If you’re chosen as the lucky winner then we will reimburse you the cost of your ticket! 🎟️

A super enormous THANK YOU to everyone that has already grabbed their tickets and helped promote the event! 😎

We’re so excited to see and meet you all on March 2nd! Winners will be announced and contacted directly on Tuesday February 25th @ 7pm 🍿

GOOD LUCK!! 🍄🤞

02/19/2025

We’re less than 2 weeks away now!! Our panelists have been confirmed and we’ll be letting you know who they are next week! In the meantime, check out the trailor for the film fest (fungifilmfest.com) for a sneak peek! 🍿

In case you haven’t heard, here’s the lowdown:

Join us for an evening of 3+ hours of cinematic mushroom magic. Experience 20 diverse short films from 17 countries that explore all of the diverse interactions and relationships that we have with fungi. 🤝

This screening will feature a selection of short films and one feature documentary from the official Fungi Film Festival, an annual celebration of human-mycelium creativity in motion picture format. 🧠

A panel discussion featuring locals from within Winnipeg’s small but quickly expanding and highly interconnected, knowledgeable and enthusiastic mycological community will follow the conclusion of the screening. 🤓

Interested? We’re super excited for this event and would be delighted for you to join us. Tickets can be purchased on The Park Theatre website (link in bio). See you then? ✌️Questions about the event? Let us know 👇

01/23/2025

This is shoutout to one of my current favourite mushrooms to grow. I rotate through my strains quite a bit, but I keep coming back to these ones. I have been growing Pioppino, or black poplar mushrooms (Cyclocybe / Agrocybe aegerita) for a couple of years now and I finally feel like I’ve figured them out.

Pioppinos are steady and reliable, producing brown capped mushrooms that grow in dense clusters on long, white stems. They take about 3-4 weeks after inoculation to begin forming mushrooms, and average out around 1 and 1/4 lbs. first flush from 5 lbs. of substrate.

They don’t yield as abundantly compared to some of the other commonly cultivated mushrooms, but they have their advantages. Pioppino do not have high fresh air demands, which makes them very well suited to growing indoors, especially during the winter as they prefer cooler conditions.

They can be grown essentially anywhere inside, so long as they receive indirect light (from a window), and are kept humid using a spray bottle, plant mister or humidifier. The mushrooms can also be encouraged to grow from either the top of the bag, or from the side, as shown.

Pioppino mushrooms have a lower water content than other varieties of specialty mushrooms and brown very easily when chopped and cooked. They also hold their shape while they are cooking, even if being tossed around in a pan or skillet.

They retain a nice chew and meatiness, even after thorough cooking. This makes them well suited to recipes braising, stewing or adding to long simmered sauces. Pioppino mushrooms have an exceptionally pleasant nutty flavour that works well with many types of cuisine.

Lastly, these are a rare specialty mushroom that I believe is undeservingly underrepresented within the industry. I did have to work with some cultures that I determined to be less than cooperative before I found one that I liked, but it absolutely worth it.

Thanks goes out to for this pioppino culture. Also, check out who has got a great post and YouTube video where he discusses these great mushrooms and shares some recipe ideas. Comment or DM if you’d like to learn more ✌️🍄‍🟫

01/22/2025

Hey folks! I’m very excited to announce my latest program and hands-on workshop happening next month! Please join me for a cozy and comfy evening of chatting about the ins and outs of all things mushroom cultivation with Kristin at ! 🌿

As a part of the program, you will have an opportunity to put together your own lion’s mane mushroom grow kit that you can take home to grow. All care instructions and tips to ensure you can make the most of your mushroom grow kit will be covered during the workshop. 🔎

For this program I’ll be offering a tiered ticket structure to accommodate whatever type of learning experience you like. Want just the basics with no commitment? Too busy for a grow kit at the moment? No problem! Just select the ‘Information Only’ option. 🧠

But if you want to dive right in and can’t wait to start growing, you can select the ‘Information & Grow Kit’ option. Looking to take your friend or sweetheart out to do something creative and different? Select the ‘Couples / Buddy Special’ to both attend the program and share a grow kit together! 😘

Please visit rivercitymushrooms.ca/products to register! Hope to see you all at Verde next month! Feel free to comment or DM me if you have any questions about this program! 👌

01/10/2025

Hey folks. Happy 2025. I’ve been a bit quiet over here lately (as happens from time to time) but there have been some exciting developments that have taken place recently and I promise that I’ll highlight in due time 😎

Firstly, thank you to everyone that was able and willing to support this me last month during the holidays, as well as at any point over the course of this business journey. I’m very fortunate to have all of you behind what I do 😘

The online store has been refreshed with updated inventory, and I have also started accepting pre-orders for plug spawn for the 2025 inoculation season. Full details on all of that can be found online, or drop me a question in the comments 👌

This month’s newsletter will be out sometime this weekend. As always, thanks for being here. Talk again real soon. Pictured: a grow tent filled with ‘Princess pearl’ white oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) mushrooms, along with a regular eavesdropper ✌️

12/17/2024

A great big THANK YOU to everyone that has supported me over the last few weeks by grabbing a grow kit to gift over the holidays or by signing up for one of programs that I already have planned for the New Year. 🍄‍🟫

There’s lots of exciting things happening behind the scenes, including some very special and exciting news that includes another local Winnipeg business that I greatly respect and have done collaborations with in the past. More on that tomorrow! 😎

If you are still wanting a grow kit before the holidays, let me know! There’s definitely still some time left, but that window is closing fast. I only have white oyster and pioppino grow kits left. Everything else is sold out until next year! ⭐️

12/11/2024

Stock is selling out online quickly! But not to worry - gift cards are always available and can be used right across the entire website. Choose however much you would like to gift (or to gift yourself!) and redeem at a later date 👌

We have limited inventory available right now but will be restocking after the holiday season. So don’t fret if you aren’t able to order what you would like this time - use your gift card in the future for spawn, cultivation supplies grow kits, programs and more! 🍄‍🟫

A big thank you to everyone that has already submitted pre-orders for holiday grow kits! You’re keeping us busy and that’s something I’m always grateful for. Stay tuned for a pick up confirmation email before arriving to claim your order 📦

12/09/2024

Hey folks! Big special announcement over here that I’ve been keeping pretty quiet. Our popular, high yielding and reliable mushroom grow kits are now available in brand new packaging!

Just open up the box, remove the grow kit and you’re ready to start growing! Each grow kit comes with detailed instructions and troubleshooting support. These 5 pound blocks will yield on average 2 lbs. of mushrooms.

We are also still accepting holiday pre-orders for a wide selection of our grow kits until the end of this week! Orders received before Thursday December 14th will be available for pick up by the weekend.

Have a question about our grow kits? Let me know below 👌🍄‍🟫❄️

07/05/2024

Pioppino, also known as poplar mushrooms (Cyclocybe aegerita) are coming in hot this week for an inaugural release next week at . They’re my current favourite gourmet mushroom and I’m willing to bet that they’ll steal your heart too!

They’ve got a nice firm texture and chew with tender yet snappy stems. They’re a popular spring mushroom throughout in regions of Italy where this species grows wild. Whether sautéed or marinated, shredded and stewed in a hearty sauce, these mushrooms are a real show stopper.

These hearty (fun)guys’ flavour is mild yet nutty and sweet. I plan to have these available on the regular starting next week! Be sure to stop on by the market to try some It’s a great market in a fantastic neighbourhood that I’m thrilled to be a part of this year 🔥🍄‍🟫👌

06/21/2024

Yet another flush of wild oyster mushrooms (likely Pleurotus ostreatus) from a deceased elm stump here in one of the many tree lined neighbourhoods in Winnipeg. The unique traits and genetics that this particular specimen contains will be plated onto agar and cultured in the lab for further use.

This particular wild strain seems to produce thick, sturdy and durable clusters of light brown or buff coloured mushrooms that should be well suited to handling. It’s also not a bad thing that they seem to be tolerant of producing during warm weather. So let’s see how it does in cultivation!

Working with local phenotypes of wild saprophytic fungi is something that I would love to do much more. This is one of the reasons why I started growing mushrooms in the first place. Growing with local mushrooms species and strains that have already adapted to our local conditions is also an excellent way to cultivate and develop new relationships with our local ecology.

This tissue, taken from the flesh on the inside of a mushroom, will generate more mycelium as it grows. This expanded mycelium can then be used to make grain or sawdust based spawn for the purpose of producing more of the exact same mushrooms under controlled conditions.
If this new strain does well, maybe you’ll see it available soon! Stay tuned to find out ✌️🍄

05/23/2024

Very excited for this next hands on mushroom growing program in collaboration with !

A 1 hour lecture style program will be followed by a 30 minute hands on component where eligible participants will be shown how to correctly assemble their own pail of oyster mushrooms.

Instructions describing how to care for and harvest your mushrooms will be covered during the program and made available after the program through a follow up email.

To register, visit rivercitymushrooms.ca/products or click through the link in our bio. Comment below if you have any questions! 🍄✌️

04/16/2024

Hey everyone! Things have been a little quiet over here on the mushroom front, but just like the natural world outside of our windows, things are just about to make a break for it and I couldn’t be more excited.

After spending the last two weeks travelling out of province to visit family and friends, I am eager to get right back into production mode, continue myceliating and connecting all of you with what you need to get growing mushrooms this spring and summer.

Thank you SO MUCH to all of you who have pre-ordered spawn for the upcoming season! I have a few units of plug spawn left available for pre-order, but once these are gone, that’s it for the year! 10,000 plugs out there in the world.

There are also a few spots left for my mushroom themed weekend series with the Harvest Moon Society on May 4th and 5th. Visit the workshop page on the RCM website, DM or comment below for more details! We’re at about 3/4 capacity right now.

Stay tuned for more updates on the horizon ✌️🍄

03/21/2024

Yesterday afternoon I wrapped up a collaborative project between myself and the biology department at the University of Winnipeg. I am very excited to have had the opportunity to share the skills, methods and insights that I have accumulated over the years with some eager and enthusiastic students over the last couple of months as part of their studies into the world of fungi and mycology.

We explored the life stages of a variety of commonly grown edible and medicinal mushroom species, monitored their growth and development, recognized how to best care for them, solve problems and learned to recognize the nuances of each species and strain.

My hope is that fungi will continue to be a source of inspiration and wonder for all critical thinkers and researchers into the future, and that they will become a much more prominent focus of study in the fields of ecology, biology and natural sciences.

Many thanks go out to Rafael Otfinowski who got in touch with me earlier this year and set this whole project in motion. This sort of tactile and engaging learning experience is something I wish I had more of when I was in school, but the good news is we can change that.

02/20/2024

I am absolutely thrilled to be able to offer this intensive series of mushroom cultivation programs in collaboration with the Harvest Moon Society in Clearwater, MB.

If you are interested in exploring the enormous potential of mushrooms to help diversify your home grown crops, increase the overall productivity of your garden and help contribute to and nurture the health of your soil, this may be your idea of a good weekend.

The interface of mycology, ecology and agriculture is the underlying theme for all of the integrative practices that you will learn in this series of hands on workshops.

I hope you’ll consider joining us. There are 5 courses available which can be attended individually, or as part of a day long or full weekend package. 4 of the latter programs offer a hands on component which also includes take home materials, so you can put your new skills to the test.

This will be a revolutionary, first of its kind fungi-themed weekend program for Manitoba, and not to be missed for those serious about growing mushrooms for pleasure and profit!

01/10/2024

Hey everyone. I Hope the first week and a half or 2024 is off to a good start for you all. A lot of you have been asking about the big reveal that I have been teasing for quite some time now - and so here it goes.

While I was out of province traveling throughout the American southwest in November of last year, time spent in a brand new place with some of my favourite people, I made the decision to leave my full time job of 7 years and concentrate all of my energy on moving forward with River City Mushrooms.

After moving to Winnipeg from Hamilton Ontario in early December of 2016, this was the first and only job that I have held while living here, and so it was very much tied to my self identity, and what it meant to live in Winnipeg. I now find myself somewhat adrift in a churning, turbulent sea of possibility.

The sun has risen to reveal a shifting duality of uncertainty and soft core panic, but also unbridled excitement and an eagerness to embrace the opportunity to cultivate a work and life balance that is conducive to my ongoing struggle to maintain a consistent sense of wellbeing. I’m sure many of you can relate.

This fungi-themed passion project has been ongoing since my early 20’s and has existed in one way, shape or form ever since for the last decade or so. Only back in 2018 did I finally permit this idea to coalesce into what it is today, and make a concerted effort to push myself way outside of my comfort zone and strive to piece together a somewhat functioning business.

I want to sincerely thank you all for being here, and for those of you that have been kind enough and able to support me enough for this transition to even be feasible. I’m very fortunate to have this opportunity. I’m absolutely taking a financial hit, but the alternative, to have maintained my past trajectory, would have been worse for me in the long term.

At the end of the day, I’m just some guy growing mushrooms in his apartment. There’s no investors, upper middle management or employees. There are however, cured squash and paper bags of potatoes that hang out with colonizing bags of grain spawn, bags of sawdust and grain lining the hallways of my home and 30 pound pressure canners that get scrubbed clean in the bathtub.

I’m not trying to revolutionize the industry. If I can inspire something in someone, that’s all I’m here for. The whole point of all of this is to get folks more acquainted with where their food comes from, how it’s produced, empower them to have a hand in doing it themselves, and advocate for a return to small-scale, local and community focused food production. Or something like that.

Stay tuned for more announcements and collaborations that are simmering just under the surface. I can’t wait to tell you all about what’s in store. As we head into a new year, let’s strive to take steps to take care of ourselves, one another and the place that we all share with each other. Cheers friends, to all that the rain promises and more. Spores to the wind 🍻😘

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75 Young Street
Winnipeg, MB
R3C1Y7

Website

http://www.rivercitymushrooms.ca/

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Videos

Pioppino mushrooms are a very easy species to grow indoors. They like cool conditions and can flourish with even small amounts of air exchange, but high humidity is a must. The mushrooms have a thin ring that will separate from the gills once the mushrooms are mature. All of the mushrooms on a block tend to mature within a day or so of one another, so all of the clusters should be harvested at the same time. Once the ring separates and reveals the mushrooms gills under the cap, they are ready to pick! Sometimes the mushrooms can grow into each other, so this can be a bit of a delicate process so as to end up with nice, in tact clusters.

Just a few updates from me this morning! Please join me and the rest of the Winnipeg gardening community at Seedy Saturday this coming weekend! 10:30-3:30 @ Millennium Library. Free admission! Local vendors, a film screening, workshops, seed swap and more! Also! Be sure to get your plug / dowel spawn orders in before March 23rd! I have a limited quantity available and need to know by then how much I am making in order to ensure that I can have them all ready for planting time from mid April through to early May. Sawdust and grain spawn preorders for the spring planting season / start of the gardening season should also be in by April 13th! This will allow me enough time to produce them and have them ready by the end of April or early May.

A little mushroom grow room show and tell for you today! I’ve got a single bag of black pearl king oyster mushrooms that are looking fantastic at the moment, as well as loads of pioppino mushrooms that will be ready to pick early tomorrow! Join the fresh mushroom newsletter (sign up on the RCM home page!) if you would like to snag some of these for a recipe later this week or over the weekend! Black pearl king, pioppino (lots!) and a small amount of blue oyster will be available.

Pioppino also known as black poplar or poplar mushrooms (Agrocybe / Cyclocybe aegerita) are a versatile and delicious mushroom that is very quickly becoming one of my personal favourites. They often begin producing mushrooms on their own about 2-3 weeks after the inoculation date, and require less fresh air exchange than oyster or lions mane mushrooms. They are also relatively unknown on the culinary and home growing mushroom scene, which is unfortunate because they are very easy to grow indoors, love cooler weather and produce like clockwork. Yields are not normally as impressive as oyster or lions mane mushrooms, but they make up for that in ease of use and are a mushroom that you simply can’t find anywhere else!

In today’s video I am doing a bit of a recap of my previous video on how to properly and effectively harvest your fresh mushrooms. Today it is a nice beautiful cluster of lions mane that is ready to be picked. Similar to oyster mushroom varieties and other clump forming fungi, you will want to find where the base of the cluster meets the substrate, grasp it firmly and wiggle it back and forth (up and down) until it breaks free, making sure to be support the cluster so it does not fall!

Oyster mushrooms go through different stages of development as they grow. Size, color (and even fragrance!) can be used to judge when your mushrooms are ready to pick. Temperature and exposure to light tend to be the strongest influences of color, especially when it comes to species like this blue oyster, which tend to be most vibrant when they are young. Generally, blue oyster mushrooms should be picked when their color starts to fade from blue to grey, the caps of the mushrooms begin to widen or the margins of the caps splay out (they begin slightly rolled in or curled under). Spore production is a sure sign of maturity, and those mushrooms should be picked right away if you notice spores!

A quick little tutorial illustrating how to know when your mushroom grow kit is ready to start using. Ideally 10-14 days after the inoculation date is typically when the mycelium will have matured within the substrate, but be sure to look all around (including the bottom) of the bag to ensure there are no large patches of bare sawdust substrate. Even coverage of mycelium is what you are looking for, and there are some subtle difference between species and varieties. It is a learning curve, but you will get it once you see the same species or variety grow out and mature a few times! Thanks everyone for your continued interest and support 🍄✌️