MycoLogic - Mushroom Cultivation and Research

14/07/2024

A little write up about MycoLogic which nicely summarises what we're about!

By focusing on the untapped potential of native mushrooms, MycoLogic is not only expanding the culinary horizons of Kiwis but also en

11/07/2024

Did you know that Aotearoa has its own species of native shiitake mushroom? Here's a couple of quirky looking ones hanging out in our grow room today 😎

Native shiitake are endemic to New Zealand and are not found anywhere else in the world, although at some point millions of years ago they shared a common ancestor with the shiitake mushrooms found in Asia which have become a central part of Chinese and Japanese cuisine. Thanks to eons of geographical isolation on our islands, they slowly diverged into their own unique species.

Native shiitake are fairly rare in the wild, but when they are found they are usually growing from fallen logs of native hardwoods like beech, rimu or kamahi. Compared to Asian shiitake, they have a darker reddish brown colouration, and are more tomentose (shaggy texture) and umbonate (raised bump on the cap, as seen quite pronounced in these specimens). They have the same delicious, bright umami flavour and robust texture as Asian shiitake.

Native shiitake can be grown indoors on sawdust blocks, but the easiest way to grow them is outside in the garden on inoculated mushroom logs. We supply cultured dowels which you can use to make your own logs at home, to learn about the easy process just check out the 'growing on logs' section of our free grow guides at www.mycologic.nz ! ✌️

28/06/2024

Another option for fruiting our Enoki mushroom grow kits is to lay the kit on its side, so that the mushrooms grow vertically from the top side of the block. Yields will be much the same as a side fruited block (see our previous post) but some people prefer the aesthetics or space efficiency of doing it this way!

These Enoki were grown in a simple plastic storage tote bin with the lid left slightly ajar. Enoki require much less fresh air exchange than most other kinds of mushrooms, and in fact restricting the airflow can help them stretch out and elongate into the classic 'enoki' growth form.

When they're ready to harvest you simply grasp the whole cluster and give it a gentle twist and pull, and it will cleanly break off of the grow block. The block can then be put back into its growing area where another crop will develop in a couple of weeks. Each kit should produce two or three crops in total.

The delicate, fruity flavour and snappy texture of Enoki mushrooms are a wonderful addition to stir frys, noodle soups and hot pot type dishes! You can find these kits in the grow kits section of our website at www.mycologic.nz

Shroom on! ✌️😎

07/06/2024

A gorgeous cluster of Enoki ready for harvest in our grow room today, grown from one of our Enoki mushroom grow kits 😎

Enoki are an iconic feature of Asian cuisine, prized for their delicate, slightly fruity umami flavour and snappy texture which can add an extra dimension to noodle soups, stir fry, hot pot or dumplings.

One interesting thing about Enoki is that they love growing in colder conditions, making autumn, winter and spring the perfect time to grow them without the need for any heating. In the wild, they can even freeze solid, thaw out and resume growing! If you go for a bush walk this winter you may well find some growing on fallen logs or the trunks of old trees in cool, sheltered spots.

You can also easily grow Enoki at home using one of our ready-to-fruit Enoki mushroom grow kits! These are a seasonal release for us and are inoculated with our favourite strain of wild NZ Enoki, the same as what's in this picture. They are very fun mushrooms to grow!

You can find kits by searching 'enoki kit' on our website at www.mycologic.nz available now for a limited time!

Happy shrooming ✌️

24/04/2024

With the cooler temperatures of autumn starting to settle in, our Wood Blewit patches have produced their first flush of the season. It's always a delight to see these unique, lilac coloured mushrooms popping up amongst fallen leaves.

Wood blewits are unique not only for their colour but also their flavour and aroma. They have a distinctly 'fruity' scent which can be compared to orange juice or apricots. Hints of this can carry on into the flavour of the mushrooms when cooked. They are often sauteed with a dash of brandy or sherry, but can also be added to soups and stews, stuffings or gravies for hearty winter meals.

These mushrooms love to grow in 'forest duff', as in, the layer of rich soil created by fallen leaves and twigs under medium to large sized trees. To make a blewits patch at home, you can simply find a suitable shaded, sheltered spot under a tree, add some wood blewits spawn matrix, and cover it with more leaves, soil or sawdust / woodchips. After one to two years the patch will begin fruiting. You can keep it going for many years by adding some more substrate each year, or if you're lucky the trees above will provide enough fresh material to keep the patch going on its own!

Wood blewits spawn can be found on our website at www.mycologic.nz in the spawn section of our shop, or just type 'blewits' in the search bar and you'll find them! 🍄‍🟫

14/04/2024

A vibrant and healthy autumn flush of shiitake mushrooms in the garden today.

These are growing from a log which was inoculated about six years ago. The log lives in a sheltered, shaded part of the garden and asides from that receives very little care and attention, except for when mushrooms are ready to harvest!

Mushroom logs tend to produce two or three crops of mushrooms per year, until the log is 'spent' when the mycelium has consumed all of the nutrients. This particular log seems like it's still got a couple of good years in it, not bad going for a few minutes work six years ago to inoculate it!

Logs are inoculated with mushroom culture dowels which are tapped into holes drilled in a freshly cut log. We supply dowels of a wide range of species in our shop at www.mycologic.nz and you can also check out our free online 'Grow Guides' for plenty more info about how to make and care for outdoor mushroom logs 😎

Happy growing!

29/03/2024

Some gorgeous native phoenix oyster mushrooms ready for harvest in our grow room today 😎 they will be a nice addition to a simple stir-fry dish tonight!

Now that autumn has arrived we're coming in to a fantastic season for mushroom growing, with temperatures and humidity generally in pretty optimal ranges and the mushrooms need very little care and attention.

These were grown from one of our standard native phoenix oyster mushroom grow kits, available in our shop at www.mycologic.nz

20/03/2024

MUSHROOM GROWING WORKSHOP
Dunedin, Sunday 7th April

Bookings are now open for our upcoming workshop which is an introduction to home mushroom cultivation, hosted by MycoLogic's founder Bart Acres.

These workshops are a great way to learn in-person about all things fungi, including the biology and life cycle of fungi, which species you can grow at home, and multiple different methods to cultivate them.

These workshops are great value, as not only will you get the chance to have hands-on experience making mushroom grow logs and straw bags or buckets, you also get to take home with you what you make on the day.

To book visit https://www.mycologic.nz/product-page/mushroom-workshop-dunedin or just head to mycologic.nz and search 'workshop'

Numbers are limited and these workshops do tend to book up quickly. There is a possibility for us to add a second workshop later in the month of April. If you can't make it to this one but want to be notified of future workshops just email us at [email protected] and we will let you know when more workshops are planned!

We are hosting a 'Beginners guide to mushoom cultivation' workshops at The Valley Project in North East Valley, Dunedin this autum! Hosted by MycoLogic's founder and head technician Bart Acres, this interactive and hands-on workshop will give you all of the foundational knowledge you need to begin s...

20/02/2024

Some cute miniature Tawaka mushrooms fruiting from a dowel 🥹

Dowels are colonised with live mycelium and are used to inoculate freshly cut logs by drilling holes in a log and tapping the dowels into the hole, thus introducing the mushroom culture directly into the wood. This batch seems to be rearing to go!

Making mushroom logs is one of the easiest and most natural ways of growing a range of gourmet mushrooms at home in your own back yard. You can think of them a bit like the mushroom version of a fruit tree - they can take a year or two to produce their first crop, but will then continue cropping during rainy, humid and mild weather for several years after that.

Learn more in the 'Growing on Logs' section of our grow guides at www.mycologic.nz 😎

10/02/2024

Some native phoenix oyster mushrooms growing on an inoculated tī kōuka (cabbage tree) log in the garden today ☺️

Many of our customers who have made their own mushroom logs are surprised to see them fruiting even in mid-summer. That's one of the great things about outdoor logs of native edible mushroom species - their cropping is not restricted to just autumn, they can in fact grow mushrooms at almost any time of year! Having evolved right here for millennia, they're well adapted to our local climates.

Growing mushrooms on logs is an easy and natural way to get several crops of mushrooms per year from a shaded, sheltered and potentially under-utilised corner of your garden. More info about how to make them can be found in our grow guides at www.mycologic.nz/growing-on-logs 🤙

27/12/2023

A nice flush of Tawaka mushrooms ready to pick in our grow room today. Tawaka are a delicious native mushroom with a robust texture and deep savoury flavour. Tawaka are also growing in the wild at the moment in many parts of the country so keep your eyes peeled 👀 in the bush and you may find some. These will be going on a pizza 🍕 tonight! 😎

15/12/2023

Looking for a last minute stocking stuffer for that mushroom lover in your life? Copies of my book can be ordered from our website until lunchtime Monday for Christmas delivery! Our digital gift certificates can also be ordered any time 😎

Take note that the cutoff time for pre-Christmas orders for other products (like grow kits and spawn) has now passed, but we'll be continuing to dispatch orders throughout the summer holiday season 🍄

Thank you to all of our wonderful supporters in 2023, it's been a pleasure to supply you all with your mushroom growing needs and to recieve so much great feedback about your bountiful crops of delicious fungi! Stay tuned for more mycological innovations in 2024, and in the mean time, have a safe and happy holidays! ✌️

www.mycologic.nz

30/11/2023

A short article I wrote for NZ Gardener magazine 😊 it's always hard when they ask for it to be short, I could yack on about growing mushrooms for days!

If you're thinking of giving a shroomy gift to a fungi fanatic in your life this Christmas, we've got you covered, from simple stocking stuffers like a copy of my book 'Growing Gourmet Mushrooms at Home: An Introductory Guide', culture inoculums for making mushroom logs and outdoor patches, through to ready-made mushroom grow kits for quick and easy crops, you can find it all in our online store at www.mycologic.nz 🤙

Growing your own unique, native mushrooms is easier than you think - and a great project for kids during the summer holidays.

05/11/2023

A couple of quick updates for our loyal fungi fanatics!

1) Spaces are filling up quickly for our upcoming Mushroom Cultivation Workshops being held in Dunedin on both Sunday 12th November and Saturday 18th November, so if you're considering attending, it could be a good idea to book soon before they fill up! Info and booking can be found by visiting www.mycologic.nz and searching 'workshop'. It would be great to see you there for an afternoon of learning about all things mushrooms!

2) Our Christmas orders are now open, which means that if you want to pre order products from our website as gifts and have them delivered to the selected address in the week leading up to Christmas, simply choose 'XMAS Shipping' as your shipping option at the checkout and we'll sort that out for you 😎 cutoff date for Christmas orders is 18th December, however ordering sooner than later could be a good idea as some items may sell out in the lead up to Christmas

That's all folks!

26/10/2023

MUSHROOM CULTIVATION WORKSHOPS (Dunedin)

Have you ever been curious about growing your own mushrooms at home? Here is your chance to learn how!

Our practical and hands-on mushroom workshops are a crash course in understanding fungi, and cover a range of easy ways to grow your own delicious and nutritious culinary and medicinal mushrooms.

You also get to take home what you've made on the day along with a copy of the book written by workshop host Bart Acres, founder of MycoLogic, with over 20 years experience in growing and teaching about mushrooms.

Our spring workshops are now open for booking. They are being held at the Valley Project community rooms in North East Valley, Dunedin. There are two dates to choose from, Saturday 12th November and Sunday 18th November. Both workshops run from 12 noon till 4pm and include afternoon tea with tasty snacks and cooking up some fresh gourmet mushrooms 😎

Workshops can be booked by heading to www.mycologic.nz/product-page/mushroom-workshop-dunedin or just go to www.mycologic.nz and search 'workshop'

And a special deal for our loyal social media followers, you can use the discount code 'spore' for 10% off your workshop fee

Hope to see you there! 🍄

14/10/2023

If you have mushroom logs in your garden that were inoculated a year or more ago, now is a great time to check on them, and give them a good watering or a 12 hour soak in a tub of water. Mild temperatures and spring rains are wonderful for crops of mushrooms from outdoor logs!

These shiitake sprung up on an old and untended log in my back yard the other day, however humidity has been fluctuating with some hot sunny days mixed in with rainy days, leading to this 'cracked cap' appearance. In Japan when this happens they are called 'donko' shiitake and are the most expensive and highly prized kinds due to their concentrated umami flavour.

Now that these have been picked I'll give the log a good soak and put it somewhere out of the wind and it should give another crop in the next couple of weeks.

It's also a great time of year to make new mushroom logs, with warmer weather serving as nature's incubator to allow for faster mycelial growth through the wood over the next few months.

You can learn more about how to grow gourmet mushrooms naturally on logs in your own back yard in our free grow guides at www.mycologic.nz/growing-on-logs 😎

02/10/2023

Maintaining a world class mushroom cultures library can at times be a formidable task. Cultures require regular checking and upkeep to ensure that they remain in top condition for long periods of time - and along with that comes a significant amount of record keeping!

Today's job is to work through 'the back fridge’ which is essentially a pretty random collection of cultures that are awaiting further work, including cultivation trials, DNA sequencing, and shifting into long term (cryogenic) storage.

Many of these cultures are new strains which have never been cultivated by humans before, so it's up to us to identify the ones which will be worthy of further exploration. What we mainly look for is strong mycelial growth, good yield, adaptability to a wide range of growing conditions, and, of course, good texture and delicious flavour!

All of these cultures will be transferred to fresh agar plates to check their purity and vigour, and a handful will be selected for our next round of research trials. Our research is done in-house and is funded directly from the sale of products on our website at www.mycologic.nz

So, every time you buy a product from us, you are also supporting our efforts to continuously learn more about the native and wild edible and medicinal fungi of Aotearoa and provide new options to local cultivators 🤙

Keep on shroomin! 😎

15/09/2023

A hearty crop of native oyster mushrooms on one of our grow kits today... This harvest clocked in at over a kilogram! The mycelium block will now 'rest' for a week or two before starting to grow another flush of mushrooms.

Our unique strain of phoenix oyster mushrooms feature vigorous growth with robust mushrooms that can be large and have a delicious and complex savoury flavour. Some of the ones in this crop are exhibiting the scalloped cap edges from which oyster mushrooms get their name.

Phoenix oyster mushrooms are very versatile in the kitchen and can be used in a wide range of dishes, from your classic mushrooms on toast, through to pizza, pasta, stir fry, or even crumbing and frying whole mushrooms (pan fry or bake like schnitzel, or use a spiced crumb batter and deep fry for a vegan, but delicious, version of K-Fry) ;)

It is coming into a great season to grow mushrooms, with mild temperatures and a few spring rains around, which makes it very easy to create an ideal growth environment without needing to tend to them too frequently. Check our website for more info about all things mushroom growing!

www.mycologic.nz

😎

30/08/2023

A healthy cluster of Enoki mushrooms ready for harvest in our grow room today.

Asides from their vibrant colour, interesting fruity flavour and crunchy texture, we also love Enoki for their role in seasonal mushroom growing. They thrive in the cooler temperatures of winter without the need for any heating... They are known to even be able to freeze solid, and resume growth once they thaw out!

On the other hand, they don't perform well in the height of summer, so there will only be a couple of months or so left of Enoki season before they're swapped out for other species which grow better in the warm, like Tawaka and Brown Oyster mushrooms.

The same seasonality of cropping is reflected in these species when grown outdoors on logs, which is one reason why its a great idea to make logs of a few different species, so that you can be picking wild mushrooms in the back yard in all seasons!

While we'll miss the golden flare of enoki clusters in the grow room over the summer, it's also exciting to start preparing for summer species and the different flavours that they'll bring. Such is the joy of seasonal mushroom growing!

20/08/2023

Pekepeke-kiore, our treasured native cousin of the famous 'Lion's Mane' mushroom, enjoying a spot of forest bathing 🌿

One of the great things about this species is that it grows year-round in a wide range of temperatures. This particular grow kit has been in a chilly spot which rarely gets above 10°C at this time of year, but still happily truckin' along, with fruitbody development taking about one month in these cooler temperatures.

Pekepeke-kiore has an extremely unique flavour which is quite different to pretty much any other mushroom out there. Bright and complex umami notes are balanced by a subtle sweetness. A stronger savoury flavour is gained by sautéing in a hot skillet until the ends of the tendrils are turning golden brown. One of my favourite ways to enjoy this mushroom is to do this and then add them into a broth based noodle soup along with other ingredients of your choice! They're also great just on buttered toast with a pinch of salt, their flavour is more than able to hold its own without an entourage of spices and seasonings.

If you've never tried this mushroom before, definitely put it on the bucket list... I've shared it with many people who claim to 'not like mushrooms' (based largely on trying only buttons and portobello), but they love these! We have ready-to-grow kits just like the one in this photo, available in the Grow Kits section at www.mycologic.nz

Happy shrooming! 🤓

17/08/2023

HOT OFF THE PRESS!

I'm stoked to announce that after lots of hard work, the all new, revised and expanded edition of my mushroom cultivation book is now printed and ready for sale!

The book, titled 'Growing Gourmet Mushrooms at Home: An Introductory Guide', is designed as a user-friendly practical manual for mushroom cultivators in New Zealand. It's essentially my attempt at taking twenty years of experience in growing mushrooms and distilling it down into a simplified form which could equip someone with zero prior knowledge with the info they need to have success. And even seasoned pros may pick up a useful tip or two as well 😉

Many subjects are covered including the mushroom life cycle and biology, clear instructions for several different mushroom growing techniques from the easy and low-tech through to advanced methods, creating fruiting environments, harvesting and cooking with mushrooms, medicinal mushrooms, troubleshooting, and more!

To celebrate the release of the new 2nd Edition of this book, we're putting it on sale for just $24.90 for the next little while, you can purchase it from our website at www.mycologic.nz/product-page/mushroom-growing-book

I hope that many mushroom growers will find this book to be a useful resource that they can come back to time and time again... Happy shrooming everyone! 😎🙏

15/07/2023

WINTERTIME MUSHROOM GARDENING
Just like growing fruits and vegetables, mushroom cultivation has its seasons, and there's still plenty that can be done in winter! I like to make use of this time that's fairly quiet in the rest of the garden to get some mushroom projects underway.

MUSHROOM LOGS
Winter is considered an ideal time for the inoculation of mushroom logs. These can be thought of a bit like the mushroom version of a fruit tree, in the sense that they take a year or so to bare their first fruits, but can remain productive for several years after that, with not much maintenance required. Check out our free 'Grow Guides' section at www.mycologic.nz for more info on how to make them! You can find dowel spawn for making logs in our online store.

OUTDOOR MUSHROOM PATCHES
It's also a great time of year to prepare some outdoor mushroom beds. We are excited after a couple of years of trials and experimentation to have now made Wood Blewits spawn available for the first time. Wood Blewits are a unique mushroom with a distinct lilac blush to their stem, gills and cap, and a fruity aroma which some compare to oranges or apricots! These mushrooms love to fruit in the cool weather, so a patch made now could be fruiting next winter. Check out the 'Outdoor Patches' section of our grow guides for instructions on how to grow them!

ENOKI GROW KITS
These are a seasonal release for us, as similarly to Wood Blewits, Enoki mushrooms love cold weather! They are a very pretty mushroom with long, slender stems and a vivid yellow colouration. Enoki are prized in Asian cultures where they are used in a range of dishes such as stir frys, noodle soups, hot pots and as dumplings filler! We have prepared a limited lot of enoki grow kits for the winter season so that mushroom lovers around the country can grow these at home for something a bit out of the ordinary! You can find these special edition winter grow kits in the 'Grow kits' section of our shop at www.mycologic.nz

Happy winter shrooming! Stay warm 😎

10/06/2023

The past week or so has definitely been starting to feel like winter around much of the country, with crisp frosty mornings and chilly daytime highs. But that's no worries for these vibrant Enoki mushrooms (Flammulina velutipes) that are ready for harvest today!

Enoki are a famously cold loving mushroom, and winter is the prime season in which to grow them. Outdoor logs inoculated with enoki will also begin fruiting about now, and we've been receiving a few great photos of outdoor enoki crops from customers in the past few days. It's always nice to hear back from folks about how their mushroom projects are coming along!

It's not uncommon for these mushrooms, if growing outdoors, to be able to freeze solid, thaw out, and resume growth as per usual.. This is thanks to a natural compound that they produce within their cells which protects them from damage from microscopic ice crystals. So they truly are a cold-adapted species.

Enoki have a unique, mildly fruity aroma and flavour, with a slightly crunchy texture not dissimilar to mung bean sprouts. They go great in most types of Asian cuisine, including noodle soups, hot pot, stir fry, and as a filler for tasty dumplings.

Scientific research on enoki mushrooms has shown them to contain many compounds which are beneficial for human health. Traditionally they've been regarded as a mushroom which is good for the heart and preventing of arteriosclerosis, and modern studies have found additional benefits to incorporation of enoki into the diet, including antioxidant and immune system supporting compounds. So, even though it's getting cold, we can at least celebrate that enoki season is here!

26/05/2023

Getting up close with a lovely Pekepeke-kiore mushroom in our grow room today 😎 the intricate structure of these fruitbodies never ceases to be fascinating!

As the weather starts to cool own, Pekepeke-kiore (and other mushrooms) start to grow more slowly - this one is now about three weeks old and is probably still one week away from harvest.

But the trade off for this slower growth is that they tend to grow very high quality, dense, flavourful and blemish free mushrooms in the cooler months, and require very little maintenance as it's easier for them to hold onto their moisture in the cold.

The great thing about native mushroom species is that they are very well adapted to our moderate, temperate climate here in Aotearoa and most of them can be grown at home year-round without artificial heating or cooling!

You can find ready-made grow kits, cultures and spawn for these mushrooms and more at our website www.mycologic.nz ✌️

09/05/2023

A chunky Tawaka harvested from our fruiting room this morning... Pretty much a meal in that one!