Enter to Win a Mushroom Garden Kit

Hi from faraway Israel!
First of all, thanks for your blog – I am always happy to find more people into urban gardening!

What I like to do with mushrooms, and it can be any kind of mushrooms (portabello, button, oyster, himeji etc) – you heat up a cast iron skillet – really heat it up – until it’s like hell it self. then you take your mushrooms, cover them in a bit of oil (mix in a bowl), and throw them on the skillet. It’s a very loud and happy experience
Then after a few seconds (around 45) of tossing them around the skillet – add a bit of sugar (yes, sugar!) about a teaspoon, and stir. The sugar gives a thin caramelized crust, and is awesome.
Use the mushrooms with whatever dish you like – pasta, risotto etc..

Thanks!
Daniel

(and if I happen to win the mushroom thing, and Israel is too far away to send it to, no problem, at least everyone will make tasty mushroom things! )

I love beef and mushroom stew.

I would love to have this mushroom kit –please send me one…I have plans to make some sauteed mushrooms with onions, celery, bell peppers, garlic,,,and a nice pot of rice to go with that mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Can you tell I do my vid/garden surfing late and when tired?? (left comment in wrong place). Me and the wife have been container gardening like crazy and really want to add mushrooms to our self production. (plus I have pounds of used grounds, I didn’t even know they were good for growing mushrooms). We love to try out stir fry recipes and my peach-steak would go nicely with some home grown oysters I believe.
Either way, thanks for the vids and site, I’ve gotten some good tips!!

Have been eyeing these kits for a few months now!

Mushrooms are an under-rated veg IMHO. I especially adore shitake mushrooms, but any of the earthy brown ones are found in my fridge at all times. I like to chop them up in the food processor — not too fine — and add to recipes that call for ground meat and cut the meat in half and sub in the mushrooms for the other half.

Even my mushroom disliking son never notices the difference. WIN!

Mushrooms on pizza, mushrooms in meatloaf, mushrooms in salad, mushrooms stuffed, I love mushrooms. So many things I can do with the little fungus!!

Would love to start growing my own shrooms!

Chop some ‘shrooms up with garlic, red pepper, olive oil and fresh sage in the food processor, and spread it on a piece of nice crispy baguette. Yum.

I love mushrooms and my very favorite recipe is to eat them raw. I like the earthy smell and the “crunch” when they are fresh so growing my own would be a kick!

There is a large mushroom operation on the Big Island (Hawaii) where I live! Hamakua Heritage Farm and they offer several mushroom recipes! http://www.fungaljungle.com/recipes.htm

I’ve been following this company for some time now and really want to try one of their kits! I’d make it the cornerstone of my 2011 resolution indoor food garden, since I have very little available light anyway! As for using them… probably will stick any that make it past getting eaten freshly picked in my solar dehydrator as, being off-grid, I don’t get a chance to cook very often. There is a feeding line down the street from me too, I’d love to donate them some gourmet yummies!

Mushrooms are one of my favorite foods! Being a life long carnivore trying to cut back on meat, mushrooms have been one of my saving graces. This weeks favorite mushroom recipe is making a red wine mushroom and shallot risotto type stuffing for bell peppers. Alternately I make basically the same recipe cutting up the peppers and stuffing portobellos when nice big caps are available.

I’d love to win the mushroom kit! I’ve heard about this a few years back and have always wanted to try it. If I won the kit, I would use the mushrooms in a salad with the fresh greens that I grow in my garden. Mmmm Delicious!

Mushroom pizza is always a favorite of mine but I also love to make chicken marsala with tons and tons of mushrooms. I have never grown mushrooms but have always wanted to try.

Mushrooms are hearty foods that fill and satisfy with that sense of dense earthiness for us non-meat eaters. I love the whole idea these guys came up with! They made a creative product that’s useful for anyone who wants to get their hands into the grow-your-own food movement. If you have an interest in self sufficiency this is a no-brainer! Easy, fast results, healthy outcome. Great for kids to connect with simple gardening concepts. What’s so cool is they did it all cheaply with reuse/recycle materials. I heartily congratulate them!

Grilled Herbed Oyster Mushrooms With Quinoa and Carrots
-500gr fresh oyster mushrooms
-1/4 cup olive oil
-2 garlic cloves crushed
-1 tsp dried rosemary
-pinch of sea salt
-juice of 1 lemon
-1 tsp dried oregano
Quinoa
-1/2 cup quinoa
-1 cup water
-1 mushroom stock cube[or vegetable stock cube]
-1 tbsp butter or Earth Balance spread
-2 carrots

First mix oil with garlic, salt and rosemary. Place mushrooms in a bowl and pour the oil mixture over them and toss. Let them marinate for 10-15 minutes and then place on the grill to cook [a toaster grill works perfect!] for 7-15 minutes depending how juicy on crunchy you like them. Once they are ready put them on a plate and sprinkle them with oregano and splash them with lemon juice [keep half of the juice for the fresh carrots]. To prepare the quinoa, wash it first with running water, rubbing it with your hands, then place in a pot with the water and stock cube, bring to boil, cover the pot and reduce heat to low. Let it steam for 12 minutes and when it is done and still warm mix in the butter.
Wash carrots and grate them, then pour the remaining lemon juice on them. To serve, either mix carrots with quinoa or place them by the side and top with the oyster mushrooms. This serves 2. Adapted from veggie-wedgie.com.

If you are into making pasta from scratch(haven’t tried this one yet)…This recipe – Handmade Butternut Squash and Oyster Mushroom Ravioli – looks Goddessly-delectable!
http://www.veganmischief.com/handmade-butternut-squash-and-oyster-mushroom-ravioli/

Oyster mushrooms are delicious in many dishes, but the primary method in which I’ve cooked and eaten them is sautéed in cast iron over an open fire with pure olive oil, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. My mycology professor took us on a mushroom hike to collect in the Adirondacks and we brought back primarily oysters. They’re great!

My wife is a great cook! She always buys mushrooms from the store. So I’d love to win your mushroom garden kit. Please sign me up for the contest.

I love hen of the woods. It tastes like chicken, and it’s so good for you. As a local meat eater, I stretch my dollars by tricking myself into eating more vegetarian occasionally.

My favorite recipe with mushrooms is Grilled Portobello Mushroom “Burgers”.

I don’t have a favorite mushroom recipe but would love to have the garden kit to use with salads, pizza, lasagna, etc…and stuffed mushrooms ~! Thanks

I saw Rick Bayless make Mixiotes of Woodland Mushrooms with Mojo de Ajo (http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=245) on his Mexico One Plate at a Time show and man oh man did it look delicious. I have trouble finding fresh and interesting mushrooms near me, so I would love to try my hand at growing my own! I’ve grown plenty of backyard veggies but mushrooms have always felt more intimidating. I’d love to start with a great kit like this one!

Mom always would remind me to read the entire _____. Well…I didn’t.
What would I do with the mushrooms. Well…after calming down from the excitement from watching them grow…I would eat them! Lightly grilled on a plank sounds divine…don’t you think? Super simple…soak the plank of your choice…lightly, ever-so-lightly, oil (and maybe a little sea salt) gently over the mushrooms…and grill. Only a minute or so…wouldn’t want to over-do-it. *** and in this moment…a soup sounds like YUMMY. No, not right now. Maybe Tapas (super simple). Heat your cast griddle or skillet with a little olive oil in it — add a handful or two of oyster mushrooms (be generous!) – 3 to 4 sliced garlic cloves — and a little sea salt. Flip so mushrooms can cook on both sides — they are delciously ready to enjoy when brown. I bet your excited now!

should have said coffee roaster! Though toaster is not far off.

I would use the shrooms in a stir fry. Throw them in at the last minute. Yumm.

mushrooms+shredded potato+truffle oil+fried egg=AMAZING.

i love this chicken and mushrrom dish in a cram sauce over penne mmm

I make a raw Philly Cheeze “steak” with mushrooms, all sorts really and it may very well be the favorite dish of everyone around me. It’s amazing but it takes a LOT of mushrooms so growing my own would be ideal.

I like to sauté some shitakes with a little minced shallot and green onion, salt & pepper and then use that and some Jack cheese to fill an omelette. What kind of shrooms does the logless kit grow?

I’d love one! yumm

OMG! Mushrooms are Papa Bear’s Favorite Food!

He has requested vegetarian taco-mac with gluten-free pasta and taco-licious oyster mushrooms. But I might make little burgers out of them and have vegan gluten-free sliders. Or I might marinate them and have a raw salad over arugula.

We need to grow our own mushrooms because even the ones from the CSA aren’t fresh enough to share with our baby raw.

I’m interested to see how this works. I’ve been going back and forth about giving something like this a try.

Well, I am making my garden completely organic this year and increasing my yield in hopes to jumpstart a healthier lifestyle and consume more fruits and vegetables. This mushroom garden would make a great addition especially since I have been experimenting with vegetarian meals. A very successful one was a Wild Mushroom and Caramelized Onions Shepherds Pie which recipe I got from the Vegetarian Times magazines. My whole family loved it, even my kids who had never tried mushroom are now converts, so wish me luck!!!

Very cool that they use coffee grounds! I love mushrooms! Don’t trust my mushroom hunting skills though. Would be interesting and fun to grow my own! Especially since my brother in law doesn’t share the ones he finds…. hmmmm.

I make stuffed mushrooms, mushroom ragu, grilled mushrooms, mushrooms added to anything!

This is an interesting kit. I live in a condo and grow some of my own veggies on my patio and porch. This kit would be great!

My Favorite mushroom recipe is a Portabelo Cap with homemade tomato sauce
And Fresh Motzarella Cheese.. Like a pizza )

I love mushrooms! So delicious and health supporting. It would be really exciting to grow my own!

I love most mushrooms and using them in all kinds of cooking. My favorite recipe to use mushrooms in these days is swedish meatballs.

Ooh, I would LOVE to grow my own mushrooms. My husband makes a wonderful mushroom rice pilaf, and I use them a lot in vegetarian stir fry dishes. Or lasagna. Or spaghetti sauce. Or… you get the idea. Thanks!

Following you on Twitter for a day has already given me so many great ideas for life! As a new supporter of the slow food movement, growing my own vegetables (and fungi) would be a great step in the right direction!

I want some #fresh mushrooms : )

I used to hate mushrooms, and a few years ago I decided that if so many people liked them I might be missing out on something. So, I embarked on a self-designed mushroom-hater conversion program and the results have been astounding. I am now a veritable mushroom addict. I love them in any form at any time, and I would love to try my hand at growing some fresh ones.

I love morels! Grew up in the hills of Kentucky and it is a spring ritual that the whole family enjoys. It is like looking for buried treasure and so awesome when you find those little fellows. Yummy!

This afternoon for lunch I made a vegan tomato and mushroom soup with fresh basil and a bit of ground flax seed, during the prepartion I was thinking maybe we should start growing our own mushrooms as I probably go through 3 pounds a week!

A very simple appetizer is to take large mushroom caps, brush off-place a piece of smoked salmon inside the cap, fill with gorgonzola. Bake until cheese is melted in a 400 degree oven or microwave until cheese is melted. Fast and easy!

ha ha dang not the halo mushrooms… ooops did i say that out loud

Love-love-love these mushroom kits!!! I’ve grown portabellos, lion’s mane, shitakes, and regular button mushrooms over the last few years. Would love to try these! Thanks for the chance!

What a fantastic idea!!

Would love to win! Have never grown mushrooms and the thought of fresh homegrown mushrooms on a salad with homegrown lettuce, tomato and herbs! Sounds wonderful- Pick me!! Thanks, Jen

LOL – just read my comment. Can you tell I was multitasking? Stuttered my comment a bit!!

I’d love to win this! Mushrooms are a big part of my diet because I am vegan and I feel that they give me sustenance, especially when mixed with other protein like tofu or beans. Two of my fave recipes are 1) just roasting them with a little olive oil and some herbs. 2) Pasta sauce: I don’t measure anything: Saute minced garlic in a little olive oil, add chopped zucchini, chopped fresh mushrooms, then chopped fresh or canned Italian Style tomatoes, fave herbs if not using canned, 1/2 can garbanzo beans, fresh basil upon serving. Manga!!

My favorite mushroom recipe is Mushrooms in Oyster sauce, but, really, mushrooms make everything better! Would love to win this kit to not only enjoy the mushrooms, but as a learning experience for my kids!

I’ve only recently gained an appreciation for the wonders of mushrooms. I used to think that they were nasty, but then realized that it is only the canned, processed mushrooms that are disgusting. My wife and I have been putting mushrooms into everything, and we’d love the opportunity to grow some of our own and enjoy the bounty of home grown goodness.

I’ve been wanting to try growing mushrooms for a few years now. I have a very small growing space so this kit would be the perfect solution!

I so want to grow mushrooms, my wife and I will be starting some “down back” of our property where it is cool. We will have to get some logs to “infest” but that shouldn’t be too hard.
We eat mushrooms in almost anything from soups/stews, and we both like them raw on salad greens; that we grow in our Aquaponics greenhouse (even in the winter in VT).

I’d love to have a mushroom kit. I’d cook those babies up in some basil and garlic infused olive oil add a splash of white wine and some smoked mozzarella cheese and served on focaccia. Way healthier than eating donuts too.

I put mushrooms in shepards pie with mashed potatoes on top, SO GOOD.

My favorite is to chop garlic and tomatoes from the garden and mushrooms (from the store, because I do not have a mushroom kit…yet) and quickly sautee them in olive oil, then add that beautiful mix to the top of some fresh-from-the-oven garlic bread!

PS–shaved head and beard–we’re rocking the same do (is that how you spell do?). Keep up the great writing, Mike.

Joe Mohr

Will make a mushroom gravy that will be smothered over some venice steaks and onions. Also to show my kids how to think out of the box when growing your on food.

I’d also love to try this Mushroom Soup recipe, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/mixed-mushroom-soup-recipe.html

Ooh, I just thought of another thing. I’d use them as a topping for a garlic alfredo pizza, along with green onions. Yum!

Mushrooms are a staple in our house. If I was to win I’d make a mushroom and fresh herb tarte.

I love stuffed mushrooms, but recently made a pot ofbarley and mushrooms, and must say it was pretty good.

I love mushrooms I eat them all the time. My favorite way to eat them is sauteed in coconut oil with rice and lentils.