Review: Organic Mushroom Mini Farm by Back to the Roots

It's been two weeks since I started my mushroom kit from Back to the Roots. The first week little activity on the spore surface, and then they appeared like little creatures. Small and now visible to the naked eye, I could see a small formation near the bottom where water was able to pool and keep moisture. From there they grew quickly, and soon I had a massive clump trying escape the kit.

On day 5 I started to see little bumps from the mushrooms forming,
and by day 15 they were 100% larger.

I carefully broke them off and chopped them up, sautee them in fresh butter and added them to my omelet. They have a great sweet taste, pungent but not an earthy scent, very pleasant, not at all gamy or woodsy. They soaked in the butter, herbs and pinch of garlic on my second round of cooking. Raw eating was ok, chewy, but still nice.

They smelled amazing as they cooked... can't wait for round two!

Good Notes:
- They grew quickly filled the entire opening very evenly, and I had enough to cook for 3-4 different servings.
- They tasted great, and I can see new clumps forming for round two.
- The price is right. I think I will get a few rounds out of this bag, so the $13.99 spent will go a long way.
- Smart packing and marketing, it's a great gift for the grower or foodie. Having three or more kits would allow you to stagger starting them for a constant supply of fresh mushrooms.

Bad Notes:
- Watering was an issue, they show the mushroom box being kept facing up the way they are sold, with the mushrooms growing sideways from the opening. When I watered them twice daily the majority of the water slipped off and ran down into the box making a soggy mess... which made the entire thing a risk to my counter-tops and window-sill and less stable. I ended up laying the entire box on it's back watering it and letting it sit for a while and then pouring what hadn't been absorbed. (I wasn't over-watering, just following the directions on the box)
- Humidity was another factor that I didn't catch until it was too late, because of the way I had to water the mushrooms, the largest mushrooms where exposed to very low humidity and had some issues with being dry, exposed to the average house humidity and temperature.
- Because of the way the water sat at the bottom of the bag, most of the mushroom growth all came from the bottom.
- I wish they had more mushroom varieties available, despite my moisture issues, I would buy a bunch of varieties to have at once.

Final Note - Buy and try it, even though it may not be as picture perfect as the website and photos show, you still get great mushrooms and its super cool experience.

Next post on Mushrooms, I'll show you how to hack your kit for more and better mushrooms, and how to make your own kits for less then $12.00. Once you hack you're kit you'll never need a new one for years, if ever.