Teepee Rolls are a new movement to make growing and cooking with mushrooms a fun experience!
I brought one home from Wisconsin's PBS Garden Expo this winter just to see if it really worked. I thought it might be a great project to do with kids in the future. (At the time toilet paper was easily accessible.)
Teepee rolls are made by soaking a roll of fresh, undyed, scent-free toilet paper in water and stuffing the center of the roll with mushroom spawn. The inoculated roll is then placed in a plastic bag and allowed to grow, thus beginning the conversion of paper to energy. Fresh air, combined with humidity is all that is needed to produce a tasty crop.
The roll is placed in an area that receives natural or artificial light, and maintained at temperature of 60-80°F. After a bit of experimenting I found that keeping the bag half closed and misting the inside twice a day to maintain humidity, worked best. The climate in the Owens Valley is dry and not known for growing mushrooms!
The mushroom babies (or pins) start as a cluster of what really does look like sewing pins, hence the name. As they grow, watch they don't get too dry. You will know if they take on a leathery and pale appearance or fail to develop fully.
Harvest the mushrooms at their base when the caps are the size of a 50 cent piece. Generally the stems of oyster mushrooms are not included in food preparation. I added my mushrooms to a marinara sauce and they were delicious.
After harvest, it is possible to initiate another flush or two, from the same teepee roll. This was a fun experiment and generated a lot of conversation.
You may order your supplies and/or the mushroom spawn from fieldforest.net or call (800)792-6220.* Unfortunately, you must provide the toilet paper.
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*No endorsement implied. Link provided as a courtesy.