Mushrooms having their pandemic moment: DYI grow kits boom around the city

But even before the pair opened their farm, Adam Novzen was growing mushrooms as a hobby in his Astoria apartment.

By Lambeth Hochwald
New York Daily News
Apr 03, 2021

Excerpt:

Growing mushrooms has become a pandemic produce hit and a do-it-yourself obsession.

And Mushroom Queens couldn’t be happier.

The satisfaction of growing your own produce is what prompted Adam Novzen and his brother Jeffrey to start the year-old farm that provides mushrooms to restaurants across the five boroughs, and sells mushrooms and DIY grow kits to devotees at farmers markets around the city.

But even before the pair opened their farm, Adam Novzen was growing mushrooms as a hobby in his Astoria apartment.

“Luckily my roommate was living with his girlfriend so I had an extra room segmented off to grow them in,” he says. “When I started giving reishis, lion’s manes and shiitake mushrooms to friends they were blown away by how good they tasted.”

Mushrooms are having their moment, though most people are only familiar with a couple of the 40 cultivatable mushroom varieties that are packed with vitamins D and B as well as other immune-boosting nutrients.

Growing mushrooms on the kitchen counter only requires a grow kit that contains mycelium — the living organism from which mushrooms grow — a darkish space and a reminder to spray your kit with water every few days.

Beginners should start with oyster mushrooms, but may graduate to versatile fungi including shiitake, lion’s mane and king trumpet mushrooms.

Read the complete article here.