To grow mushrooms at home, you need three things: spawn (mushroom “seed”), a substrate (the …
- Scott Brenton
- June 14, 2026
- 13 min read
From the lab & the field
Cultivation know-how, mushroom science, recipes, and dispatches
from our Longmont lab — written by the people who grow them.
To grow mushrooms at home, you need three things: spawn (mushroom “seed”), a substrate (the …
Colorado offers four distinct cultivation seasons, each with genuine advantages for growers. The most productive outdoor fruiting season runs September through October, when cooling temperatures
Mushroom cultivation in Colorado is more vibrant — and more accessible — than most people realize. Despite the state’s famously dry, high-altitude climate, a growing
Laetiporus sulphureus, commonly called Chicken of the Woods, is a bright orange-yellow shelf fungus that grows in overlapping bracket formations on hardwood trees — particularly
Shiitake (*Lentinula edodes*) is the most umami-rich cultivated mushroom you can grow at home — earthy, savory, complex, and vastly better fresh-grown than anything sitting