No. We currently only ship within New Zealand.

We will ship orders Monday to Friday NZT (excluding Public Holidays) using a tracked non-signature delivery service. Please allow 1 to 3 business days for your order to be dispatched. Once your order has been dispatched you will receive an email with tracking details.

Throughout New Zealand your order should arrive within 2 to 3 business days from dispatch.

Our oyster mushroom kits have instructions printed on their boxes.

For more detailed instructions, visit the oyster mushroom grow kit instruction page.

The grow kit contains instructions on the outside of the box and the inside is a bag of substrate from which your mushrooms will grow. The substrate bag is filled with supplemented sawdust that has been sterilised and fully colonised with mushroom mycelium. This mycelium is essentially the growing body from which mushrooms grow and will look like a soft, white, fuzzy layer covering the block. You can leave the substrate bag inside the box.

Depending on the variety you chose, your mushroom grow kit will grow:

- Phoenix/Grey oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus pulmonarius); or

- Pink oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus djamor); or

- Velvet oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus parsonsiae), a native New Zealand variety

Yes, they are edible, nutritious and delicious. They have a delicate, umami flavour and a velvety texture. Oyster mushrooms are very versatile and can be added to pastas, omelettes, casseroles, risottos, to name just a few dishes. They also work well as a side dish or as the star of their own show.

The grow kit comes fully colonized and ready for fruiting. Open it on or before the OPEN-BY date on the box. For best results, open immediately.

Once opened, mushrooms will fruit within 3 to 7 days. In very cold environments it may take slightly longer for mushrooms to appear.

1. Remove the front cardboard panel. This will expose the bag containing the mushroom grow bag inside.

2. Cut an “X” into the plastic bag using a clean, sharp knife. This will expose the substrate to fresh air and will encourage the formation of primordia (mushroom pins). A 3-4cm cut is ideal.

For more details instructions, see our oyster mushroom grow kit instructions.

Place the grow kit indoors out of direct sunlight. Ensure that there is fresh air and good ventilation near the grow kit. Also ensure that the block is not positioned near a heat pump or anything else that could raise the temperature or dry the air of its environment too much.

Oyster mushrooms grow best in high humidity environments so you will need to regularly mist the mushrooms with water. They also do well in areas that are well ventilated with good natural light but not direct sunlight.

The Phoenix and Velvet oyster mushrooms will successfully grow in temperatures of between 5◦C and 25◦C. At temperatures lower than 15◦C the mushrooms take slightly longer to appear.

The Pink oyster mushroom variety prefers warmer conditions and grows best at temperatures of between 18◦C and 25◦C. The Pink oyster mushroom will be slow to fruit at temperatures lower than 18◦C.

If you follow the instructions and give the mushroom grow kit the proper care then you can expect at least two harvests of oyster mushrooms with a combined average of 1.5kg per grow kit. You may even get a 3rd or 4th harvest.

Use a spray bottle or a small water mister to spray the area where you cut a “X’ by gently lifting the plastic flaps of the "X" and spray the area underneath.. When spraying mist 5 to 6 times at a time. Aim to do this 3 to 4 times a day. The idea is to keep the area where the mushrooms will grow moist so if it starts to look dry, feel free to water.

Once you see little mushroom pins appearing, you can mist them more often – they love water! As they grow you will even be able to watch how the mushrooms absorb water right in front of your own eyes.

Typically, it takes 3 to 7 days after cutting it open before you will see small mushroom primordia or pins forming but every mushroom kit is unique. Do not touch the mushroom pins when they appear as they are delicate.

From the point of the pins appearing onward, you will see the mushrooms roughly double in size every 24 hours until they are ready to be harvested.

Once your mushrooms start growing they should be ready to pick after 4 to 7 days. For the best tasting, quality mushrooms, you can look out for the following signs to tell you that your mushrooms are ready to harvest:

- They are no longer doubling in size daily.

- The edges of the caps are still curled down but are becoming wavy and thin.

When the caps start curling up the mushroom quality starts declining but do not be discouraged as they will still be fine to harvest and eat.

Firmly grip the mushroom cluster at its base and then in one motion, twist and pull the whole bunch of mushrooms off. Make sure to include all the caps and the stems and grip them as close to the base as possible. The whole bunch will come off together.

The Velvet oyster mushroom clusters are more difficult to pull off so you can use a clean knife to cut the mushrooms off as close to the base as possible.

Once harvested cut away any brown substrate that may have come off with the mushroom cluster and dispose of it. There may be some remaining mushroom stems on the exposed area of the substrate after you harvested your mushrooms but this can be scraped off using a clean knife or fork and disposed of.

Lift the plastic under the “X” and scrape away any remaining mushrooms stems left behind after harvesting using a clean knife or fork. Mist the area with water 3 to 4 times a day or more. You want to keep the area moist but not soaking wet.

The grow kit will need 10 to 14 days to “rest and repair” as the mycelium in the bag is stimulated to grow more mushrooms. After this rest period, you should see mushrooms pins appearing again but sometimes the mushrooms can take up to 2 to 3 weeks to reappear, especially during the cooler months so keep misting even if you don’t see anything happen. The second crop also may have slightly fewer mushrooms so don’t be discouraged by slightly less growth - it is natural as the nutrients in the bag are being used by previous crops.

You can certainly try! Our grow kits have been known to produce 3 and sometimes 4 harvests! Follow the steps below.

After the 2nd crop, most of the water in the bag would have been used to produce the harvested mushrooms therefore, if you are trying to grow a 3rd or 4th crop, rehydrating the block in a bucket of water overnight will help to replace the water.

To do so, remove the bag from the box and place it in the water overnight. The following morning drain all the water from the bag before placing it back into the box to fruit for a third time. Make sure that you completely drain the water, otherwise it might increase chances of rotting and contamination. Continue misting 3-4 times daily and wait to see if new mushrooms appear. This can take 2 to 3 weeks.

You can store them in a paper bag in the vegetable compartment of your fridge for up to 7 days.

If your harvest of mushrooms was very large and you don't wish to eat them all within a week, you can cook them and freeze them. Our recipe for garlicky oyster mushrooms freezes very well.

We recommend that you thoroughly cook the oyster mushrooms to bring out their delicious flavour. Another reason to always cook mushrooms is because their cell walls contain chitin, which can't be digested by humans. Cooking them at 100 degrees Celcius for 10mins can help break down these cell walls.

We enjoy our mushrooms sautéed until cooked (about 10mings) and then pan-fried in a dollop of butter with a good helping of fresh garlic until they are brown. For a vegan option use coconut oil as a substitute for butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

What you are most probably referring to is the mushroom mycelium from which the mushrooms will grow. This will appear as a white substance in the bag inside the mushroom kit. If you are still unsure, email a picture to us and we will check it out for you.

To grow your mushrooms, you need to place the grow kit indoors out of direct sunlight. Remove the front cardboard panel and cut an “X” into the plastic bag using a clean, sharp knife. Using a spray bottle, mist the “X” with water 3 to 4 times a day. Tiny mushrooms should appear within 3 to 7 days of cutting open the bag and should be ready to harvest within 7 to 14 days. Harvest when the mushroom cap edges become thin and wavy by firmly gripping the cluster at its base and twisting and pulling it off. It will pop off. You can also cut it off at the base with a knife.

It is normal for mushrooms to sometimes try and grow in the bag. Ignore them and do not cut additional openings, the mushrooms that you will harvest will find their way out of the opening that you cut. Just keep misting as instructed.

Yes. We are located in Auckland.

Yes. We have registered our trading operations with our council and we have undergone a verification procedure with them to ensure that our facilities are in tip-top shape to produce the mushrooms that we sell. We also only sell mushrooms which are approved by the Ministry of Primary Industries of New Zealand.