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The mushrooms have sprouted! The mushrooms have sprouted! The mushrooms have sprouted!
My Mushroom Adventures kit promised that I’d see some sign of Portabellas between 7 and 14 days, and sure enough, on Day 11, the little white nubbins started poking through the casing and compost. As you can (sort of) see from this photo, the caps are different shades of brown. This has to do with the amount of light each one receives.
According to my kit, “Ambient light will cause Portabella mushroom caps to become darker brown in color. The opposite is also true. Portabellas grown in total darkness will look pale in color.” Our home office doesn’t get a lot of natural light, but obviously enough to tan a couple of those caps.
So when are they ready to harvest?
I have to wait a week more, tops. The interesting thing, according to the kit, is that these ‘shrooms “will just about double in size every day when they are young.” By the time you read this, they will likely have taken Carrie and I hostage.
I’m already trying to figure out how best to feature these mushrooms in a dish. I’ve heard they taste sweeter than the store-bought variety.
Any suggestions?