Garden Giant Sawdust Spawn is one of the easiest mushrooms to grow for beginners. Experienced growers have used this mushroom as a learning tool for cultivating in hardwood chip beds or mulch. What makes these mushrooms perfect for beginners is the ease of identification, nothing looks like it. It quickly colonizes wood chips and fruits a little in the spring and typically a bumper crop in the fall.

It’s the perfect mushroom for gardening and permaculture projects, and can also be used to mulch the floors of livestock pens and chicken runs, as this mushroom is predatory on coliform bacteria and can help keep your coops clean and not as smelly! It can also be grown indoors on pasteurized straw cased with soil. The mushroom tastes like potatoes cooked in a mild red wine sauce and the stem is stringy like asparagus, so sautéing lightly in a little salted butter and serving it on mashed potatoes or on toast with eggs is a treat!

Edibility and Taste: Savory, Like Potatoes with Asparagus texture

Grows On: Hardwood mulch outdoors, Pasteurized straw indoors

Fruiting Temps: 55-70F

Availability: Year-Round