From Doubt to Delight: Our Family’s Journey Growing Oyster Mushrooms at Home

Buying oyster mushroom fruiting bags online and using them to grow mushrooms at home can be a very rewarding gardening hobby, but like anything, there are moments of doubt and challenges along with excitement and thrills.

When I was a kid, I already knew I loved gardening. I loved to grow plants in our small backyard, or even in pots. There were times I believed it was a crop but turned out to be a grass. But honestly, until today, I can still recognize baby plants by just smelling their tiny leaves. I would know what crop it is. No wonder my kids also love gardening, even when they were three and four. They love going out to our vegetable garden in school and helping with planting vegetables.

One time, while I was scrolling through products in an online store, I bumped into what they called mushroom fruiting bags. I was very interested while reading the description of the product. It was plastic filled with substrate of oyster mushrooms to be used to grow mushrooms at home. It was affordable and the reviews were good, so I ordered 8 fruiting bags of oyster mushrooms.

After 5 days, my fruiting bags arrived. It was not only I who was very excited to unbox, but the kids were also excited to see what these fruiting bags look like. It said, the bags must be sprinkled with water every day and must be placed in a cool, dry place, not placed under direct sunlight. So we keep the fruiting bags in our kitchen area. Somewhere cold and dry.

After a week, nothing happened. We didn't see any sprout or any sign that a mushroom was coming out. Until twelve days had passed, nothing happened. I was regretful. I felt scammed. I was sad. But the kids were more sad as they checked those bags every day. But one morning, I saw white sprouts coming out of the bag. The kids were jumping with joy! They were very happy.

We kept sprinkling water on the oyster mushroom bags every day, and every other morning, those bags were making big oyster mushrooms! That was so rewarding! We cooked them, and mushrooms are always delicious; we all know that.

The eight fruiting bags produced a lot, so there were times when we gave some oyster mushrooms to our nearest neighbor. They, too, were amazed by my fruiting bags, which I thought were a scam.

Those white creamy things kept coming out day after day, and it lasted for months, I think two months. They provided us with food, nutritious and delicious food, which our family enjoyed. The secret was constant care and putting the doubts away. That was an unforgettable experience.

I'm writing this blog today because I just added to my cart another fruiting bags of oyster mushrooms to take care of at home and to enjoy after weeks of sprinkling water. This time, no more doubts. Just excitement while waiting for the sprouts to come out of their bags.