Through research and experimentation, Eric Ahrens has created a favorable atmosphere for growing gourmet mushrooms on the North Shore of St. Croix.
Ahrens told The Source he ate his first mushroom 10 years ago while living on the mainland. After relocating to St. Croix seven years ago, Mycelium Man, as he is known, realized that many residents of the territory are vegan and vegetarian. Since mushrooms have protein and vitamin D and are highly flavorful, they seemed likely to be a favorite addition to anyone’s menu, he said.
He noticed a lot of mushrooms, puffballs and toadstools growing wild on the island and decided to try a mushroom growing kit. Ahrens said producing mycelium was easy, and he began researching what to use as a medium or substrate, where to get the spore, and how to cultivate a variety of oyster mushrooms, which he said are supposed to be the easiest to grow.
Around Easter 2022, he experimented with a variety of fungi, got his business license and participated in Bush Cook for the first time. During the 2024 Bush Cook, Ahrens produced more than 60 pounds of mushrooms for the chefs to incorporate into their dishes.
Over the last seven years, Ahrens has come up with a favorite medium formula. He first ordered five thousand pounds of hardwood pellets and three tons of soybean hulls. For each batch, he pasteurizes small amounts of the pellets to 215 degrees and mixes the resulting sawdust with a specific amount of soybean hulls.
“You can even grow mushrooms in (dry) dog food,” he said.
Once living culture has been added to the medium, the spawn bag is sealed. It is kept in a temperature-controlled room with a sterilized HEPA-filtered section so he can work with the spawn bags when necessary without contamination.
Depending on how long the mushrooms need to grow, the bags will be moved to another room to finish the process. Oyster mushrooms take a day or so, he said, and then he cuts the tops off the bags and folds down the sides. Air encourages the fruit/mushrooms to grow.
The mycelium is harvested by cutting, plucking or simply breaking off the mushroom caps. There is usually a second or third harvest when the bags are recovered, and the rest of the spores are allowed to grow. After all of the mushrooms are harvested, the bags and medium are used and sold for compost. The mushrooms are packaged in eight plastic containers or boxes, Ahrens said.
Currently, he is cultivating blue oyster mushrooms, pink, phoenix, and lion’s mane mushrooms, which he sells by the ounce or by the pound. He also sells palm oyster mushrooms, which he discovered on St. Croix. He has also grown and sold golden oysters, elm, flamingo, and Italian and Venetian mushrooms.
Ahrens has big plans for the future. He has ordered new equipment, including a 250-gallon sterilizer and a bagging machine to mix medium and culture more quickly. By the end of January, he said he hopes to expand his business significantly.
Check the Mycelium Man Facebook page to see if he will have mushrooms at the Ag Fairground’s Farmers Market on Saturdays. Otherwise, send a message to order through Facebook.
