All Editions

Mushroom grow kit

tear off the perforation on the front of the box

I lie so still
I must be waiting
for something

cut a 5cm x 5cm ‘X’ in the bag

I listen to the voices above me
feel the movements around the room

wipe the front face and a razor blade or sharp knife with alcohol-based hand sanitiser

It all hurts too much
The sunlight, the sound, the air against my skin

remove any bacteria which can grow on the substrate

I lie for so long I think I can feel the fibres of the couch grow around me
The little blue threads clinging and crawling up the sides of my body

opening the entire block to the atmosphere will cause far too much growth and waste the energy in the block

I think I’m supposed to rouse now
but I have forgotten how to move

When the fresh air and humidity hit the exposed substrate under the cut, primordia should form

This lying in wait is actually a coiling
tighter and tighter, getting ready
for the moment I spring forth,
and it seems as if I was always there
effortless, fully formed.

This is the part you have been waiting for.

* Source note: All italicised lines are taken from the box of the “Italian Oyster Mushroom Grow Kit” from Oak & Spore.

For more information go to:
https://www.oakandspore.co.nz/blogs/mushroom-grow-information/mushroom-grow-kit.