Slow Food, Fast Crop: Cultivate with Hedge

Great food, the kind that nourishes, delights, and supports the planet, just takes time. Sourdough needs to rise. Flavors need to develop. Gardens need full seasons to grow. Good things, as they say, come to those who wait.

But mushrooms are a delicious exception. With Hedge, you can experience the thrill of growing your own fresh, organic food in as little as a week. Here’s how to grow, harvest, and cook gourmet mushrooms right from your countertop.

Gourmet Mushrooms, Grown By You

Fruit trees take years to bear. Vegetables need months. And once you’ve harvested, the cycle restarts.

Mushrooms play by different rules.

Under the right conditions, they flourish astonishingly fast, so quickly it can feel like they appear overnight. Only microgreens and sprouts come close to matching their pace. That speed, paired with their incredible flavor and nutrition, makes mushrooms one of the most rewarding foods you can grow at home.

Getting Started With Hedge

Your Hedge ecosystem arrives, ready to settle into its new home on your countertop. Your specific variety also arrives, alive, activated, and already colonized with healthy mycelium. Take a moment to prepare a space, (we recommend a kitchen countertop, or somewhere that you don;t mind a bit of water or mist being splashed around a tiny bit) set the tone, and ready yourself for the gratifying ritual of daily care. The attention to detail is part of the experience, and it will be rewarded with abundance.

Prepare to Grow

Your Hedge block is a living organism, primed to flourish the moment it arrives. As you wait, unbox your Hedge, choose its ideal spot (bright, indirect light is best), and explore recipes that celebrate your upcoming harvest.

Once the Hedge arrives, the magic begins. Thanks to years of expertise and careful organic cultivation, we’ve done the difficult work upfront. You’ll soon see how effortless and quick slow food can feel.

Cultivate Your Hedge

Open your Hedge and mist it daily according to the setup guide. With just a few mindful moments each day, you’ll nurture the perfect environment for mushrooms to thrive.

If you’re not ready to grow immediately, or you’re gifting a Hedge, you can pause the process by refrigerating the Hedge for a few days or weeks. When ready, simply bring the block to room temperature and begin.

Take Pride in an Abundant Harvest

This is where nature shifts into high gear. In just seven to ten days, your Hedge will reward your care with an abundant harvest of fresh, flavorful mushrooms. When you move with nature’s pace, sometimes the process is slow and steady, and sometimes it’s a breathtaking sprint.

Prepare Your Mushrooms and Enjoy

Nothing compares to the flavor of mushrooms you’ve grown yourself. As you cook your harvest, take pride in the simplicity and ingenuity of growing something so delicious right in your kitchen. Growing does not get more local than home. 

Cooking Oyster Mushrooms

Flower-like clusters in shades of pearl gray, golden yellow, or blush pink, oysters are as beautiful as they are delicious. Tender, subtly sweet, and woodsy, they’re beloved by chefs and home cooks alike.

Expect a harvest of 1-1.5 pounds in about a week. Trim the mushrooms away from the central stalk and try them:

• sautéed with olive oil and flaky salt
  
  

• folded into pastas
  
  

• layered onto toast

Cooking Shiitake Mushrooms

Shiitake are bold, meaty, and endlessly versatile, ideal for soups, noodles, risotto, pizza, or a simple pan sauté.

Your Hedge will yield about 2 pounds of shiitake in about ten days. After harvesting, trim the stems and slice the caps. Roast, sauté, or use them in any of the recipes we have on our site.

Tip: Freeze the stems and toss them into stocks for added depth and umami.

Cooking Lion’s Mane Mushrooms

Lion’s mane grows in cascading, snow-white spines that give it a cloudlike appearance. Its delicate flavor and texture make it an excellent plant-based stand-in for crab or scallops.

Expect 1-1.5 pounds per hedge in as little as ten days. Harvest when the mushrooms are slightly springy and the spines have lengthened.

Slice into thick rounds and sear until golden, or tear them into smaller bites and use them in Lion’s mane Crab Cakes.

Sautéed Mushrooms

Sometimes the best meal is the simplest one: mushrooms, olive oil, sea salt. And the best part?  There is more than enough of your home cooked harvest to share! Nourish someone you love with something not just homemade, but home grown.

Get ready to grow with intention and nourish with Hedge. Subscribe below to Hedgequarters, our monthly newsletter, for inspiration on growing fast-flourishing mushrooms, cooking your harvest, and embracing this quick but satisfying rhythm of homegrown food.