SANDY, Utah — Inside a local urban mushroom farm in Sandy, a lot is growing! "We do get asked a lot what kind of mushrooms do we grow," said Mycel Mushrooms co-owner, Christopher Edgar.
While some people were making bread during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jo Bangphraxay and Chris Edgar were growing mushrooms. "We started growing mushrooms in the kitchen on our kitchen countertops with our kids it was something to do," Edgar said. "We love eating mushrooms and so we wanted to provide something for the community because we don't know how to get fresh mushrooms here so we decided to grow them ourselves," Bangphraxay said.
The couple now owns their own local mushroom business — Mycel Mushrooms — where they grow different nutritional specialty mushrooms. They produce everything from lion's mane to pink oysters to shitakes -- some require more attention than others. "Shitakes actually require a little bit of a shake and a jolt, so we'll actually cold shock them, and then we'll also give them a slap," Edgar said.
It's not as crazy as it sounds though, they're actually trying to replicate what happens in nature. "We're trying to create that forced effect," Edgar explained. "When a tree falls there's a crack of light that happens from that tree hitting the ground that stimulates the spores."
Along with providing fresh food to their community, Mycel Mushrooms says they also want to teach people more about fungi. "The best part about specialty mushrooms is there are still new discoveries happening on a daily basis, there are anti-cancer properties, there are neurogenic properties such as Lion's Mane where it's helping brains think better," Edgar said.
You can buy Mycel Mushroom's specialty mushrooms in person at the Neighborhood Hive in Salt Lake City or you can learn more about pop-ups and other events on the Mycel Mushroom website.
