Lion's Mane Grain Spawn
North SporeThis product may take two weeks to ship depending on availability.
Lion's Mane Cultivation
Hericium erinaceus: Lion's Mane produces a pure white cluster of icicle-like teeth and a consistency similar to crab meat.
Grain Spawn - This is used for commercial indoor production using sawdust. You do not use grain spawn for log inoculation. Grain spawn comes in bags approximately 6lbs each.
Inoculation:
Indoor Commercial Production - Lion's Mane mushroom grain spawn can be mixed into sterilized or lime pasteurized substrates including but not limited to hardwood sawdust, straw, and coffee grounds. These processes range from requiring a fair amount of infrastructure for larger projects to simple and low-tech. We recommend purchasing a book on mushroom cultivation if you are interested in pursuing this style of mushroom production as a hobby or profession. We recommend 'Radical Mycology: A Treatise on Seeing and Working with Fungi' by Peter McCoy, 'Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation' by Tradd Cotter, or 'Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms' by Paul Stamets.
North Spore also offers consultation for start-up mushroom farms and homesteading projects. Reach out to us by email for a quote: info@northspore.com.
Difficulty: Beginner
Lion's Mane are a great mushroom for beginning indoor cultivators. They are reliable producers year-round and produce substantial first, second, and third harvests making them one of the best commercial varieties.
Cooking: Due to its consistency and flavor, it can be used as a seafood substitute in recipes. We like to slice it into rounds and pan-fry it in olive oil or butter, or try ripping it up and making 'Lion's Mane Cakes' by following a crab cake recipe!
Properties: Lion's Mane is considered both an esteemed edible mushroom and a valuable medicinal and is currently being studied for its effects on neural health, Alzheimer's, and dementia. The mushroom contains a substance called erinacine, which has the ability to catalyze the production of nerve growth factor (NFG) and reduce the effects of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative disorders (Yamada et al., 1997). A study in Japan, on men aged 50-80 years old with mild cognitive impairment, suggests that Lion's Mane is effective at improving cognition. Subjects were split into two groups and half were given dry powdered Lion's Mane three times a day and observed over 16 weeks. At weeks 8, 12, and 16, the group taking Lion's Mane scored significantly better on a cognitive test than the other half in the placebo group (Mori et al., 2008). You can read more about this study here.