Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus) is a nutritious medicinal mushroom that produces plump white clusters with icicle-like teeth. When cooked, it has a consistency and flavor similar to crab meat.

Though slightly harder to get flushes than oysters or shiitake, they are still a great outdoor mushroom for intermediate growers. They colonize slowly but are relatively reliable producers. 

Note: Aside from being kiln dried, our wooden dowels are not treated in any other way. 

Ideal project size: Plug spawn is ideal for smaller projects of 1-10 logs, though some log cultivators will use them for larger projects. 

Inoculation: Works with Log or Stump Methods. Colonization is 12-24 months and fruits in the fall. It prefers maple but can grow on many hardwood species and on logs with large or small diameters. 

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!

Difficulty: Intermediate

Lion's Mane mushrooms, though slightly harder to get flushes, are still a great mushroom for confident beginners or intermediates. They colonize quickly and are relatively reliable producers. Lion's Mane grown indoors is great for commercial producers though log grown yields tend to be too low unless used successfully with the totem method.

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 .