Black Forest Mushrooms — Attraction in Everett

This is an indoor mushroom farm that creates a number of mushroom-related products in addition to selling fresh exotic mushrooms. They always have blue oyster mushrooms and lions mane mushrooms, as well as some rotating assortment of 2-4 other types. Some of the associated products they make and sell are mushroom jerky, mushroom coffee, mushroom tea, and a mushroom creamed honey. I sampled the jerky and the coffee, and they were great. I also got some blue oyster mushrooms, which I really love to use when making pasta with an herb and mushroom cream sauce. They also sell a home mushroom growing kit (which is a simple plastic bag of growing substrate, inoculated with mushroom spores, that you just set on your kitchen counter - and then harvest the mushrooms that grow out of a slit you cut - in a very short time.)

Today I attended a tour of the facility (which they do periodically for the general public). It was VERY informative. I learned a lot about all aspects of the growing process. More than I can relate in this review. I think everyone interested in different mushroom varieties, healthy eating, and locally-sourced foods should take this tour. Or at least stop in to the store and check out the products, and talk to the friendly and...

This company story is so interesting!

Super cool tour at Black Forest indoor Mushroom farm on Hewitt, in Everett! Check it out! 

Black Forest Mushrooms, now housed in a 100+ year old, former icehouse, was birthed in a two-car garage in Everett, born from Founder Nathanael Engen’s vision.

Fascinating tour, explaining the cultivation and grow process, using giant canvas “rooms” built for cannabis growing. This was a pandemic-era business vision, and the owner is, incredibly, self-taught!

Nathanael himself led the tour for us. We sampled either coffee or mushroom tea, mushroom jerky, in two flavors, and got to take home a grow kit each!  We walked away with two Blue Oyster mushroom kits, and one Lion’s Mane kit. Each kit will deliver at least one harvest, if not two. Takes about two weeks to grow a harvest of about 1+ pounds.  They use pelletized grain as the food for the fungus, and the mushroom itself is called the “fruiting body,” with the fungus as the root system.

Very fun retail store with all things mushroom related, and very educational and inspiring story. 🤩

It’s been so fun using our first oyster mushroom grow kit from Black...

Bought 4 culture syringes off them, 2/4 were contaminated. I was told at purchase if there were any contamination issues then I could get a replacement. This was a lie.

I injected 90% of each syringe into a jar of liquid culture mix, and the remainder a few drops of each culture into agar plates. All of this work was done in front of a laminar flow hood and with sterile technique. 2/4 of the cultures I purchased ended up contaminating in both the agar, as well as the liquid culture jar.

Today I came in and was denied a replacement. Despite doing all my work in front of a flow hood, they tried to sell me a still air box telling me 'the syringes should be injected into a spawn bag'. As if that would have made a difference when even the liquid culture jars contam'd.

I'm sure their mushroom products are great, but DO NOT buy your cultures or spawn bags from here. When they ultimately end up contaminated you will not be...