Hello and welcome friends! I am Leanne Westvang, co-owner of Dryad Grove, a mushroom farm and custom wood shop in Weatherford, TX. When my husband, Jason, isn't busy growing mushrooms, he's making incredible things out of wood from bowls to cutting boards and everything in between. He has spent the last two decades building traditional longbows and recurves, so he knows his way around wood.
If I'm being completely honest, I spent the first 3+ decades of my life disliking mushrooms. My stance had never faltered when it came to fungi; I didn't want any part of it. The mushrooms I grew up picking out of my food were always soggy and rubbery, textures my palate decidedly does not like.
We were about a month into the Covid lockdown when Jason told me he and his dad wanted to try growing mushrooms. Stuck at home, the guys had started watching how-to videos on YouTube. I dismissed it as another one of his projects. I mean, who grows mushrooms? (Apparently a lot of people as I learned later on.)
I vividly remember when the first grow block started pinning (that's when tiny little mushroom heads start to pop up). Jason was so excited to show me all his work was starting to pay off. I had never seen anything like it. THAT was a mushroom? My only concept of mushrooms were the buttons and portabellas you buy at the grocery store or what Mario and Luigi ate to grow taller. These were gorgeous. They looked more like something you would find on the ocean floor than growing in your front lawn.
I have since grown a great admiration for fungi. Mushrooms are older than plants and are an essential kingdom to our delicate ecosystem. Without fungi, we wouldn't have cheese, bread, beer and loads of other food items we take for granted. Mushrooms themselves provide loads of nutritional value to our diets, including Vitamin D, B complex and niacin to name a few. They're also a great source protein while containing no fat or sodium and few calories.
Jason and I are excited to share the power of mushrooms with you! Mycophobia (fear of mushrooms) continues to grip many North Americans, and we hope to break down that fear and replace it with a healthy understanding of mushrooms and the role they play on this little blue planet.
We plan to use this blog to share recipes, mushroom research, and more. We hope you hang around to learn more about the wonderful world of mushrooms.
Absolutely awesome!
Fantastic