Back To The Roots Mushroom Farm

Your Garden Awaits.
Your garden comes lovingly
packaged in our signature compostable box. A perforated center provides the perfect area for growing delectable, gourmet pearl oyster mushrooms.

Oyster Mushroom Growing Garden Kit

From Back to the Roots

The MUSHROOM GARDEN by Back to the Roots is quickest and easiest way to grow fresh, gourmet food at home. Just open the box, cut the plastic and mist twice a day with water (mister is included!).

Day 1. What is that? Answer:
A gorgeous, healthy mushroom garden waiting for you to help it grow! You’re looking at recycled coffee grounds enveloped in white “mycelium” or the “root” of the mushroom. A couple sprays twice a day with the spray mister (included in your box) will grow your beautiful gourmet oyster mushrooms in as little as 10 days.

How to grow your garden:

Congratulations--you’re officially a mushroom farmer. Your garden awaits in a recyclable box pictured on this web page.

You can farm mushrooms in 3 EASY STEPS:

1. OPEN the box,
2. MIST with water (spray mister included!),
3. HARVEST your delicious crop!

It’s Alive!
Yup. While not quite ready to eat, these eager day until you harvest. mushrooms started growing in just 8 days! With plenty of fresh air and misting, these mushrooms will be ready for your dinner table in no time!

Bonus Tip: Soaking the bag of coffee grounds and mushroom mycelium after cutting the + shaped slit overnight and up to 24 hours does wonders for encouraging a happy harvest.

Day 5.
By day 5 you can expect to see beautiful oyster mushrooms emerging in the garden.

Happy Harvest

You’ll know your mushrooms are ready for your next meal when they:

A. Lose their blue/grey color and turn into a lovely shade of brown, cream or white
B. They stop doubling in size everyday!
C. The mushroom’s lamella (or gills)underneath the mushroom cap begin to turn slightly yellowish.

They’re delicious! Enjoy them with your favorite pasta, as a main ingredient staple in delicious tacos or as a topping on your favorite protein.

The Mushroom Guys.
Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora at our urban farm in Oakland, California.

The Back to the Roots Company Story

Back to the Roots was founded by Alejandro Velez & Nikhil Arora during their last semester at UC Berkeley in 2009. Two months away from graduation, and heading into the corporate world of investment banking & consulting, they came across the idea during a class lecture of being able to potentially grow gourmet mushrooms entirely on recycled coffee grounds. Inspired by the idea of turning waste into wages & fresh, local food, they experimented in Alex's fraternity kitchen, ultimately growing one test bucket of tasty oyster mushrooms on recycled coffee grounds. With that one bucket, some initial interest from Whole Foods & Chez Panisse and a $5,000 grant from the UC Berkeley Chancellor for social innovation, they decided to forget the corporate route, and instead, become full-time urban mushroom farmers!

Inspired by the idea of producing local, fresh food from what was an urban waste stream, Back to the Roots has since grown to create the Grow-Your-Own Mushroom Garden which lets anyone, across the country, grow their own gourmet mushrooms at home as well!

A Gift that Keeps on Giving

The company continues to grow and accomplish more than just the bottom line. Back to the Roots has:

• Diverted and reused more than 1 million pounds of coffee grounds from Bay Area landfills in 2011,
• Reached over 10,000 elementary school students through our “Inspire the Next” Facebook campaign,
• Sustained 10 East Bay school gardens and,
• Created 31 urban, green collar jobs in the community.

Produce a Healthy and Delicious Meal with Back to the Roots Mushrooms

Back to the Roots Mushroom Tacos

The Back to the Roots love their mushrooms--especially in taco form :)

1. Cook in a sauce pan:

• 2 tablespoons of oil
• A couple of cloves of crushed garlic
• A pinch of chili powder and cumin
• Veggies of your choice

2. Combine with beans, salsa, and/guacamole to your taste in a corn or flour tortilla

3. Garnish with fresh lime wedge and fresh cilantro