Vermont Grown Mushrooms
Overstory Farm cultivates mushrooms using a traditional log-grown method. We specialize in growing Shiitake mushrooms and extend our seasonal varieties to include Lion’s Mane, Blue Oysters, Olive Oysterling, and Wine Cap. Each culinary mushroom has its own unique flavor, texture, and appearance — fruiting at various times of year.
Mushrooms are grown using certified organic spawn.
Shiitake
Our Vermont farm specializes in log-grown Shiitake mushrooms. Shiitakes have a robust texture and earthy-umami flavor and are a highly nutritious and medicinal superfood.
One of the attractions of eating mushrooms that grow naturally outside on logs is the variations between seasons.
In the cooler months, forest cultivated shiitake spend longer times growing — forcing their fruit from the log. Consequently producing a more meaty texture with slightly stronger flavors and aromas. These often have a beautiful cracked cap, nicknamed the “flower mushroom” for its unique blooming appearance.
Shiitake harvested in the warmer months tend to be larger, smother in texture, and have a softer bite.
It’s satisfying to eat mushrooms that are grown in their natural ‘wild’ habitat. The transformation from tree to fruiting mushroom is a fascinating!
Shiitakes date back thousands of years, first cultivated in Japan. Often revered in Asian cuisine, they are an extremely versatile mushroom to cook and eat. We enjoy them on pizzas, in rice dishes and soups, with eggs, or topped over a protein, just to name a few.
Overstory Farm offers a mushroom CSA during peak season (June - September) with weekly or bi-monthly selections.
Overstory Farm’s mushrooms help protect the forest ecosystem, reducing your carbon footprint with every bite
Lion’s Mane mushrooms are known for their medicinal value and strikingly sculptural cascading appeal. As a culinary mushroom, the flavor has subtle hints of seafood with a meaty texture and make a delicious Lion’s Mane ‘crab’ cake! Named Vermont’s state mushroom in 2024, we’re honored to cultivate these mushrooms in our Vermont forest farm.
Lion’s Mane
This exclusively log-grown mushroom variety fruit in bountiful delicate clusters ranging from frosty blue to pewter gray. Growing in the cooler months (typically September – November) we enjoy these specialty mushrooms for their flavor and aroma. The light savory taste is a crowd pleaser.
Blue Oyster
Wine Cap mushrooms have a quintessential beauty with deep burgundy and chestnut-brown caps on top of thick white stems. Growing outdoors in a shaded sawdust bed, this mushroom’s robust texture offers a mild flavor. Our family enjoys Wine Cap mushrooms sautéed with fresh garlic and salt or in a white-wine cream sauce over pasta.
Wine Cap
The Olive Oysterling's velvety olive and toffee-colored caps are excellent culinary mushrooms. Fruiting in the cooler months, they offer a buttery texture and full-bodied earthy flavor. Olive Oysterling are also commonly known as the "Mukitake" — they have thick gills and a meaty texture.
