28/10/2026
King Stropharia aka the ‘Wine Cap’ mushroom is such a winner when it comes to choosing a hardy primary decomposing fungi that can digest both fresh and partly broken down mulch. They are really aggressive and not fussy to cultivate.
It grows really well in your zone 1 gardens or even in your food forests as it’s able to grow so well on its own that it will colonise areas and continue to fruit wash season as long as you keep feeding the ground with fresh biomass.
They produce big yields and support the decomposing of the mulch which in turn speeds up the in-situ composting going on around your trees. Using fungi to make the breaking down of organic matter more bioavailable for the garden whilst obtaining a yield at the same time.👌🏽
In Permaculture we are always talking about stacking functions and King Stropharia in the zone 1 veggie gardens or food forests is the perfect example of this permaculture principle in action.
This jar of Stropharia rugosoannulata mycelium was from Pierre Loiseau and it’s been the perfect addition to my herb and greens garden.