Desert Pearl Mushrooms

Tucson CSA has been working with Desert Pearl Mushrooms since 2019, when the young growers gallantly stepped in to provide our CSA members with mushrooms after our previous producer suddenly closed shop. In the last two years, Desert Pearl Mushrooms has grown from a bedroom grow-up into a full- fledged business participating in the startup incubator at the University of Arizona Center for Innovation. 

Here at Tucson CSA, we’ve watched (and tasted) as their mushrooms have grown bigger, better, and more varied over the last two years. Now, with a team of experienced growers and entrepreneurs, Desert Pearl Mushrooms is expanding their production in an effort to meet the community’s demand for locally grown mushrooms. 

Mushrooms exist entirely in their own kingdom: the kingdom of fungi. Rather than grow from seeds, mushrooms spawn from spores that are invisible to the naked eye. As to where they get their nutrients, our fungi friends don’t care much for soil – they get what they need from substrate made up of materials like sawdust, straw, and wood chips. 

Desert Pearl Mushrooms offers a selection of oyster mushrooms that includes meaty black king oyster mushrooms, phoenix oyster mushrooms, blue oyster mush- rooms, and pink oyster mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms are a great source of protein, calcium, vitamins and minerals. While the black king, phoenix, and blue oyster mushrooms add a subtle flavor to dishes and become tender after a short cooking time, pink oyster mushrooms taste like salmon and go well in soups and stews. 

In addition to oyster mushrooms, Desert Pearl grows lion’s mane mushrooms, which look astonishingly similar to the folkloric Yeti. There’s evidence that these white, furry-looking mushrooms can even regenerate brain cells! Aside from their medicinal properties, lion’s mane mushrooms have a great flavor and texture that’s almost crab-like. Try using them in place of crab in dishes like crab cakes and crab dip for a meat-free twist on old classics. 

Products We Offer

Featured Recipe

Mustard Greens & Mushroom Gratin

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Find more info on their website: Desert Pearl Mushrooms