![]() ![]() ![]() While research partnerships and the rabbit hole of new knowledge acquisition is exciting, newbies need not be daunted when considering dipping a toe into the water of mushroom cultivation. Matt McInnis with a shiitake mushroom log. In a recent interview with Kinute, Matt McInnis, co-founder and creative director of North Spore, sat down to discuss the field of mycology and its largely unrealized potential. “We also believe that through collaboration and sharing of knowledge we can move the field of mycology forward and create a better tomorrow.” “We believe that given the vast scope of all the questions in our field that are yet to be explored, it is essential to support the efforts of citizen scientists, backyard tinkerers, academics and others,” North Spore says of these partnerships. By supplying cultures, spawn and substrates to projects large and small the company fosters community, connection and competence. This goal of wide-ranging knowledge contribution is best reflected in North Spore’s most unique offering: research partnerships. By equipping people with the knowledge and products to cultivate their own mushrooms, the broader knowledge base of mycology will also inevitably grow. This was also an impetus behind shifting from the grower to supplier model in their business. Their website and YouTube channel are packed with free information to foster engagement with the mushroom world.īlue oyster mushrooms. The biggest ways that North Spore does this is through disseminating information and providing the supplies necessary to empower people to grow on their own. All of this is in pursuit of North Spore’s mission: to make the world of mushrooms accessible to all, fostering collaboration and innovation to improve tomorrow. The facility, completed in 2022, features a state-of-the-art laboratory, giant substrate mixers, and autoclaves for substrate sterilization. What began as an urban farm selling fresh oyster mushrooms directly to consumers, while operating out of a 200-square-foot space and cultivating mushrooms in a small grow-tent, has blossomed into a mushroom spawn company heavily focused on knowledge proliferation that now boasts a custom-built 25,000-square-foot warehouse. Since their inception in 2014, North Spore, like fungi itself, has experienced continuous change and growth. Like the strands of mycelium running beneath the soil, fungi and friendship are what connect the founders of North Spore-a mushroom company in Portland, Maine. ![]()
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