Created November 13, 2007
Copyright 1998-2007 by John W. Allen
Fresh Mushrooms Shroom Logo. Photograph Courtesy of Hans
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The large mass-scaled legal cultivation of between 10,000-200,000 kilograms a week in the Nederland’s is astounding and enormous. This is approximatley total amount of mushrooms grown by five commercial suppliers of which, Fresh Mushrooms is the prime shroom provider for about 60% of the Nederlands and 90% of Europe and the rest of world. While Fresh mushrooms, on an off- season, produce about 2000 kilos per week, in full operation, they are able to produce close to 20,000 kilos or more of the magic mushrooms.< In Amsterdam, as throughout the rest of the Netherlands, fresh P. cubensis (one ounce fresh), Copelandia cyanescens (10 grams fresh and labeled as Panaeolus cyanescens, the Hawaiian strain) and the sclerotia of Psilocybe tampanensis and/or Psilocybe mexicana (15 grams dried), were once sold for 25 guilders ea., (approximately $12.50 U.S. ). These prices changed with the coming of the Euro dollar. These latter three products are sold in plastic trays with an enclosed information sheet about psilocybine containing mushrooms for the perspective buyers. In fact, more than 120 Smart Shops offer these mushrooms for sale in Holland. Each tray of mushrooms offered by the various Smart Shops include instruction sheets on how to take the mushrooms. The sheets are printed in English on one side and on the other side are translations into German, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. Additionally, each individual sheet states, "the [this]magic mushroom brings you a visionary, dreamy state of consciousness." The sheet for Psilocybe cubensis suggests, "This mushroom gives a moderate, very visual trip." The sheet for Panaeolus cyanescens (Hawaiian) suggests, "This mushroom gives a fast, intense, very visual trip" and the sheet for the 15-gram tray of Psilocybe tampanensis suggests that this “sclerotia gives a strong, introspective, mental trip.” Interestingly, some of these printed instruction sheets also described the different effects of various mushroom species. The instruction sheets also inform its perspective consumers of the possible adverse effects of psilocybine containing mushrooms. In Holland, fresh specimens of Psilocybe cubensis, Copelandia cyanescens, Panaeolus subbalteatus, and the sclerotia of Psilocybe tampanensis and/or Psilocybe mexicana are legally grown and sold in smart-shops or head shops throughout the country. On the other hand, dried mushrooms are illegal to sell; yet some head shops in Amsterdam sell mushrooms in their dried form but very few prosecutions take place. Recently the city council of Wageningen in the Netherlands had determined that dried psilocybian mushrooms are 'tolerated' (which means that they may be sold in the open). According to Dutch cultivator Rene Rinkkelman, this makes Wageningen one of the more progressive cities of the Netherlands. Small growing kits are also available for both Copelandia (Panaeolus) cyanescens and Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms. On another note, some pizza companies sell magic mushroom pizza’s and deliver them as well. My venture to Fresh Mushrooms occurred on a three-day visit back and forth to photograph and the cultivation by master shroom entrepeneur Hans Grootewa;; and his master cultivator Eric. While we were not able to visit the compost farm which was down the road a ways, we did manage to take some of the most fantastic photographs of Panaeolus subbalteatus, the infamous "weed” mushroom and harbinger of classical early intoxications when they first became known to the public after appearing in beds of commercial mushroom farms in the Northeast United States of America in the late 1800s and early 1900s. At Fresh Mushrooms, we learned that they had five growing rooms referred to as cells. Each grow room cell had six tiers and each cell is used for the cultivation of various species. Hans informed us that they used approximately 10,000 kilos of compost for each cell and with that amount they can fill up the 6 growing bins in each cell. Species produced and freely marketed to the public included 2 somewhat potent varieties of Psilocybe cubensis (a Phillipini and a Columbian strain). Other popular mushrooms grown here at the farm include Copelandia cyanescens and Panaeolus subbalteatus. Fresh Mushrooms also cultivates and markets 2 varieties of sclerotia obtained from the composted tiers producing fresh Psilocybe mexicana and Psilocybe tampanensis. Each week, around 200 kilos of sclerotia are sold in the Smart Shops situated throughout the Nederlands. As noted previously, Fresh Mushrooms provide through their wholesalers, about 60% of all mushrooms sold in Smart Shops in Holland and they are the leader of sales throughout Europe with over 90% of all marketed fresh mushrooms. In the shops in Holland, Smart Shop specialists reportedly sell about 600 kilo's per week, that is a total of nearly 20,000 pre-packed 30 gram units, or approximately 20,000 1-fresh ounce doses per week. And those are just the Psilocybe cubensis strains. The packaging of sealed trays allows the mushrooms to stay fresh for as long as up to thirty days in a refrigerator. Besides 'Fresh Mushrooms,' there is also the 'Pro-Care' mushroom farm and 3 other smaller growers. However, the lattrer farms do not have the capacity to produce the amount of mushrooms that are grown each week by Fresh Mushrooms of Tiel. Recently, we have learn of the tragic death of a tourist who fell from a bridge while under the influence of magic mushroom. This in turn has caused the Dutch parliment to claim that they are now going to ban the possession and sales of Magic Mushrooms in Holland. For more information about this matter, please |
The Processing of Fresh Mushrooms
We have here more prepackaged mushrooms of Psilocybe cubensis
Inside the cell of several tiers of fresh growing Stropharia (Psilocybe) cubensis
A fresh one ounce package and a 1,000-gram package of Stropharia (Psilocybe) cubensis
A 750-gram package of Stropharia (Psilocybe) cubensis from a Columbian strain
A 750-gram package of Stropharia (Psilocybe) cubensis from a Philippine strain
A 500-gram package of Copelandia cyanescens
The sclerotia of Psilocybe mexicana and Psilocybe tampanensis
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