The Soil Makers: Garden Giant and Blewit

GARDEN GIANT • BLEWIT • HOW IT WORKS • FAQ• ORDER NOW

Garden Giants (Stropharia rugosoannulata) and Blewits (Lepista nuda) are nature’s ultimate recyclers. They break down mulch and woody debris, building healthy soil right under your feet — and they reward you with gorgeous mushrooms along the way.

Garden Giant

King Stropharia (Stropharia rugosoannulata), also known as the Wine Cap or Garden Giant is one of the easiest mushrooms to grow for beginners. Experienced growers have used this mushroom as a learning tool for cultivating in hardwood chip beds or mulch. What makes this mushroom perfect for beginners is also the ease of identification, nothing looks like it. It quickly colonizes wood chips and fruits a little in the spring and typically a bumper crop in the fall. Perfect mushroom for gardening and permaculture projects.

Soil & Garden Benefits

MAKE SOIL

Breaks down wood chips, mulch, and straw into rich, fertile soil. Creates a lasting layer of dark, nutrient-rich humus that supports plant growth.

AERATE SOIL

Their mycelium attracts worms, which aerate soil and boost fertility.

RETAIN WATER

Thick mats of mycelium improve water retention, reducing drought stress.

CLEAN SOIL

King stropharia can break down pesticides and herbicides.

FERTILIZE SOIL

The Garden Giant plays a role in nutrient cycling, by breaking down complex molecules into Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, just what plants need.

Ecological Benefits

SOIL BIODIVERSITY BOOSTER

Promotes beneficial microbes and balances the soil food web.

HABITAT CREATOR

Their decomposed mulch provides habitat for insects and small soil organisms.

RUNOFF REDUCER

Mycelium binds soil, reducing erosion and nutrient leaching.

POLLINATOR ALLY

Healthier soil → healthier plants → more flowers to feed pollinators.

PERMACULTURE POWERHOUSE

Known as the “people’s mushroom” for its role in regenerative gardening.

Bonus for Growers

DELICIOUS EDIBLE MUSHROOMS

Large, wine-colored caps that taste mild and meaty.

HIGH YIELDS

Once established, they can fruit abundantly for multiple seasons.

BEGINNER-FRIENDLY

One of the easiest mushrooms to grow outdoors — hardy and forgiving.

DUAL PURPOSE

Get both mushrooms and healthier soil from the same planting.

COMMUNITY FAVORITE

A mushroom beloved by gardeners, permaculturists, and families alike.

Comparing plants with myceliated soil vs. just soil!

“I planted Garden Giants along my pathways, and by the next season, I had rich, dark soil full of earthworms — plus baskets of mushrooms!”

“These mushrooms turned my wood chips into humus faster than I thought possible. It’s like having a soil factory in the garden.”

Blewit

Blewits are lilac to purple mushrooms that can be found fruiting during the fall and winter months. These need a heavy frost or freeze to initiate fruiting, so they will not fruit in tropical climates. Blewits taste mild and silky and are best sliced and seared before adding to creamy potato soup (add a dash of sherry)! A great recycler of hardwood leaves and compost, we have mixed this into our kitchen compost, shredded leaves, and mulched it into our vegetable garden, where it fruits. Two flushes a few weeks apart is normal. Beautiful purple-lilac caps. Spore print is white. Blewits can resemble a Cortinarius (rusty orange spore print) so take a spore print to correctly identify.