Lab notes & farm log
Field updates from the people doing the work.
Short, timestamped dispatches. Two streams: Lab notes from Joe (Phoenix research arm — extraction runs, COA reads, formulation experiments, supplier audits) and Farm log from Mitch (Minnesota cultivation arm — bag runs, flush counts, contamination postmortems, build logs). The long-form articles in Learn are the synthesis. These are the receipts.
Lab notes · 3 entries
From the lab — Joe Verdone, Phoenix
Field updates from the Phoenix research arm — extraction runs, COA reads, formulation experiments, supplier audits.
Farm log · 3 entries
From the farm — Mitch Reise, Minnesota
Cultivation notes from the Minnesota grow — bag runs, flush counts, contamination postmortems, build logs.
Recent dispatches
6 entries · newest first
- Farm logApr 29, 2026· Mitch Reise · Northfield, MN
April blue oyster bag run — 14% contam, three lessons
Ran 21 supplemented hardwood bags across two flushes. 3 contaminated, 18 fruited. Below the typical 8-12% target but instructive — and the contamination pattern points at one specific moment in the workflow.
blue-oystercontaminationworkflowfield-logRead note → - Lab notesApr 22, 2026· Joe Verdone · Phoenix, AZ
CBDA tincture — 90-day room-temp stability check
Pulled three samples from the September batch and compared COAs at day 0, 45, and 90. CBDA-to-CBD conversion sits at 8% over 90 days at 22°C / amber glass / no light. That's the number we needed before talking about a CBDA-specific product line.
cbdastabilityextractionqaRead note → - Farm logApr 18, 2026· Mitch Reise · Northfield, MN
Lion's mane fruiting chamber — rebuilt around the CO2 problem
Lion's mane has a real fruiting-stage CO2 sensitivity that doesn't show up in oyster or king trumpet runs. Tore out the old chamber, rebuilt with a switched intake fan + CO2 monitor + scheduled exchange. First post-rebuild flush coming in next week.
lions-manefruiting-chamberco2buildRead note → - Lab notesApr 10, 2026· Joe Verdone · Phoenix, AZ
Reishi dual extract — three method comparison on the same starting material
Same lot of Ganoderma lucidum fruit body, three extraction methods side-by-side. Beta-glucan and triterpene yields differed enough to change which method we recommend for which product type. Ratios and method specs below.
reishiextractionbeta-glucantriterpeneRead note → - Farm logApr 2, 2026· Mitch Reise · Northfield, MN
Shiitake 3782 — getting cold-shock timing right
The 3782 strain wants cold water, but how cold and for how long is the kind of question every guide handwaves. Logged five flushes on a single block under different shock protocols. Sweet spot is narrower than I expected.
shiitakecold-shockfruitingmethodRead note → - Lab notesMar 28, 2026· Joe Verdone · Phoenix, AZ
Q1 2026 heavy-metal screen — six suppliers, two failures
Routine quarterly screen across our six current mushroom-extract suppliers. Two failed the cadmium spec. Both are out of the supply chain pending re-test. Why this matters even when the numbers look small.
heavy-metalsqasupplier-auditsafetyRead note →
The full picture
Notes are the cadence. Articles are the synthesis.
A note is a single decision, a single observation, a single bag run. An article in Learn is what we know after dozens of those notes have accumulated and we've cross-referenced them against published literature. If you want the receipts, read the notes. If you want the conclusions, read the articles.