Method for Producing Grown Materials and Products Made Thereby

A growth enclosure comprising

• a molding form defining a cavity with an open top for receiving a substrate of discrete particles and a nutrient material and an inoculum including a preselected fungus for growth within said substrate;
• a lid for mounting on said molding form to close said open top thereof;
• a filter disk sized and calibrated to the shape and volume of said cavity mounted in said lid to allow passage of carbon dioxide from within said cavity to without said lid and to allow passage of oxygen from without said lid into said cavity;
• and
• a temperature control mechanism including a network of tubing about said molding form for regulating the temperature within said cavity.

A panel comprising

• a self-supporting composite material formed of a substrate of discrete particles selected from the group consisting of straw, hemp, wool, recycled sawdust and cotton, and a network of interconnected mycelia cells produced from the group consisting of at least one of Agrocybe brasiliensi, Flammulina velutipes, Hypholoma capnoides, Hypholoma sublaterium, Morchella angusticeps, Macrolepiota procera and Coprinus comatus and extending through and around said discrete particles and bonding said discrete particles together,
• said composite material having at least one exterior surface of a predetermined length and a thickness less than said length;
• and
• a veneer material bonded to said exterior surface and wherein said panel is a structural insulating panel.

A panel comprising

• a self-supporting composite material formed of a substrate of discrete particles selected from the group consisting of straw, hemp, wool, recycled sawdust, and cotton and a network of interconnected mycelia cells produced from the group consisting of at least one of Agrocybe brasiliensi, Flammulina velutipes, Hypholoma capnoides, Hypholoma sublaterium, Morchella angusticeps, Macrolepiota procera and Coprinus comatus and extending through and around said discrete particles and bonding said discrete particles together,
• said composite material having at least one exterior surface;
• and
• at least one wall element embedded in said composite material and having an end in communication with said exterior surface of said composite material.