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Growing Mushrooms

From time to time when accompanying me to the GC, my OH stops in front of the stand selling various mushroom growing kits - he sometimes expresses an interest in doing this.

I remember my parents taking delivery of a load of spent mushroom compost for the veg garden and the following year we harvested loads of free mushrooms.  The same thing happened on a nearby playingfield one year after spend mushroom compost had been used on the turf - we all filled our freezers.

I also remember my parents growing mushrooms in beds of horsemanure in sheds on the farm years ago - I remember a lot of concern about maintaining the correct temperature etc.

There seem to be many options available from the garden centre and they imply that it's all quite straightforward - as you know I love cooking, and would welcome as many edible fungi as OH could provide.

Has anyone tried one of these kits, and what were the results please?


Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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  • Lupin 1Lupin 1 Posts: 8,916

    Dove I've looked at them and I don't have anywhere suitable to put them when they are growing. I can't remember exactly what they required but I know I couldn't grow them. Would love to, as I use lots of mushrooms.  

  • Forester2Forester2 Posts: 1,477

    I had one of these kits as a present many years ago and it was successful and fun too.  I can't remember the yield and as it was a present I have no idea of the cost. We kept it under the kitchen table as we had a teeny weeny house then.  Give it a go Dove you'll enjoy it and nothing better than something you have grown yourself.

  • Was it one of the ones that involves a log of wood, or straw, or manure (under the kitchen table - perhaps not) ?


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    Years ago we had one of those kits that came in a polystyrene box. We had got mushrooms. It was a good game but would have been cheaper to buy mushrooms



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Forester2Forester2 Posts: 1,477

    Same as Nut it was in a polystyrene box.  My guess is that it would have been cheaper to buy from the shop but we all enjoyed the anticipation.  You gets lots and lots to begin with then it fades off a bit.  Yours Dove sound a bit technical with logs,straw and manure.

  • OH has been looking at some of these http://www.thompson-morgan.com/how-to-grow-mushrooms - a polystene box sounds ok - but on the other hand, OH does get a staff discount on mushrooms (and other food) at the farm shop image


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,617

    We also had a load of mushroom compost. it was delivered in the plastic bags they grow them in. some of them continued cropping for some time, but then they got little wigglers burrowing through the stem. I drew the line at the added protein so that was that. Last year we had a lot of what I think were horse mushrooms growing on the FYM we had, but being a wimp and unsure of the identification, they got chucked on the compost heap. i've been looking at the dowels you insert into a freshly cut log. I am going to remove a non fruiting plum, so I thought the logs could be used in this way.  I suspect it is still going to be cheaper to buy mushrooms from the shop.

  • If cost of production and time spent in the garden were the only considerations then none of us would grow any veg. I'd love to have a go at mushrooms myself as i love them in soups, stirfrys and in omlettes. Did I not see Monty doing that thing with the wood and the dowls?

  • It's actually pretty easy to grow many varieties of mushrooms, although it is harder to grow some types. A super easy and attainable one for beginners is the white button mushroom, which is also a very popular mushrooms coincidently. There are instructions on this website: http://mushroomgrower.co/how-to-grow-mushrooms-white-button-mushrooms/

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