Grow Your Own Mushrooms (Pics Added)

[Ann]

One of my friends was browsing through my 1810 edition of "Family Receipts" yesterday afternoon and found the following tip.

Easy Method of Producing Mushrooms

If the water wherein mushrooms have been steeped or washed be poured upon an old bed, or if the broken parts of mushrooms be strewed thereon, there will speedily arise great numbers.

I happened to have a mushroom I hadn't got around to using, so I filled a pot with compost duly followed the instructions and the pot is now sitting in the shadiest part of my garden. As the mushroom was pretty old, I'm not expecting anything to happen, but you never know. I'm also not too sure if the "old bed" refers to an old mushroom bed, in which case I'm sunk.

Any of the gardeners here fancy giving it a try?

[Lesley]

no. you are quite brave.
however, mushroom manure is available here and works quite well on the roses.

lesley

[Ann]

I couldn't find any mushroom manure locally. (Yes I did look for it!) I did find a website selling compost from which you can grow oyster mushrooms in a toilet roll though! It actually sounded quite interesting, you get enough compost for the insides of 2 rolls and it was less than £5. If I can find the website again, I'd be tempted to send off for some.

[Ann]

Ok, so the 200 year old surefire way of growing mushrooms didn't work. But the modern method does!

3 or 4 weeks ago I sent off for the oyster mushroom spawn. (It said it was an ideal project for children, which confirms what I already suspected, that I've never fully grown up.) I followed the instructions and today I found my very first, very tiny oyster mushrooms! Even the biggest one is just the size of a very small bead, but I think they must grow quickly once they start as this morning it was just a black dot, now it's very clearly a tiny mushroom.

This is a pic of the whole thing.



And this is a close up. After I'd taken the pictures, I realised there were more growing out of the top of the roll, but under the polythene, so I'm hoping for a good crop.

[SaffiandJasmin]

WOW, Ann....lit ooks like an alien!!!
Lesley T x

[Ann]

Funny you should say that! They're growing like you wouldn't believe - almost before my eyes. I've now found about half a dozen more little clumps. I have visions of coming downstairs tomorrow morning and finding that my kitchen has been taken over by giant mushrooms!