Does anyone grow their own mushies?

[SlugLobber]

Am looking at different spawns, after spotting a supplier in GYO mag this month. I know that some take longer than others, but given that I have an ample supply of stable manure, I'm thinking I might give it a whirl!

How hard is it to do? Does anyone here grow mushies? Or should I just stick to picking them when I see 'em?

[vicky]

We have grown Oyster, Shitake and button. All very successfully! The oyster and shitake dowels we grew on freshly felled beech logs and the button in the polystyrene box it came with plus well rotted manure. The button only cropped once then became infested with flies, the other two are still going strong after 3 years. I have the logs standing upridgt in large pots of soil or the patio - strange looking plants!
They are quite effortless once the logs are set up.
I have my eyes on the lions mane fungi next but I'd like to taste it first and I've never seen it for sale.

[Nicos]

We bought some spawn a couple of years ago- drilled and sealed the logs as suggested ( fresh oak).....

........still waiting for something to happen.....

[terrier]

Bought a packet of spawn from Wilcos early this year and followed the destructions on growing them, I'm still waiting as well

[Flummery]

Whoops! Mushies to me means dried peas. I was going to give you what would now be a VERY silly answer!

[coreopsis]

Do you harvest them all year round or is there a "mushroom season"?

I never grew mushroms myself-mainly because there's plenty of the wild ones around-disadvantage is that they are seasonal.This year was brilliant for ceps-I managed to dry a box of them.

[Rhona]

We've tried a box in the cellar and some shiitake on a log, but no luck. Have no idea what we keep doing wrong! I'd LOVE to go hunting for ceps but a bit scared of getting it wrong... there's a local 'hunt' that I saw posters about last year but nothing this year.

[SlugLobber]

You do have to wait for a year or more with some types. I think Shitake are 12-18 months. Buttons take much less time.

I fancied the lion's mane stuff, too. Apparently most are equally easy to grow on wet straw and manure mixed, inside a bin bag!

Thanks for the info so far!

[Kayt]

Whoops! Mushies to me means dried peas. I was going to give you what would now be a VERY silly answer!

You are not alone Flummery, I was thinking along the same lines!!!

[HayleyB]

Gave up the will to live with my lot, every time fly infestations, two boxes of buttons later I've given up on them, only got one harvest of oysters but the chestnuts are still soldiering on one or two at a time, darned flies are there too but I think the poor little one pushing through at the moment is gonna be my last attempt at boxes - too unreliable for me and we must live in a very bad area for mushie flies.

[bluemoon]

We've grown the button ones with some success. In fact I was thinking about picking a box up at the weekend in the hopes of having some ready for Christmas. I've considered growing the ones on logs, do the logs have to be 'fresh'? I've some that were felled spring 2007, though I'd be rather worried now that anything which grew might not be from my dowels, but something horribly lethal that was already lurking in there.

[Bren In Pots]

Never again, we ended up with a house full of flies and no mushrooms

[vicky]

I've considered growing the ones on logs, do the logs have to be 'fresh'? I've some that were felled spring 2007, though I'd be rather worried now that anything which grew might not be from my dowels, but something horribly lethal that was already lurking in there.

Yes, the logs have to be fresh (or just a couple of months old), but the mushrooms grow directly out of the dowels (at first) so you'd have no problems recognising the right ones.

[MaureenHall]

I've tried loads of time with the kits and with spawn, total harvest - zilch!!! Plenty of flies though I'd really like to succeed though, I'd love to "grow my own" mushroom omelette

[BrideXIII]

I wish i could find some parasols, my dad, who as I have posted before died earlier this year, knew where they grew on the downs and noone else liked them except me and him, Mum can't remember the spot, so the knowledge went with him sadly.
I miss my sunday morning fry up complete with parasol mushie