Does anyone grow their own mushies?

[magz.mccarthy]

I got a pack of dry spawn recently and am very confused now what to do with it. My plot was manured a few years ago. I have never seen mushrooms on it (in 3 months) so I think there's no poisonous mushrooms in it.

I was thinking of taking an old drawer that I found in my shed, filling it half compost, half the top layer of earth from the previously manured ground, and mixing the spawn through. Then put a bunch of newspaper on top, soak it and put it in the shade under a large tree by my shed. Is this a hopeless idea or maybe it could work?

The spawn are button mushrooms.

[Paulottie]

Hopeless I fear. You will need fermented horsemuck and straw- capped with something sterile like peat this then needs to be kept constantly at around 15c and slightly damp (certainly never 'soaked')

[nerobot]

Herby: Came as a complete kit for just under £5. Came with container, some peat, and mushroom compost. I assume that the mushroom spores are in the mushroom compost.

Steven

[Naga]

I heard people having good success with multi purpose compost, I don't think horse muck a case of "if you don't use it then they won't grow"... just try it in multi-purpose compost?

The Fire Garden - FireGardenUK.com: Growing Mushrooms

[BarleySugar]

I got a mushroom kit for Christmas from my Mum, just white button ones. The last one she gave me had about 12 mushrooms, but it was fun, and I didn't have to worry about value for money . I keep it in the kitchen for the 'warm' part, and then into the understairs cupboard for the cooler. (I must start it off before the cat needs the cupboard as a nursery when she has her kittens in the spring). I watered by misting with a sprayer, but it is quite hard when it says to avoid water on the 'pinheads'.

I remember when I was little she kept trying to grow mushrooms, without much success, from the dried spawn you can buy. She was really pleased I got some last time, I gave her 3, but she probably didn't realise how much each one would have cost.