11/26/22, 10:42 AM Grow your own

Grow your own

Easy and eco­nom­ical

The Guardian · 26 Nov 2022 · 35 · Helena Hor­ton

Mush­rooms can be grown at home in many dif­fer­ent ways. You can buy a
simple indoor kit – which can be found online or at farm­ers’ mar­kets – or you
can exper­i­ment in the veget­able patch. Indoor grow­ing tends to yield the best
res­ults, as weather con­di­tions influ­ence the growth of mush­rooms out­doors.
It can be eco­nom­ical to grow mush­rooms indoors, as the cof­fee grounds that
can be used as sub­strate (the base on which to grow them) can usu­ally be
obtained free from cof­fee shops.
You can buy mush­room spawn to grow in beds or boxes filled with manure or
com­post. Or you can get the full-on kit, which usu­ally includes the spawn and
grow­ing media. If you have logs handy, you can drill holes in them and put in
“plugs” from which grow mush­room spores.
Once planted they are low main­ten­ance – just water to keep whatever medium
they are in moist to the touch. Indoors, they prefer a pos­i­tion away from dir­ect
sun­light. They do fine in any tem­per­at­ures, includ­ing a cent­rally heated home.
Mush­rooms in logs can take up to 18 months to appear, but those in sub­strate
can appear in weeks.
For begin­ners, oyster mush­rooms are by far the best bet – and they are deli­-
cious. They are easy to grow and come in all dif­fer­ent col­ours, blue, pink and
golden. They love all sorts of sub­strates, includ­ing cof­fee grounds. Shii­take
mush­rooms have a deli­cious taste and long shelf life, and can be grown on logs
in a shady space out­side or in saw­dust indoors. Lion’s mane mush­rooms are
strik­ing to look at with their shaggy caps. They grow fast, fruit eas­ily and have
many health bene­fits.

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-guardian/20221126/page/1/textview 1/1