Fungi Foray

Becky Searle shares her tips on cultivating mushrooms at home – and explains why they deserve a place in every veg grower's toolkit

- Becky Searle

We are all well-acquainted with the joys of growing our own food, from fresh, crispy carrots to sun-ripened tomatoes fresh from the vine. But nowadays, another type of food is becoming increasingly popular to grow because it is easy to cultivate, quick, and not always great in supermarkets. I am, of course, talking about mushrooms.

Foraging for mushrooms has been part of many cultures since the beginning of time, with the knowledge of mushroom identification being passed down through the generations.

In Slavic countries such as Ukraine, they hold significant cultural importance, with families and friends venturing into the woods to harvest mushrooms together and sharing their finds. Here in the UK, we are much less receptive to the idea of foraging for food. I still come up against resistance when I suggest to some of my friends that they try my carefully cultivated allotment food, much less something that sprang up from a pile of dead leaves on the forest floor.

However, with an upsurge of conscientiousness towards our planet, and people seeking alternative sources of protein, mushrooms are finally having their moment in the sun — an unfortunate idiom considering mushrooms mostly favour the shade. Moreover, growing your own mushrooms is on the rise, with kits now easy to come by, and dazzling displays even gracing us with their presence at the Chelsea Flower Show.

If you haven't tried growing your own mushrooms yet, you're in for a treat. It’s easy enough, usually just requiring you to keep a decent level of humidity and wait a few weeks. But what are the pitfalls, how can we get good results, where should we grow them, and what varieties are best to start with?