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Grow your own Mushrooms

I think most people know about the mushroom kits you can buy from a lot of garden centres, main the normal white button mushroom.

At Suttons they now have available a number of easy ways to grow lots of different varieties of mushrooms including White Button, Chestnut, Oyster, Shiitake and the very unusual Lion’s Mane.

The first method of growing is in Suttons Windowsill Mushroom Kits which are amazingly easy and reliable. The kit comes with a base tray filled with pre-spawned substrate and a lid as well as easy-to-follow instructions. All you have to do is keep the substrate moist and out of direct sunlight and you should be picking your first crop in a few weeks followed by at least another two pickings.

There are five varieties available White Button, Chestnut, Oyster, Yellow Oyster and Shiitake. The cost is just £8.95 for each kit but if you buy two you get one free.

Another method available is in ‘plug’ form. All you do is to find some freshly cut logs and drill some homes in them. Then take the spawn plugs and push them into the holes. It can take up to 10 months for the first crop to appear but you can get up to five croppings a year for about 5 years.

The plugs come with full instructions and there are three varieties; Shiitake, Oyster, Lion’s Mane. They cost £6.95 for 30 plugs or you can buy a twin pack of 30 each of Oyster and Shiitake for £11.95.

There are other mushroom spawn ideas available at Suttons so I’m sure there will be one to suit you.