Every year, our fungus labs fly all around the UK to enthusiastic groups of growers.
All set with a lab of her own, Hannah tried out the growing process for herself and sent us regular updates about her experience. We hope it helps you know what to expect from your lab!
First Steps
In this video Hannah discovers what is in her Grow Wild Fungus Kit and talks us through how to get growing.
Now at the end of her fungi journey, here’s everything Hannah learned.
It started with the mycelium…
One week on and I'm excited to see some fluffy white growth coming from the fungal mycelium, huzzah!! Because of the colder weather I had to move my kit from my bedroom back to the kitchen because it stays warmer at night, and it needs to be kept between 18–25 degrees.
The mycelium just kept on growing...
It might just look like white fluff, but I'm really excited to see that my mycelium is beginning to colonise the straw! I've been trying to get my head around what mycelium is, so here goes... Mycelium is the main body of the fungus, made up of fine threads it is the part you usually don't see, whilst the mushroom is the fruiting body of the fungus, the purpose of the mushroom is to produce spores to enable reproduction. Got it!
There were loads of fun facts to learn along the way…
Week 3 and my fungal mycelium is spreading! I can see a lot more white than last week and the straw feels a lot firmer in the bag. Loving the facts on the side of my kit. Still blown away that the honey fungus in the Blue Mountains in Oregon, USA is considered the largest organism on earth at a whopping 3.4 square miles of mycelium! So cool!
Then it was time to put the kit in the fridge…
It's fridge time! ❄️❄️❄️ The four weeks have flown by and as per the instructions, I'm popping my fungus kit in the fridge for two days. Hopefully the change in temperature will shock the fungal mycelium enough to cause it to fruit lots of mushrooms! Actually I've already spotted that one mushroom has started growing, so things are looking good!
And it’s working!
So excited to see that this beautiful edible grey oyster mushroom is growing out of my fungus kit! There are a few other little ones growing too. Going to keep misting them with water day and night until I get to eat them on toast! Can't wait!
Finally, it was time to harvest…
My mushroom almost looks like the illustrated one on the Grow Wild box! I've so enjoyed watching this marvel grow.
And Hannah wasn’t the only one keeping us up to date on how the edible grey oyster mushrooms were growing across the UK! Every year, we receive lots of brilliant messages from you, showing us your bumper crops of mushrooms. Here are just a few…
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