Topic: Chestnut Mushrooms

[MonsterMum]

Does anyone know where I can get a Chestnut Mushroom growing kit?  I can find all the usual ones, and even some of the more unusual ones, but not Chestnut and these are my fave.

If anyone has any suggestions I would be really grateful

[supersprout]

http://www.gardeningexpress.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=10803
yum yum :)

[prink13]

I bought mine through E-Bay, a month or so ago, but sure there will be some there now

[MonsterMum]

Thanks for that SS & Prink.

I have done a search on ebay and can't find anything now.  i don't suppose you know the name of the seller?

[dingerbell]

I don't want to burst your bubble baby-boo but there have been several threads about mushroom kits before and the general consensus is that they are a waste of time, energy and money. Believe me, I've been there. >:(
My greatest success was when I bout 12 bags of "spent" mushroom compost from a local organic chestnut mushroom farmer. I brought the stuff home as mulsh and it started producing fabulous mushrooms almost immediately. Rmember free produce always tastes better than something that costs.. ;D  Best of luck...Dinger ;)

[supersprout]

... and my stable muck produced morels :P ;D ...
I've enjoyed musher kits in the past, liked tiptoeing down to the cellar with a torch to see their pale faces upturned in the dark 8)

[Stork]

Your best bet with mushrooms is not to grow them but to go out and pick the wild varieties.

I know it can be daunting, but with a good field guidebook and a sensible degree of caution you will be well blessed with the best mushrooms you will ever eat.

I only started out last year. I have dined on parasols, chanterelles, ceps (picked both in England and France), birch boletus, amythyst deceivers, shaggy ink caps and a giant puffball the size of the thing that England can't seem to stick in the back of the net at the moment.

Yes there is some dangerous stuff out there but there are also about 9 species that you can't really mistake for any of the mushrooms that are going to cause you problems.

The golden rule is, if you have even the slightest doubt then leave the fungi in question well alone. And the old adage to support that goes: There are old mushroom pickers and there are bold mushroom pickers. But there are no old bold mushroom pickers.

Seriously, give it a try. You'll wonder why you ever paid a small fortune for tasteless buttons from the supermarket.

Happy hunting,

Stork

[supersprout]

If you're new to 'shrooming, try an organised foray near you first?
British Mycological Society organise them around the country
http://www.britmycolsoc.org.uk/meetings.asp
Fungi to be with (groan)
http://www.fungitobewith.org/
and the Natural History Museum do fungi forays - I've enjoyed oyster mushrooms from Hampstead Heath!
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/