More mushrooms. And backtracking

I feel a bit of an idiot - making an announcement this morning that I had mushrooms ready to pick was pretty meaningless when I'd never mentioned on this blog that I had started a mushroom kit.

So backtracking, Connor & I chose a button mushroom kit back in early June. This particular brand of kit also comes in portobello mushrooms & a mixed box where you get half buttons & half portabello. Unfortunately the shop we went to didn't have any of the mixed boxes in stock, so Connor chose the buttons.

Mushroom compost with spawn beginning to spread

It took a while for the spawn to spread over the surface, I think because of the weather - it's getting pretty cold here now.

Eventually it spread & we got to open the bag of peat & spread it out over the surface.

Ready for the cupboard - peat spread over the mushroom compost

Then we watered the surface & popped the box into a cupboard in the loungeroom. We have a fire in that room most nights, so I thought the warmth from the fire would be good for the mushrooms.

first little dots coming through at the edges

It took a few weeks & regular watering (with a spray bottle), but eventually little white dots started to come up.

Gradually they got bigger & bigger. Then suddenly today, the ones at the edge were huge & ready to harvest!

big enough to eat

So we picked the biggest ones - & one fairly little one, because Rowan knocked it over in the excitement.

ready to chop

And tonight we had beef stroganoff for dinner!

There are more little dots coming through all over the surface, but all of the first crop are from around the edge. Which makes sense - the spawn started at the edges & gradually spread in to the centre.