Review: Merryhill Mushroom kits.
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| Ad. Gifted mushroom kits, words are mine. |
My Dad was a helicopter pilot in the Royal Navy and, as such, had access to the airfields at Culdrose in Cornwall. One of my earliest childhood memories is of Dad taking me and my siblings out on those airfields in the misty early mornings to forage for field mushrooms for breakfast ...
Show me a small child who doesn't love going out with a parent on a treasure hunt! It was a weekend treat to look forward to and inspired a life long love of mushrooms and being outdoors in nature.
So when I was asked if I would trial a couple of home growing mushroom kits, the answer of course was yes. This is how it worked out for me as a total novice - mistakes, corrections and successes.
(Disclosure: I was sent the kits for review and have not been paid.)
A large box duly arrived from Merryhill Mushrooms a couple of weeks later. The outer packaging had a clear instruction to 'Open Immediately', which I did. Inside were two boxes, one primed to grow Lion's Mane and the other producing the more familiar white mushroom, and a set of clear notes on setting up them up ... including starting the Lion's Mane off as soon as possible. (Somehow I overlooked this important fact - I blame Christmas.)
Mistake number one: I gave the notes a cursory glance and popped both boxes to one side on a shelf, earmarking them as a project for the new year. My bad, the Lion's Mane was primed and ready to grow!
This was discovered a week later when I spotted the first fruits emerging, unaided.
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| Oops. |
This was swiftly and easily remedied. The box just needed humidity, a constant temperature (10℃ - 20℃) and an indirect light source to thrive.
All was easily remedied by setting the box up in the large plastic bag supplied, together with moist wads of kitchen towel to create a damp environment, and importantly, keeping those towels moist by squirting them with water twice a day - necessary to combat the occasional blast of central heating, even though my flat is usually around 17℃.
Mistake number two: To my way of thinking, humidity is created when a space is warm and damp. I couldn't stop the plastic bag from flopping inwards over the mushrooms so used small paper clips to create a canopy around but away from the box sides. I have since learned from watching Ben of GrowVeg YouTube channel that he used chopsticks to hold his bag up; wish I'd thought of that.
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| Wrong! |
I still had to regularly pull the plastic upright and away from the mushrooms (important that the bag is kept clear) so discarded my Heath Robinson tactics after learning from Merryhill's customer service team that the mushrooms need a fresh exchange of air to thrive, ie. keep the bag open at the top!
Some of the mushrooms had started to develop a pinkish coral like texture. Again, Customer Service proved helpful in reassuring me that this was probably due to lower light levels and that the fruits were still perfectly edible.
Success!
From then on, it was easy.
The mushroom box was moved to a slightly brighter position, the bag was kept upright and open above the level of the box, the kitchen towels were kept damp - and away from the sides of the box - and beautiful 'lion's mane' teeth grew.
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I'm holding these upside down and probably should have picked them a bit sooner.
The slight yellowing is my fault because of earlier mistakes. |
Within a few short weeks I was able to carefully lift off a big handful of mushroom. Lion's Mane has quite a meaty texture and absorbs flavour really well. MerryHill recommend cooking slices with butter and garlic; I fried mine with olive oil and soy sauce which proved very tasty!
Storage:
Any mushrooms not used straightaway can be stored in a paper bag in the fridge for up to a week. Alternatively, they can be dried in a dehydrator or very low oven and stored in an airtight jar for future use.
Benefits:
As if taste wasn't reason enough to eat Lion's Mane, this fungi is reputed to boost brain power, memory, mood, mental health, immune system, support heart health and is anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. Wow.
I also thought that a kit would be an intriguing present for a curious child as it's quite fun to watch the mushrooms grow .. so, educational with a sense of anticipation, just the sort of thing I'd have given my (now adult) son in his formative years.
Recycle:
And when the last fruit has been harvested, what to do with the compost? Recycle it! Fellow mushroom growers on YouTube tell of breaking the blocks up and burying lumps of spent compost in their garden soil or raised beds. It boosts the health of the soil and may even produce more mushrooms in the months ahead.
So, to summarise:
- Easy to grow. Pay attention to setting up the kit for ambient light, moisture and temperature.
- The kits don't take up much room.
- Everything you need is in the box except for a spray bottle.
- Lion's Mane has excellent health benefits.
- Just in case, there's a helpful and friendly customer service via email or phone.
- It's a good way to try unusual mushrooms like Oyster, Shiitake or Lion's Mane.
- Would make a useful and fun gift for both adults and (supervised) children.
- A fun way to watch mushrooms grow!
- And a bonus boost for your soil or compost heap if you have a garden.
My kit was supplied by Merryhill Mushrooms who are a family-run business based in Sussex, UK.
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