Oyster Mushrooms

Mushrooms - I love them so when I stumbled across a "grow your own" kit from the Espresso Mushroom Company last autumn I thought I would give it a try.  We are a nation of coffee drinkers with over 70 million cups of coffee drunk every day in the UK apparently so instead of discarding the grounds, they are recycled and used to grow mushrooms.  Coffee grounds are collected from cafes around Brighton on a specially adapted bike diverting them from landfill.  During their growth, mushrooms break down the coffee waste and averts greenhouse gas emissions that occurs when untreated coffee grounds biodegrade. They are nature’s recyclers! Each Kitchen Garden contains coffee from 100 espressos and after they've finished growing, you are left with some lovely mushroom-enriched soil enhancer compost.

So how did it go?  Well, I only actually got to eat two at a time on average in the end!   The first cycle died, the second produced two very large ones that died overnight (I was planning on having them for breakfast) and the third cycle produced the ones below but they were well worth the long wait.  They do grow remarkably quickly so much so I had rearrange my windowsill around them and they are a beautiful colour.  There are only supposed to be two or three cycles but kit number one seems keen to try and keep going as mushroom number nine is currently growing.

I bought a second kit and I had loads of mushrooms the first time round (they're not fully grown in the photo).  It's just finished the second batch and I'm hoping that a third will come.

I would really recommend giving this a go.  It is ideal for all ages, a fun way to recycle and very easy; all you need to do is spray them twice a day, watch and wait.  I should also point out that I do not like coffee, in fact I hate it, but do not worry, the mushrooms do not taste of coffee!  They are available from http://espressomushroom.co.uk/ and http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/