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Welcome to Spore Play

Grow your own gourmet mushrooms.

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Delicious and beautiful

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Quick and easy to grow

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Harvest twice

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Join the growing community

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Growing Instructions

Follow these simple steps

When your grow kit arrives it is ready to fruit mushrooms. It can be kept in a cool, dark place for up to 1 month before you cut the bag and begin growing. See the FAQs section for more tips and tricks.

Recipes

Pink Oyster 'bacon'

Plenty of fat and heat is key here. Go easy on the salt. Heat a good tablespoon of butter or ghee in a pan on medium heat. Add torn apart mushrooms. When mushrooms soften, add a pinch of salt and half a teaspoon of smoked papkrika. Mushrooms are done when they are crispy and browned but there is still some softness in the middle. Add these to anything and everything but I like them on eggs, avo toast, or great thrown in last minute to vegetarian carbonara.

Pulled King Oyster

A mushroom version of pulled pork. Take a fork and tear your king oyster stems into rough strips. Fry your strips in oil in a large pan so that there is plenty of space for the mushrooms without being crowded. Add your favourite BBQ sauce and half a teaspoon of smoked papkrika or chipotle powder if you prefer a spicier version. Spread your mushrooms out onto some greaseproof paper and oven bake until the sugars have caramelised and the edges are crisp. Load up a toasted buger bun along with your favourite toppings

What's the story?

How your kit is made

Hi I'm Rachel! Spore Play is far from a huge farm. Your grow kit is made specially by me in my home lab in north London. After experimenting with mushroom cultivation I realised that a lot of people are interested in doing it too. Whether you love cooking, growing or generally experimenting.

Your grow kit bag is essentially a substrate mix which has been fully collonised with mushroom mycelium. The mycelium is the main body of the fungus and the mushroom is the fruit. The mycelium at this stage is much less likely to suffer from contamination from competing bacteria than the earlier stages. Your fungus has been happilly munching away on sterile popcorn and then a mixture of wood/straw and soy bean hulls with a little gypsum for ph balance and nutrients.

When you cut into the plastic bag your fungus will be exposed to light and fresh air as well as hopefully some mist if you are being kind to it. This will kick start the fruiting process and mushrooms will start to 'pin'. Over a few days you will see these tiny pins develop into little mushrooms, and then bigger mushrooms!

Don't forget to take some snaps of your beautiful mushrooms before they go in the pan!

Mushroom facts

1. Mushrooms Can Break Down Plastic

Some fungi, like Pestalotiopsis microspora, can digest plastic and are being studied for their potential to combat pollution.

2. They Can Be Turned Into Packaging, insulation and Clothing

Mycelium is used as a sustainable material for creating eco-friendly packaging, leather-like fabrics and it is even being used as an insulation material for housing.

3. There Are Over 14,000 Known Mushroom Species

New species are being discovered every year, and many are still unidentified.

4. Fungi Have Inspired Medicine Beyond Penicillin

The immunosuppressant drug cyclosporine, derived from fungi, revolutionized organ transplants by preventing rejection.

5. Trees and Fungi have a symbiotic relationship

Fungi benefit from the trees sugars from photosynthesis. Trees in turn benefit from nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus from the fungi. The fungus also acts to extend the trees root system and even communicate with other trees.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Your mushrooms need light, fresh air and humidity. A kitchen, bathroom or living room is ideal. Avoid the window ledge if you can. They don't need that much light and they could dry out if its sunny. Mushrooms excrete CO2 and need oxygen so avoid keeping them in a small space such as a cupboard. Humidity needs will be covered by a couple of squirts of mist on the cut bag twice a day.
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Pink oyster mushrooms are best to harvest before spores start to drop. This gives a better shelf life. They are a little too mature when the edges curl upwards and the pink colour has faded.
For lion's mane, harvest when the spines are noticable but still firm. The spines will be around 3-4 cm long. The body should be firm and white. When lion's mane is getting too mature it will yellow and become less firm to the touch.
For king oyster, harvest when the stems are thick and the cap is fully formed but still has a domed shape. Bigger mushrooms that have opened caps will be a bit more chewy.
General advice: Handle the mushrooms gently to avoid bruising. Remove any bits of mushroom tissue left on the grow bag. To get a better 2nd flush of mushrooms, harvest them as soon as they are ready and avoid over-mature mushrooms which have started dropping spores. This will give you a stronger harvest the 2nd time around.
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After a couple of good harvests you can break up your substrate and use it as a nutritious compost.

Contact

Feedback, questions? Drop a note!

Manor house, London, UK
Email: info@sporeplay.co.uk