Every mushroom kit we sell has a reason behind it. Not a marketing reason - an actual, lived reason. This is that story: why oyster mushrooms are the core of what we do, why lion's mane is a must-grow, why shiitake is one of a kind, why UK native mushrooms matter to us, and what it took for each of them to get here.
Where it started: Oyster mushrooms and a couple of kilos of used coffee grounds
We didn't set out to become mushroom growers. We started growing mushrooms because we wanted to eat a more plant-based diet - yes, we know mushrooms aren't technically plants, but they were the gateway to adding something significant and delicious onto our plates. We started with oyster mushrooms after seeing them used in 'Wicked Kitchen' recipes: hearty, chunky, deliciously luscious additions to any plate of food. It seemed the obvious place to begin, because you couldn't buy them anywhere at the time, and research suggested they were easy to grow, brilliant to cook with, and genuinely versatile in the kitchen in a way a lot of other ingredients aren't.
So we started with the most basic, fail-proof, and cheapest method there is - growing oysters on spent coffee grounds, collected from local coffee shops who were otherwise throwing them away. And boom - 6 weeks later, we were harvesting our first mushrooms, and we were amazed. If you've ever watched Jeremy Clarkson's mushroom-growing antics on Clarkson's Farm, you'll know if you grow a few, you very quickly work out how to grow a lot.
That's exactly what happened to us. We started selling our surplus mushrooms back to the same small independent cafés that had given us their coffee grounds in the first place. Word spread faster than we expected, and before long, everyone wanted mushrooms.
The pivot that became the business
Then, in March 2020, lockdown hit. Every independent café we supplied closed overnight. We had customers who still wanted mushrooms, no cafés open to sell through, and a growing method we'd mastered - so we adapted, knowing, if we could grow mushrooms, anyone could grow mushrooms.
We took what we'd learned growing mushrooms at a larger scale and shrunk it down - hand-making simple, kitchen-sized grow kits we could post directly to people's homes, so anyone could grow and harvest their own. It was an instant hit, especially through lockdown, when growing something - anything - felt like it mattered more than usual. As the world opened back up, mushroom curiosity was only just beginning, so we kept sending out kits. It was during this period that we discovered other oyster varieties beyond the one we'd started with, and they're still very much at the heart of our range today.
Oyster mushrooms are where we started, and it's still where we'd tell anyone to start too. Everything else grew from there.
Lion's mane: the mushroom everyone's heard of but few have grown
As interest in mushrooms has grown more broadly, a lot of that attention has landed on the lion's mane mushroom - mostly as a powder, an extract, or something stirred into coffee or gummies taken for focus. What gets lost in that version of lion's mane is that it's also, quite simply, a glorious mushroom to grow: easy, genuinely fascinating to watch develop, and - more importantly to us - delicious to eat, with a surprising amount of versatility in the kitchen.
We will be exploring 'mushroom', coffee's and the best supplements to take' later on in our Journal series, so do make sure you're signed up to our newsletter to get your insight.
For now, our focus is to show the world what a lion's mane mushroom actually is: something you can grow yourself, cook and eat, not just take as a supplement
It's not without its challenges, mind. Lion's mane is a bit more needy than oyster mushrooms - getting it to the point of fruiting means getting the initial conditions right, and that stage can be genuinely tricky. It's the part we spent the most time getting wrong before we got it right. Our Ready-to-Grow kits remove this difficulty - by the time it reaches you, the hard part's already done, and you're just a few weeks from harvesting your own lion's mane at home.
Shiitake: bringing a well-travelled mushroom home
Shiitake needs no introduction - it's world-famous for its texture and flavour, and it's been on menus and in kitchens for a very long time. But there's a real difference between shiitake that's been imported and shiitake you've grown yourself. Like anything home-grown, it comes out far superior in texture and flavour to what you'd typically buy.
There's also a quieter reason we grow it: shiitake has historically travelled a long way to reach UK kitchens. Growing it here, as part of a circular, sustainable approach, means far fewer air miles than the imported shiitake of the past - and a mushroom that tastes better for having travelled less.
Like lion's mane, shiitake is a bit more particular than oyster mushrooms when it comes to getting it to fruit - the early conditions matter, and it took us a while to get comfortable with that stage. It's precisely why our Ready-to-Grow kits exist: we've already worked through the tricky part, so what arrives at your door is ready to grow and harvest at home in just a few weeks.
What's new: growing more of what's actually native
In recent months we've expanded the range again, and this is the addition we're proudest of - a real focus on growing UK native mushrooms.
That's brought us to the coral tooth mushroom, a cousin of lion's mane that carries the same remarkable properties, but is a UK species through and through. Then there's the tarragon oyster mushroom - every oyster variety is unique in its own way, but this one genuinely stands apart, carrying the aroma and essence of tarragon both as it grows and once it's on the plate. And pale oyster mushrooms, the chunkiest and heartiest oyster we grow - good, substantial flavour, with real presence on a plate.
None of these are additions for the sake of a bigger catalogue. They're a continuation of the same instinct that started this whole thing: find what's genuinely worth growing, make it easy to grow, and grow it properly.
What ties it all together
Every variety we've added since that first bag of coffee grounds has had to earn its place against the same standard: is it accessible, is it genuinely good to grow, and is it worth eating. That's still the whole ethos - keep it simple, make mushroom growing accessible to complete beginners and experienced growers alike, and never lose sight of why we started in the first place.
We didn't build a big catalogue because bigger looked better. We built it because curiosity kept growing, one variety at a time - and we're still following it.
Whatever you choose, we're here to help you every step of the way. Take a look at our kit instructions for everything you need to know about getting started, or browse our full range of grow kits to find your perfect first mushroom.
And if you're still not sure - drop us a message at enquiries@caleybrothers.co.uk - we genuinely love helping people find their first grow.
Mush love,
Where to next?
→ Get our book - Project Mushroom
→Join us online at one of our workshops this autumn
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If you found this useful, you’re in the right place. We’re Lorraine and Jodie - the Caley Brothers - a small mushroom farm in West Sussex, eight-times medal winners at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and Gardeners’ World Live, collaborators with Kew Gardens, the Tate Modern and the RHS, and authors of Project Mushroom. Growing mushrooms is all we do, and sharing what we know is why we’re here.
The best way to stay close to what we’re doing - new varieties, growing guides, recipes, behind-the-scenes life at the farm and the honest reality of running a small mushroom business - is to subscribe. It’s free, it goes out twice a month, and we promise it’s always worth your time.
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