RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival
© Caley Bros
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Meet the exhibitors:
Q & A with the fungi gurus, Caley Bros

Jo and Lorraine Caley, sisters from Surrey, (the name Caley Bros comes from their grandparents’ grocery business) have been creating a home-grown revolution with the success of their mushroom kits. Fresh from a Gold medal at RHS Chelsea, they’ve brought their fabulous fungi to RHS Hampton Court.

How did you get started as a company?

Having spent much of our adult years in different careers, we united as siblings to look after our father after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  When a terminal illness blights your family, it makes you stop and take stock of your diet and lifestyle. 

Read more about growing mushrooms at home

This is what happened to us, and whilst striving to maintain the variety and ease of our well versed and familiar diets, we found that mushrooms were the way forward.  However, in 2018, anything beyond the white, chestnut or Portobello mushroom was hard to come by, and if you did find them, they’d have more than likely been flown halfway round the world. So, we started growing our own. 

Caley Bros at RHS Chelsea Flower Show


We quickly found a market, or the market quickly found us, and we scaled up our growing to supply cafes, pizza vans, independent chefs, friends, and neighbours with fresh oyster mushrooms grown on used coffee grounds.

Within a year the curiosity surrounding our change in careers and the story behind why we were now ‘mushroom farmers’ had us making simple, small-scale kits for people we knew so they too could get growing their own mushrooms.


Fungi facts

  • Fungi are genetically closer to humans than plants
  • Mushrooms can eat plastic
  • Fungi are the largest living organism on earth
  • Some mushrooms can glow in the dark
  • Fungi enable trees to communicate with each other



Why do you think there has been an increasing interest in people growing their own mushrooms?

There has been mystery for many people surrounding mushrooms and slowly those myths are being dispelled and people are seeing how simple and joyful mushrooms are to grow and eat. There is also much discussion around the health benefits of mushrooms, and people are exploring eating a more plant-based diet and it is becoming more and more accessible to find interesting and delicious mushrooms locally and responsibly cultivated by small scale independent farmers like us.

© Caley Bros
Pink Oyster
Yellow Oyster

What are the benefits of growing your own mushrooms?

We have found the benefits of growing mushrooms to be, not only the mindfulness and joy that comes with cultivating but also the nutritional benefits of cooking with and eating fresh local produce. It has opened our eyes to a wide variety of wonderful textures and flavours, a long way from the closed cup mushrooms of our childhood. Nothing beats home grown produce and the same for mushrooms as a tomato straight from the vine. Fresh Mushrooms have a wonder and beauty about them that is so short lived, because the fruiting bodies are at their prime for display and consumption for such a short period of time. Mushrooms can be grown on an incredible number of different types of waste products, such as soy hulls or used coffee grounds or even cardboard. This makes them remarkably versatile for any number of growers wanting able to source substrate and get growing depending on what is available to them locally.

How to grow your own mushrooms

1.  You don’t need to be an expert to grow mushrooms at home.  First step is to buy a freshly made, good quality indoor grow kit. If you buy from an independent UK based grow company, most importantly, they’ll support your growing journey and guarantee you success. 
 
2. Grey Oyster mushrooms are a great beginner option, but there are lots of other easy to grow varieties such as Shiitake, Lion’s Mane, and Pink Oyster mushrooms. 
 
3.  Keep your kit well hydrated. All good grow kits will come with proper guidance and advice for watering and misting your kits for the perfect growing conditions. 
 
4. Many gourmet mushroom grow kits need light to grow, so keep them in a bright spot away from direct sunlight.  This allows you to watch your mushrooms grow and some varieties will double in size every 12-24 hours. It’s a great transformation to witness. They’ll also absorb that vitamin D, ready for your consumption.
 
5.  Once you’ve finished growing your mushrooms you can put your kit into your garden or in the compost.  The mycelium will continue to help nourish your soil and you could see more mushrooms popping up over time.  It’s the gift that keeps on giving. 
 


 What’s your favourite mushroom?

Currently we’re really enjoying growing Lion’s mane, Hericium erinaceus. A simple mushroom to cultivate, it loves growing onhardwood substrate.  It is important that we share with our growers how to grow Lion’s mane at home, as it is a very rare wild fungus and illegal to pick in the UK. Lion’s mane has a stunning and unusual fruiting body it is cream in colour, but can have beautiful blush tones during young growth, with long spines and a delicate soft texture. The flavour is one of delicious intense mushroom when cooking it fresh, and you can also dry it and consume it in teas and powders for all its incredible medicinal properties.
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The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.