How to grow mushrooms like Jeremy Clarkson

Want to know how to grow mushrooms like Jeremy Clarkson does, like Jeremy Clarkson does in “Clarkson’s Farm,” then read on. This can be a rewarding and relatively simple way to cultivate fresh, nutritious fungi. Here are some practical tips to help you get started:

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1. Choose the Right Mushroom Type and Where To Grow

Beginner-Friendly Varieties: Oyster and shiitake mushrooms are great choices for beginners. Oysters are relatively easy to grow because you need less equipment to get started (pressure cooker) than other varieties. Both can adapt well to indoor environments like a garden shed.

For how to grow mushrooms like Jeremy Clarkson does, In Clarkson’s Farm, Jeremy grows Grey Oyster, Lion’s Mane and Speckled Chestnut inside a bunker. A shed would be a suitable alternative to grow these in. Not everyone has a bunker right?

2. Prepare Your Growing Space

Clean Environment: Ensure your garden shed is clean and free from contaminants. Sterilise surfaces and tools to prevent mould and unwanted fungi from growing.

Controlled Environment: Mushrooms thrive in dark places or where there is a form of indirect sunlight i.e. with a shed window, humid conditions with good ventilation. Ensure your shed can maintain a temperature range of 16°C (50F), minimum 10°C/ maximum 20°C. Cover up your shed window if you have one initially or close the window, during the incubation process (step 4) and as you will need to decrease the temperature slightly afterwards during the fruiting conditions phase and introduce some fresh air (step 5).

3. Gather Necessary Materials

Substrate: Choose an appropriate substrate for the type of mushroom you are growing. Common substrates include straw, sawdust, coffee grounds, and composted manure and can be bought already premixed from many suppliers.

For how to grow mushrooms like Jeremy Clarkson and for what he grows these include;

Grey Oysters grow well with straw, logs, sawdust, spent coffee grounds, cardboard and compost substrate.

Lion’s Mane grow well with oak sawdust, soya hulls, straw, sunflower husks, bran and CaCO3 substrate.

Speckled Chestnut grow well on grain, sawdust, hardwood logs including maple and oak.

Containers: Use plastic bags, buckets, or trays to hold the substrate. Ensure they have drainage holes to prevent water-logging.

Mushroom Spawn: Purchase high-quality mushroom spawn from a reputable supplier. Spawn is the equivalent of seeds for mushrooms.

4. Inoculate the Substrate

Preparation: Due to the mixture of materials in substrate bags, organisms like bacteria or mould can already be trying to grow in it, for best result you will need to sterilise or pasteurise it in the bag or a jar, to kill any unwanted organism growing in it. This can be done by boiling, steaming, or using a pressure cooker. Most people use a pressure cooker due to that it can reach the high temperatures required.

Using a pressure cooker: Ensure the the bags are folded so that no moisture enters the filter patch. They sit on a rack so that the bags don’t touch the sides or base, the same goes for jars and that the bags are weighed down so that they don’t rise up and effect the pressure valve on the pressure cooker.

Add enough water so that the water doesn’t dry up, most growers recommend approximately 2.8 litres.

You will need a temperature of at least 250°F (121°C) , 15 PSI and on for at least 2 hours.

15 PSI will ensure all organisms are removed, however 15 PSI pressure cookers are difficult to buy in the UK, 13 PSI ones are available and will still do the job but there may still be some organisms growing with mushrooms. However, there may still be some anyway and if there is cross contamination.

Put on the vent a 15 PSI pressure regulator weight, if it doesn’t come with a gauge already on it, turn down the heat when it rattles on it and get it to move slowly up and down, and then set a timer to start the sterilisation.

Once finished let it cool for approximately 8 hours.

Mixing: Use sterilised equipment like a spoon and be careful not to contaminate your bags during this step. Put the mushroom spawn in the substrate bag. Add the same amount of spawn to each substrate bag. Without taking any air out of the bag, seal the bag closed with a impulse sealer. Next mix the substrate and spawn together evenly to promote uniform growth.

Incubation: Place the inoculated substrate in your containers and store them in a dark area of the shed. Maintain the required temperature and humidity.

The mycelium (mushroom root network) will start colonising the substrate over 2-3 weeks.

5. Fruiting Conditions

Lighting: Once the mycelium has fully colonised the substrate, cut the bag open and introduce indirect light to trigger fruiting. Natural light from a shed window or a fluorescent light works well.

Humidity and Fresh Air: Increase humidity and ensure good air circulation. Mist the growing area regularly and provide fresh air exchange to prevent CO2 buildup, which can hinder mushroom growth. Maintain a temperature of minimum 10°C/ maximum 20°C.

6. Harvesting

Timing: Mushrooms are ready to harvest when the caps have fully opened but before they start to release spores. For oyster mushrooms, this is usually when the edges of the caps begin to flatten out.

Technique: Gently twist and pull the mushrooms from the substrate or cut them at the base with a clean knife.

7. Maintenance and Reuse

Continuous Production: After the first flush of mushrooms, maintain the conditions for subsequent flushes. Some substrates can produce multiple harvests.

Cleaning: After the substrate has exhausted, dispose of it properly and clean your containers and shed thoroughly before starting a new batch.

Additional Tips To Grow Mushrooms Like Jeremy Clarkson

Observation and Adjustment: Regularly check your mushrooms and adjust environmental conditions as needed. Too much moisture can lead to mould, while too little can dry out the substrate.

Experimentation: Try different substrates and mushroom varieties to find what works best in your specific conditions.

By following these steps, you can successfully grow mushrooms in your garden shed, enjoying fresh, home-grown fungi just like Jeremy Clarkson on “Clarkson’s Farm.”