Caley Brothers: Mushroom Growing Workshop with Oyster Mushrooms

Make your own grow at home kit with Caley Brothers.

In this 90-minute workshop you will be provided with everything you need to make your own mushroom grow at home kit, and Caley Brothers will discuss the basics of low-tech oyster mushroom cultivation. They will talk through how to care, store and get the most from your mushroom kit and the next steps to take following the workshop. 

During the workshop there will be an opportunity to explore ways to pick, store and cook your mushroom once they are grown, and also to taste some fine examples of products we make with our Oyster Mushrooms. 

Caley Brothers was formed after being inundated with interest and orders for their home-grown oyster mushrooms.  Despite being 2 sisters their company name ‘Caley Brothers’ was gifted to us by their grandparents and who had a Surrey based mobile greengrocers that they set up in the 1950’s.  With their kitted-out van and weekly trips to Brentford and Covent Garden markets, they supplied the locals with fresh produce all year round – delivering street-by-street 50 years before the first Ocado van was to grace our own streets. 

They came together in a bid to grow their own gourmet mushrooms.  They’d initially came together to care for their father as he battled with cancer - the void that was left in their lives after he passed away was enormous and having spent much of our adulthoods in different parts of the county, his passing stirred up two very powerful emotions – one was to stay connected as a family and the other was a deep-rooted desire to rethink our diets. 

Inspired by their own research and the love of a good recipe they quickly became distracted with how versatile, cost effective and most important of all how deliciously appealing gourmet mushroom were and we wanted to incorporate more of them into our diets.  Coupled up with proven health benefits and sustainable credentials - mushrooms seemed to be the most exciting way forward.  However, trying to find and buy any mushroom beyond the classic cap mushrooms proved harder than you’d have imagined, especially back then!  So, naturally frustrated at the lack of availability and a list of googled sites that showed us how ‘easy ‘ it was to grow our own – that’s what they did. 

They quickly started growing and supplying gourmet mushrooms to local restaurants that were also keen for fresh, locally sourced and delicious produce.  Later they started developing their own range of Grow at Home kits and bringing the joy of growing gourmet mushrooms into people’s own homes. Small scale kits, on windows sills with fast-growing mushrooms quickly became popular. Now they are bringing the joy of learning to grow into workshops so everyone can have the opportunity to learn about low tech basic mushroom cultivation.  Caley Brothers look forward to sharing their journey and passion for oyster mushrooms with you.