WHO ARE THE CALEY BROTHERS?

We are two sisters passionate about all aspects of growing good quality, sustainable, and delicious mushrooms.

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A pop up tent stall with all the Caley Brothers products in a beautiful display. Jodie and Lorraine are stood smiling, clearly having a great day!

Raised in Surrey our childhood was enriched with home-grown, nutritious and delicious food.  From working on our folks and gramps allotments to holiday cover on a livestock farm in the New Forest that included tractor driving, sheep herding, vineyard planting, hay bailing, egg collecting and lambing to prepping geese for the festive season and so much more…

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Lorraine is knelt next to small totum poles filled with growing grey oyster mushrooms. On a beautiful sunny day at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

It is these experiences that gave us a deep-rooted respect for good quality food, how to appreciate it, and what is just as important - how to source and support it.

Within a year of growing our first mushrooms 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 our family, our friends and friend of friends so they too could get growing their own mushrooms.

A high quality close up shot, showcasing the gills on a pink oyster mushroom, grown by Caley Brothers

WHAT WE DO AND WHY WE DO IT

We’re passionate about all aspects of growing good quality,

sustainable, and delicious mushrooms.

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 At the heart of our business is our farm located in Sussex where we grow a varied and seasonal range of fresh gourmet mushrooms. We have a green and sustainable approach to all areas of our business, striving to use only locally sourced materials, and recycling as we go.

Alongside our farm, we have developed both indoor and outdoor growing kits and creative projects.  Inspired by customer curiosity and the desire to share our growing journey. They continue to be a popular hit for first-time growers, and anyone with an interest in mushrooms.  We now have an extensive range of growing kits and projects that allow you to grow a variety of edible mushrooms.

As interest and a passion for mushrooms and mushroom growing continues, we have been privileged to work on an array of exciting projects bringing the topic of mushroom growing into the public realm.

Why ‘Brothers’ and not Sisters?

  • The front of shop premises, showcasing the original Caley Brothers sign in the 1950's.

    In the beginning

    The Caley Brothers’ brand was first established well before we and even our parents were born. 

    Back in the 1950s, our grandparents and our great-uncle Bill started a grocery delivery service - they bought a huge white truck, raised the roof, decked the inside out with shelving and a set of steps. 

    Then after driving up to Borough and Brentford Markets in the early hours, they’d take fresh and handmade produce to the doorsteps of the local housing estates of Molesey, in Surrey. 

    After a time, they founded a shop premises in the middle of the Molesey high street and ran a successful business there with the family for many years.

    In the 1990s while passing the old shop, our grandparents stopped to watch as an old shopfront was being pulled down, to their amazement, it exposed the original hand-painted Caley Brothers signage hidden behind. They hot-footed it into the local Woolworths and brought a couple of disposable cameras to capture the moment and that’s how we got to see what used to be the original Caley Brothers brand.

  • Jodie and Lorraine are at Stamner Park oon an Autumnal day walking down a path.

    Then...

    We united as siblings to help and support our father after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  We became incredibly close and found peace in learning to grow and focused our grief on a new and rewarding project.

    When an irreversible illness blights your family, it can make you stop and take stock of your lifestyles and in turn your diets. 

    This is what happened to us, and after a change in diet we found that mushrooms were indeed the way forward.  However back 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. 

    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 locally sourced used coffee grounds.

    With their blessing, we thought it only right to re-establish the name, and use the original brand mark as we started our own produce business. So that’s why we’re the Caley Brothers sisters.

  • A greyscale image of Jodie and Lorraine, stood wearing jackets smiling at one another

    And now...

    There is such an exciting buzz and a notable interest now about all thing’s mushrooms and the world needs more small scale mushroom farmers.

    We love to collaborate on all kinds of exciting projects from teaching about mushroom cultivation to designing grow spaces and exhibiting mushrooms.

    We offer dedicated support to all of our customers throughout their growing process, we give them tools they need to get growing and to keep growing beyond their first project – regardless of experience.

    We have found the benefits of growing mushrooms to be not only the mindfulness and joy that comes with cultivating. But we’ve been surprisded in how growing has been helpful on our grief journey too.

    We have also found an incredible communtiy in our fellow mushroom farmers and fungi enthusiasts and in all the interesting and supportive people we have met along the way.

    We very much look forward to another year of exciting projects and sharing our passion for all things fungi!