MUSHROOM lovers can farm their own exotic variations at home with the help of a North Yorkshire company.

Gourmet Woodland Mushrooms Ltd, of Pickering, devised the Fridge Mushroom, a miniature mushroom farm that grows oriental-style Enoki mushrooms for up to three months.

Business directors Pete Watson and Adrian Ogden were able to develop the mushroom growing system after Business Link York and North Yorkshire innovation and technology advisor Roger Benson provided them with the help and advice they needed to apply for a £10,000 Smart Award for innovation from the Department of Trade and Industry.

The challenge facing the pair was to develop a storage system that would stop the mushrooms from growing until they were purchased.

The grant was used to research and develop a special container that controls the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide, stopping the mushrooms from growing until they are activated by replacing the lid with a transparent, plastic dome.

More than 100 prototypes were tested over several months to create a container that would provide the right climate.

The project evolved after Mr Ogden, a mycologist who has an organic mushroom farm near Hull, and who has been studying the Enoki mushroom strain for two years, discovered that he could grow the exotic species in his cold store.

Mr Watson is involved in the forestry industry.

The two men met when Mr Ogden approached him to buy timber to experiment with growing mushrooms on logs. They formed the company in December with a view to developing mushroom products for the consumer.