I've been taking my hand at myco grow bags...basically you get a bag with the medium completely prepared, innoculate the bag with the spores, and 30 days later, voila'...we'll wait and see, though; I'm on my second week for my first batch and hoping to see some pins pokin' up soon...
The hardest part is keeping the substrate contaminant free. Sometimes a few cakes are destroyed by mold.
I decided to go with a grow box instead of doing everything myself, I didn't even have to add the spores. Within 10 days I had over 60 pins growing . I'd definately reccomend this method to any noobie grower because there is hardly any work and you learn so much just from the simple experience. BTW, if anyone wants the site just ask.
you don't learn shit from a growbox. if do all the work yourself, though, from grain preparation to spore germination to fruiting--that will teach you something. it's about a complete life cycle of a single spore's maturation process. it's mycology, not an ant farm. a growbox eliminates 75% of the work and 90% of the knowledge. that's fine for some people.
I grew them once and had very good results. I posted a very detailed grow log here: http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/2935598/page//fpart/1/vc/1