Fungi Farming: All About Mushrooms
by Martha Jackson Suquet
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“I feel like we’re just scratching the surface of the fungal kingdom, and it’s a very exciting place to be right now.” -Julia Coffey, Mycoterra Farm
Throughout the Berkshires and surrounding areas, farmers are growing a fascinating crop that has culinary, medicinal, and ecological uses: mushrooms. But you won’t see fields or greenhouses full of fungi as you travel through farm country—mushrooms are grown either indoors or tucked away in the woods on inoculated logs.
Mushrooms are part of the fungal kingdom, which also includes yeasts and molds. What we recognize as the 'shrooms' we might toss on a pizza are the fruiting bodies of specific fungi, and only about 20 species are regularly cultivated. Fungi don’t produce their own food like plants do; instead, they have vast networks of mycelia that seek out nutrients in the soil, on living plants, or on decaying organic material.
If you’ve ever taken a summer hike after a good rainfall, you know that mushrooms can and do pop up everywhere when conditions are right. To produce mushrooms on a commercial scale, however, farmers need to control the environment and encourage their mycelia to fruit regularly. There are a few different methods to grow mushrooms on a commercial scale.
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Shiitake mushrooms grown on logs are a popular choice for outdoor mushroom production. Logs inoculated with shiitake spores can be soaked regularly to encourage fruiting. While handling the logs and inoculating them is somewhat labor-intensive, maintaining the logs throughout the growing season is less hands-on than many indoor methods.
For growers who want to grow more varieties and want more control over growing conditions, indoor mushroom production is a better option. Indoor mushroom growing requires a protected space with temperature and humidity control, and some form of growing substrate (straw, sawdust, and plant residues are popular options).
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Image courtesy haligonia.ca |
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Julia Coffey, owner of Mycoterra Farm in South Deerfield, studied fungi and forest ecology in both her undergrad and graduate studies. She was particularly interested in the relationships between fungi and their ecosystems: how do fungi influence a forest, and how does the forest influence the fungi? After moving back to Western Massachusetts, she started Mycoterra Farm. Though the farm’s name references her passion for both mushrooms and related ecosystems (“myco” means “mushroom” and “terra” means “Earth”), she found that growing mushrooms indoors doesn’t always foster a connection to the soil. “The actual mushroom growing process is not out there in the soil,” Coffey explains. “It's growing on a sterile medium in a sterile lab environment.” Mycoterra Farm is now expanding its production of compost from spent mushroom growing blocks, which is allowing Coffey to be where she loves, “elbows deep in the soil”. |
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In addition to growing mushrooms for food, farmers also find other benefits from these useful fungi. Mushrooms can be grown on substances like sawdust or dried plant matter than might otherwise be a waste product. Once used, mushroom substrates can be a valuable addition to compost, returning nutrients back to the soil. And some farmers and gardeners have experimented with intercropping – growing mushrooms alongside a vegetable, fruit, or tree crop.
Many mushroom farmers offer growing kits for mushroom lovers who want to see the process up close and taste mushrooms even fresher than those from the farmers market. The kits generally include a bag of inoculated substrate and detailed instructions for that specific mushroom variety. Spawn plugs for outdoor growing are also readily available.
Near the Berkshires, Fungi Ally in Hadley offers a full range of mushrooms products, including grow kits and mushroom-based wellness supplements. The company also offers a wealth of information about mushroom growing on its website. Husky Meadows Farm in Norfolk, CT offers educational events focused on mushroom cultivation, cooking, and foraging.
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Meet Berkshire Grown's New Staff Members |
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Ian Brunell,
Program Manager for Business Members
Ian joins Berkshire Grown with a varied background including dairy work, vineyard work, poultry production, and farmworker outreach. Most recently he managed a diversified livestock production at Q Farms in Sharon, CT. Attending workshops, learning from other producers, and community building has always been of great importance to him, and he looks forward to getting to know more farmers in the region, and working to best serve their interests in his role as Program Manager for Berkshire Grown's Business Members. Ian can be reached at ian@berkshiregrown.org.
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Ren Constas,
Livestock Working Group Coordinator
Ren is excited to be working with the Livestock Working Group. They have worked in agriculture and food access for seven years, organized with the Real Food campaign, designed on-farm fine-dining fundraising events to support a CSA subsidy initiative in Southern Tier NY, and worked on a community-led water access project as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal.
Most recently, Ren farmed at a queer cooperative vegetable farm and a heritage sheep farm in the Hudson Valley, NY. Ren is motivated to build and to support others building projects that are led by the people they impact. Ren can be reached at Ren@berkshiregrown.org.
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Alyssa VanDurme,
Program Manager, Mobile Farmers Markets
Alyssa VanDurme recently joined Berkshire Grown as the Mobile Farmers Market Program Manager. Alyssa will manage the mobile farmers markets rolling out in low access areas of Berkshire County in the fall. The Berkshire Mobile Farmers Markets will be sourced from local farms and food producers and will offer a teired payment plan as well as SNAP, HIP and market incentive programs.
Alyssa brings a diverse background in agriculture as well as in marketing and business development. She is excited to be working with the Berkshire Mobile Farmers Market partners to expand the reach and impact of local food. Alyssa can be reached at alyssa@berkshiregrown.org
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Governor Maura Healey declared
April 12, 2023 Massachusetts Agriculture Day, and Berkshire Grown was there!
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Berkshire Grown Executive Director Margaret Moulton, Board Member Sarah Gardner, Mobile Farmers Market Program Manager Alyssa VanDurme, and members of the Berkshire County Farm Bureau rode the bus together to Boston to attend Massachusetts Agriculture Day after a three-year hiatus.
Governor Maura Healey declared April 12, 2023, as Massachusetts Agriculture Day. To celebrate the occasion, state officials, legislators, farmers, and students gathered at the State House as part of a collaborative effort between the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation, agricultural commodity groups, Buy Local groups, and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR). Farmers, producers, and state officials joined together to promote this important sector of the Commonwealth and discuss the issues affecting the agricultural industry with lawmakers.
“Agriculture Day serves as a wonderful opportunity to pay tribute to our hard-working Massachusetts farmers and producers who provide all of us with healthy, fresh, and delicious products and are a key economic driver for our local economies,” said Governor Maura Healey. “Our Administration looks forward to engaging with our agricultural industry and finding more ways to support their efforts in cultivating a robust and equitable agricultural economy.”
Massachusetts is home to over 7,200 farms that maintain more than 490,000 acres of farmland and open space. Local farms provide employment to over 28,000 workers and generate nearly $500 million for the state economy. The Commonwealth is ranked #5 in the United States for direct market agricultural sales.
Read the entire press release here. |
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Berkshire Farmers Markets
The summer outdoor season begins in May!
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It's that time of year when farmers and producers in the Berkshires and surrounding region, who have worked very hard over the winter season, bring their local products to the outdoor Berkshire Farmers Markets.
Farmers markets are a great way to meet your local farmer and producer, shop for fresh food grown in nearby fields. Farmers Markets allow us to connect and engage with our local community. Add music, performance, the scent of food grilling, special blend brews and spices, seedlings, flowers and plants, hand built yarns and crafts, and maybe some knife sharpening, each of the Berkshire Farmers Markets are literally unique.
Use SNAP or HIP? Many of the markets offer Market Match and other dollar boosting programs. Visit Berkshire Farmers Markets for dates, locations, and more information on where SNAP, HIP and other benefits are honored. |
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What we are reading:
Bringing Mushroom Cultivation to the People
Self-taught mushroom grower and entrepreneur William Padilla-Brown wants to make high-profit mushroom farming accessible to everyone, especially communities of color.
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Mushrooms are having a moment. They’re now in a dizzying array of foods and beverages, including lattes, chocolate, and even doughnuts and ice cream sandwiches. Grocery stores across the country now carry mushroom supplements—some of the more well-known are produced by renowned mycologist Paul Stamets’ company, Fungi Perfecti—as well as Back to the Roots’ oyster mushroom growing kits. |
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Image courtesy of Civil Eats |
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And it’s not just gourmet and medicinal mushrooms; psychedelic mushrooms are entering the mainstream, too. Author and journalist Michael Pollan’s most recent book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence—in which the author forages for magic mushrooms with Stamets—is a New York Times bestseller. Denver and Oakland recently became the first two U.S. cities to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms, and California, Oregon and Iowa are also trying to make psilocybin easier to access.
Across the country, individuals and entrepreneurs have been working in their communities to bring mushroom culture to an even larger audience. One such leader is self-taught mushroom grower William Padilla-Brown, who wants to enable everyone, mycology background or not, to profit from the fungi frenzy in an ecologically sustainable way. Over the last few years, the 25-year-old living in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, has emerged as a leader—and somewhat of a celebrity—in the mushroom community.
Read the entire article here.
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Berkshire Farmers Tell Their Stories |
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Bruce Howden, Howden Farm
Melissa and Peter Martin, Dandelion Hill Farm
Topher Sabot, Cricket Creek Farm
Jim Schultz, Red Shirt Farm
Sharon Wyrrick, Many Forks Farm
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Watch for the 2023 Guide to Local Food & Farms in early May!
Meanwhile the 2022 Guide to Local Food & Farms remains as the region’s most comprehensive guide to local farms, farmers markets, and restaurants offering local foods - use it to find farm stands, CSA farms, pick-your-own farms and orchards, as well as locally sourced value-added products like charcuterie, preserves, and fermented foods and locations and hours of food pantries spread across the county.
You can also find the best in locally grown food and products near you on Berkshire Grown's searchable map!
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To pay via check or phone, make payable to Berkshire Grown, mail to:
PO Box 983, Great Barrington, MA 01230 or call (413) 528-0041
Contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
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Stay in Touch
Berkshire Grown's e-newsletter comes out monthly.
Margaret Moulton, Executive Director
Ian Brunell, Business Members Program Manager
Ren Constas, Livestock Working Group Coordinator
Maeve Dillon, Food Access Program Manager
Sharon Hulett-Shepherd, Membership and Office Manager
Martha Suquet, Winter Farmers Market Manager
Alyssa VanDurme, Mobile Farmers Market Program Manager
Join Berkshire Grown here.
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