Far West Fungi Tour
On May 16, 2014, CUESA visited Far West Fungi to get a behind-the-scenes view of their gourmet mushroom farm, as part of our “Artful Farm Tour.”
Far West Fungi grows certified organic specialty mushrooms in Moss Landing, overlooking the Monterey Bay. The cool, foggy climate is ideal for growing fungi.
John and Toby Garrone started growing mushrooms in the 1980s, under the name Hazel Dell Mushrooms. John says he was “just about born at the farmers market." His parents farmed cherries and apricots in Santa Clara, back when it was farming country.
Far West's mushroom growing operation consists of several large warehouses. “Most people have a romantic notion that we have fields of mushrooms,” John says with a laugh. “But it’s a bit factory-like—just in a nice location.”
In the early days, the Garrones grew common white and brown mushrooms, but today they specialize in gourmet and medicinal mushrooms, including King Trumpet, Maitake, Lion’s Mane (Bear’s Head), Shiitake, Shimeji (Pioppini), Reishi, and tree oysters.
In nature, all of these mushrooms would grow on trees, so Far West uses sawdust bricks as a growing medium. Tree mushrooms must be cultivated in a wood substrate, in contrast to common mushrooms like Crimini and Portobello (Agaricus bisporus), which can be grown in compost. (King Trumpets are shown here.)
The sawdust that Far West uses, a mix of hardwood red oak with a bit of cherry wood, is a byproduct from a local cabinet maker. They used to get the sawdust for free, but due to increased demand for composite lumber, they must now purchase it through a broker, costing about $600 a week. The sawdust is kept in piles for 12 weeks while it undergoes dry fermentation, which conditions it to hold more water for the growing mushrooms.
When the sawdust is done fermenting, it is combined with nutrients before the mushroom culture is introduced. Far West adds organic rice bran (which includes B complex, sugars, and proteins) and gypsum or crushed oyster shells (for calcium).
The sawdust, rice bran, and gypsum are combined in a mixer; then workers portion it into five-pound bags.
The bags are labeled with their contents and date. Far West creates 3,000 new mushroom brick bags per day. The filtered bags are the most expensive part of process, at 25 cents apiece. These bags are crucial to creating a clean environment for the new organism, so that Far West doesn’t have to use pesticides.
The bags are taken to a sterile room, where the mushroom culture is introduced to the sawdust mixture. Far West propagates their own spawn using tissue cultures from other mushrooms.
Recently inoculated and sealed bags.
The farm’s boiler system purifies the water that is added to the blocks.
Ponds are used to store and neutralize runoff. Far West recently started growing native corn and other crops, so that the water wouldn't go to waste.
Primary incubation lasts four or more weeks, depending on the mushroom variety. During this period, the bags remain sealed, and the mycelium (the vegetative part of the fungus, consisting of thread-like hyphae) grows through the blocks to form a thick, living mass.
Fans and humidifiers help to maintain the ideal growing conditions in the warehouses.
After four weeks, the bags are punctured several times to simulate the holes in a tree, allowing the mushrooms (the fruiting bodies of the mycelium) to grow. “Pinning” is the earliest stage, when mushrooms start to form.
Tree mushrooms are higher in protein and lower in moisture than common mushrooms. These Lion’s Mane mushrooms have a moist, fibrous texture, resembling crab meat.
Tree mushrooms convert sugars in the wood into polysaccharides, which may have medicinal properties. Reishi mushrooms are a hard, bitter polypore (bracket fungus) that is believed to promote T cell production in blood. It is primarily grown for medicinal use, and ground and used sparingly in cooking or teas.
Toby shows us a brick of Nameko mushrooms. In Japan, Namekos are a popular ingredient in miso soup. The gelatinous coating on the caps acts as a thickener to the broth and lends an earthy flavor.
The farm grows five varieties of tree oyster mushrooms, which have a delicate, almost seaf0od-like taste.
Pink oyster mushrooms.
A worker havests shiitakes for market. Each block is usually good for three or four harvests, known as “flushes” in the mushroom growing world. After they are fully harvested, the blocks are sent out to be used for organic compost.
At the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, Far West can only sell mushrooms that they grow themselves. In addition, they have special permission to sell Criminis (common button-type mushrooms) and Portobellos grown by Global Mushrooms, a family-run farm in Gilroy. At their brick-and-mortar shop inside the Ferry Building, they also sell foraged mushrooms such as Morels, truffles, Porcinis, and Chanterelles, along with other foraged products.
Workers pack mushrooms for the farmers market and the Ferry Building shop.
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CUESA (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture) is dedicated to cultivating a sustainable food system through the operation of farmers markets and educational programs. Learn More »