USA HLP goes California (2)
In September, California was the destination of the HLP studygroup. In the second part of this report, we follow the travellers on their journey
through the ‘Golden State’. By Bert Rademakers, CNC Exotics
O
ur next stop was Gourmet Mush- rooms, where we were welcomed by Chris Bailey (vice president) and Glenn Walker (mycologist, grower). The company, founded 37 years ago, is one of the pioneers in America of specialty mushroom cultivation. Founders Malcom Clark and David Law started their company in 1977 in Sonoma County, a location chosen for its mild climate and proximity to the San Francisco market. Over the years they have experimented with substrate production and cultivating all kinds of specialty varieties. In 2001 they moved to their current facility in Sebastopol. Here they started growing in bottles based on Japanese technology in cooperation with Dr. Yoshii of Japan. A growing farm is also currently in use in Michigan, CA. Each week, some 10-12 tons of mushrooms divided into seven different varieties are grown in bottles. The mushrooms are marketed under the brand name Mycopia. The bottles with a capacity of 1000 cc and a diameter of 65 mm are packed with a substrate consisting of sawdust, corncob husks, soya husks and bran. The moisture content of the substrate is regulated to reach 65%. When the bottles are packed with substrate a hole is made to facilitate the correct dosing of spawn that is added after sterilisation. The bottles are sterilised in a giant autoclave then allowed to cool, a process that takes five hours in total. Around 4600 bottles can be sterilised per batch. The bottles are inoculated in a sterile room using spawn produced by the company itself, and then stacked in large trays in incubating rooms, where the substrate temperature is maintained at 24 degrees Celsius. Depending on the variety, the bottles are left to incubate for three to 12 weeks. The varieties currently being cultivated are white and brown buna-shimeji, forest nameko, pioppini, eryngii, nebrodini, maitake and shiitake. During our visit we admired the nameko, eryngii and nebrodini in their full glory.
28 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
Far West Fungi in San Francisco John and Toby Garrone, the owners of Far West Fungi, gave us a grand reception during our stay in in San Francisco and showed us around the region. As a true family-business, John and Toby and two of their four sons own a substrate facility and growing farm in Moss Landing, CA, run the Far West Fungi store at the heart of San Francisco’s former waterfront and sell at various farmers’ markets in the Bay area, where they offer their organic certified mushrooms. The focal point of the enterprise is selling mushrooms. Each week, 4000 kg of mushrooms are grown and marketed by Far West Fungi. Oyster mushrooms make up around 45%, shiitake a further 45% and the remainder is accounted for by the other specialty varieties. The power of the company is encapsulated by the extensive range it offers, anything and everything that is mushroom-re-
Harvesting gymnastics in Watsonville.
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