To most, the world of fungi is a foreign and mysterious place. But below the surface, mycelia – the root structures of fungi – play an integral role in a broad array of different ecosystem functions such as nutrient cycling, plant health and soil structure. Its often-unseen activity is a vital player in the overall health and functioning of the natural world.
From a basic farming perspective, fungi have two main phases of development. The incubation phase – when the mycelium colonises the substrate on which it’s grown; and the fruiting phase – when the actual mushrooms we eventually eat start to form. The incubation phase happens in dark, low-oxygen conditions. This emulates the natural conditions mycelia would thrive in below the surface. The fruiting phase is initiated (in most, but not all species) by the addition of light, oxygen, and humidity.
Producing a consistent supply of fresh food year round is a big challenge for organic farmers in the UK. This reality spawned (pun intended) the idea of giving mushroom cultivation a go here at Good Small Farms. Mushroom cultivation in ideally done indoors, allowing one to recreate the specific environmental conditions for optimal growth. This then allows one (in theory) to keep growing mushrooms throughout the year, even during the cold depths of winter, when most outdoor fruit and vegetable production grinds to a halt. Eric and I decided to set up a pilot project growing organic mushrooms for 6 months to see if it was sufficiently productive at a small scale to cover its costs.
The completion of the new farm offices towards the end of last year resulted in the emptying of the old prefab offices in the barn. Enter me, with my mushroom growing idea. After a few rather challenging weeks of DIY with icy fingers in November and December, the new incubation and fruiting rooms had been set up in a section of the old offices and were ready to receive their first crop. Based on some internet trawling and research, grey oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) were the species I decided to try growing first. They’re delicious and nutritious, and have vigorous mycelia, making them an ideal and forgiving candidate species for a novice like me to try my hand at producing. Oyster mushrooms also grow on a variety of different and easily available substrates. Some are obviously better than others, but I decided to use hay simply because there was an abundance of it on the farm thanks to the thriving cattle herd that needs some supplementary feed during the winter months when the grass isn’t growing.
Once the facility was up and running, it quickly became apparent that the insulation from the cold winter temperatures outside that I’d hoped to get from the old office building was not great. A few additional heaters, especially in the fruiting room, made a marginal difference, but not nearly enough. Another challenge I underestimated was the labour-intensive and time-consuming nature of substrate preparation, and bucket inoculation and cleaning. Buckets were the containers chosen to house the inoculated substrate, as opposed to single-use plastic bags, which are generally used in commercial mushroom growing operations.
The overall conclusion was that the facility was not insulated well enough to maintain stable conditions inside (at a reasonable cost), and the the time taken to clean the buckets and prepare the next batch kept labour costs too high for the yields we were achieving. Therefore, we have reluctantly decided that the current batch of mushrooms will be our last (for now at least).
One positive outcome from this project has been the market acceptance of what has been produced from my little operation. In an ideal world, scaling up the operation would be an easy (and cheap) exercise. But alas, it most certainly is not! Ultimately the scale and productivity of this project makes it unviable from an economic standpoint. A sad reality, but one that many small-scale farms face. It has been a great learning experience for me, and I’m very grateful to Eric and the team at GSF for giving me the opportunity to give it a go!
Tom Keet
