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On The Land

7 April, 2022

Fungi farm growing like a mushroom

FACED with a huge demand for their wood-growing fungi, the new owners of Golden Oak Produce mushroom farm have been busily scaling up production and trialling new varieties since they purchased the property 18 months ago.

By Sally Turley

The East Barron "Golden Oak Produce" mushroom farm is entering a new stage of its life under the stewardship of Ashleigh Short, Tom O'Connor and Shelley Berry-Porter, who bought the property 18 months ago.
The East Barron "Golden Oak Produce" mushroom farm is entering a new stage of its life under the stewardship of Ashleigh Short, Tom O'Connor and Shelley Berry-Porter, who bought the property 18 months ago.

When Tom O'Connor, Ashleigh Short and Shelley Berry- Porter bought the 6-hectare East Barron property, they said it was “operating at a modest level.” 

They have been prepping for their anticipated increased yield as the season cools into autumn and winter. 

“We have quadrupled the base production rate to 100kg of mushrooms per week, but are aiming to lift that fi gure to around 200kg per week by the end of the year,” Mr O'Connor said. 

“All our mushrooms are marketed locally to Tableland and Far North Queensland shops. We do a weekly delivery run to Mareeba, Julatten, Port Douglas, Cairns, Mossman and other local outlets.

“Customers are screaming for the better known varieties such as the Shiitake and Oyster mushroom, but we are also working on creating a market for the lesser known Lions Mane and King Oyster varieties. 

“All our varieties are woodgrowing mushrooms which feed on lignocellulosic biomass waste products, such as sawdust, sugar cane bagasse mulch and wheat straw, that we buy in for around $10-$20 per utility load. 

“The biomass forms the basis of the ‘secret recipe’ which, after being mixed with nutrients, nitrogen, protein, Vitamin B, Calcium, a PH stabiliser and water, becomes the 2kg blocks that were sterilised, inoculated and incubated prior to harvesting. We are harvesting the blocks now that we inoculated around Christmas time.” 

The polypropylene-encased blocks of sterile sub-strate were sterilised at 121 degrees for three hours to kill all competitor microbes and to create the ideal environment for growing the Mycelium, a multi-cellular organism, the root-like structure of which, provides the basis of the fungal colony. 

Once “cooked”, they were placed into the filtered air of the lab, where each block was inoculated with a few granules of grain spawn. The bricks were then sealed and left until the Mycelium created an all-consuming network, started “pop-corning” and browning off , prior to fruiting. 

At this stage they were moved into a cold room to chill for around fi ve days until the pins (baby mushrooms) started pushing through. The bags were then opened to expose the mixture to oxygen and absorb any remaining moisture, before being moved to one of the farm's eight growing tunnels. 

At this stage, the mushrooms begin doubling in size every 4-5 days. Blocks are harvested each morning from day four of the growing period, delivering an average of 300 grams of mushroom per block per flush. Once harvested, blocks are rehydrated to grow fruit for a second flush (harvest) and up to five flushes can be picked from each block. 

Quantities of fruit from each successive flush tend to decline and once finished the block begins a new stage of its life cycle. It breaks down to a perfect compost in about two weeks, and is then sold on to be used in other peoples' gardens. 

“I love that we are turning other businesses’ biological waste products into food and that waste from our food-growing process becomes part of another food growing system,” Mr O’Connor said. 

Using fans and ventilation, the growing tunnels are kept as close as possible to the ideal average growing temperature of 27 degrees. 

“We have pretty good temperatures for growing all year round here, but the 2022 growing season has been harsher than usual. Shiitakes encountering 42 degrees and above will suffer thermal death, but that is rare,” he continued. 

While they don't need complete darkness, mushrooms do not like direct sunlight, especially during their early growth periods and while fruiting, when a semi-dark environment is ideal.

Looking to the future, Tom, Ashleigh and Shelley would like to extend their delivery run, offer customers the option to buy blocks to fruit and grow themselves and open their business up to farm tours and farm gate sales.

Mr O'Connor said there were a lot of un-described mushrooms out there and he would like to trial more varieties and even develop cultural work of his own in the field. 

Shelley Berry-Porter said while they usually sold their Shiitakes in 5kg boxes and their Oyster mushrooms in 2kg packs, they had recently begun trialling Shiitake minis in biodegradable punnets made from sugar cane and corn. 

Prior to growing mushrooms, Mr O’connor was working on a dairy farm, Ashleigh was growing organic vegetables and Shelley was doing the daily commute to Mareeba for work, so Ashleigh said it was “just so cool to be able to work together on the farm” they share with their three daughters, Rosie (4 years old), Zeah (6), and Reinette (8). 

While they love eating mushrooms, Ms Berry-Porter said they tried to manage their intake so they didn’t ever get sick of them. As for cooking tips, she said the most common mistake people make with mushrooms is to overcook them. 

“The shiitake however, a meatier flavoured fungi great in katsu and stir fries, is best cooked a little longer with salt and butter until it caramelises. It can be eaten with bacon and eggs – it makes a great meat substitute in pasta dishes and a delicious gravy over steak,” she said.

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