Cooling off

The cooler weather has finally arrived in Tasmania after a warmer than expected autumn. This makes mushroom growing a bit easier as the main contaminants are less prominent and the species mix we can grow increases. It has become apparent temperature control is necessary for the reliable growth of all species year round so we will be looking into this and a sustainable way to achieve it.

We have perfected our agar techniques and will be working on our own distinct mushroom strains by isolating spores and finding compatible mating types.

Our goal in the future will be offering affordable mushroom classes online to share the knowledge we have gathered and help other people start growing and supplying their local communities with these delicious fungi. In a time of unreliable food networks the ability to grow your own food locally has never been more important.

Heading into the summer months

We have been mushroom farming in Tasmania for over 3 years and we find summer is the most challenging time of year. The warmer weather means our mushrooms will grow very quickly and our range of species to grow is very limited in our modified grow room which runs at the same temperature as the weather outside. To combat this we have installed a split system, powered by our Solar Panels which will keep the temperature at a much more reasonable 18 degrees Celsisus. Without the split system we would be limited to growing a few strains of Pearl Oyster, Pink Oyster and Lions Mane but the cooler temperatures will allow us to grow Pioppino, Enoki, Shiitake, King Oyster, Black Oyster, Coraltooth, Flamecaps and Elm Oysters all year round.

We are entirely self sufficient with cultures now which gives us total control over quality and quantity of all species and strains we produce and helps us to be more reliable for our many restaurant and market customers.

We are starting to play around with some new cultures to see if they can fit in to our busy growing schedule, these are the White Elf (Pleurotus Nebrodensis) and Wood Ear (Auricularia Auricula Judae).