Forest Mushroom Production On Ready-to-Fruit Blocks

Commodities

• Miscellaneous: mushrooms

Practices

• Crop Production: agroforestry, forest farming, low tunnels

The field of mushroom cultivation
and the resources that surround it have exponentially expanded
over the last decade. This proposal aims to utilize these
recently developed networks to increase the feasibility of
mushroom cultivation on diversified farms. By merging the outdoor
production systems typically associated with shiitake log
production with high yielding blocks typically used indoors, this
project aims to highlight an accessible and profitable model of
adding mushroom production to any diversified farm. Adding indoor
mushroom production to an existing farm can be a large barrier as
it takes an investment in equipment, space, and training. Outdoor
cultivation on logs can be extremely slow and variable. By using
supplemented sawdust blocks, which are now readily available
throughout the Northeast, farmers can easily grow mushrooms
outdoors in a shady spot in as little as 10 days. Using these
supplemented sawdust blocks outdoors, farmers will be able to
control the fruiting cycle, quickly get products to market, and
increase their customer base. This project will look at the
impact on 3 different diversified farms—a CSA model farm, a Farm
store model farm, and an urban farm. We will gather yield data on
three different mushroom species fruiting outdoors on blocks, as
well as the correlating sales data. This information will then be
shared using farmer networks, social media, field days, a
publication, and email listservs.

Objective One: Fruit 60 ready to
fruit mushroom blocks, producing 60+ pounds of shiitake, oyster,
and lion’s mane mushrooms on three different farms while
recording data on yields and fruiting conditions. Repeat this
process a second time with the recently trained farmers running
the production cycle.

Objective Two: Sell 60 pounds of
mushrooms on three different farms, while recording data on total
sales and sales avenues. This process will be repeated two times
at each farm.

Objective Three: This project
aims to educate 500 potential growers on the opportunities,
benefits, and drawbacks of growing specialty mushrooms outdoors
on purchased ready to fruit blocks.