Commercial Mushrooms Going Strong
Kalvin Stern and Rachel Davis are owners of Fiddlehead Knob Mushroom Farm in LeRoy, Minn. and they’re passionate about growing and foraging mushrooms. “I was an international studies major during college, studying in Poland, and saw first hand how Polish people really enjoyed a variety of mushrooms,” says Stern. “I wanted to create that same enjoyment here.”
Stern and Davis married and moved to North Carolina, where he began growing mushrooms using corncobs, straw and seed hulls as the growing medium. The venture proved successful, so after two years the couple returned to Minnesota, excited to start their new business on a small farm originally homesteaded by Rachel’s great grandfather.
Stern and Davis start with a mixture of spores which get transferred onto sterile petri dishes to germinate. In their sterile lab, Stern transfers the finished product from the petri dish onto cooked and sterilized rye grain. The colonized grain spawn, as it’s called at this stage, is then transferred onto pasteurized organic oat straw. It’s bagged, placed in an incubation chamber and eventually moved to a growing area indoors or outside. Stern grows delicate Oyster mushrooms indoors in bags of pasteurized oat and wheat straw. Shitake mushrooms grow outside on red oak logs. The spawn is placed in small holes and sealed with wax. Winecap and Lions Mane varieties are also grown at the farm. Wild mushrooms are gathered on leased land near the farm.
Stern and Davis sell their crops to restaurants and at farmers markets in LeRoy and Rochester. Their attractive, carefully created displays garner a lot of attention. They offer a book and recipes to go along with their mushrooms.
Stern always reassures customers that his mushrooms are safe to eat. He learned a lot from famed mycologist Paul Stamets before becoming certified by the Minnesota Mycological Society to forage and sell wild mushrooms commercially.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kalvin Stern, Fiddlehead Knob Mushroom Farm, LeRoy, Minn. (ph 507 951-3180; www.fiddleheadknob.com).
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Commercial Mushrooms Going Strong CROPS New Crops Kalvin Stern and Rachel Davis are owners of Fiddlehead Knob Mushroom Farm in LeRoy Minn and they’re passionate about growing and foraging mushrooms “I was an international studies major during college studying in Poland and saw first hand how Polish people really enjoyed a variety of mushrooms ” says Stern “I wanted to create that same enjoyment here ” Stern and Davis married and moved to North Carolina where he began growing mushrooms using corncobs straw and seed hulls as the growing medium The venture proved successful so after two years the couple returned to Minnesota excited to start their new business on a small farm originally homesteaded by Rachel’s great grandfather Stern and Davis start with a mixture of spores which get transferred onto sterile petri dishes to germinate In their sterile lab Stern transfers the finished product from the petri dish onto cooked and sterilized rye grain The colonized grain spawn as it’s called at this stage is then transferred onto pasteurized organic oat straw It’s bagged placed in an incubation chamber and eventually moved to a growing area indoors or outside Stern grows delicate Oyster mushrooms indoors in bags of pasteurized oat and wheat straw Shitake mushrooms grow outside on red oak logs The spawn is placed in small holes and sealed with wax Winecap and Lions Mane varieties are also grown at the farm Wild mushrooms are gathered on leased land near the farm Stern and Davis sell their crops to restaurants and at farmers markets in LeRoy and Rochester Their attractive carefully created displays garner a lot of attention They offer a book and recipes to go along with their mushrooms Stern always reassures customers that his mushrooms are safe to eat He learned a lot from famed mycologist Paul Stamets before becoming certified by the Minnesota Mycological Society to forage and sell wild mushrooms commercially Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Kalvin Stern Fiddlehead Knob Mushroom Farm LeRoy Minn ph 507 951-3180; www fiddleheadknob com
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