Stalking the Mushrooms Cave

Luciano Martin and his brother, Juanito, both look as though they are hewn from the same rock that forms the arches and pillars of their medieval mushrooms cave near Rouen. Sturdy and handsome, they look like they were chosen by Central Casting to spend the better part of their time with small, bright lights on their foreheads, tending to a variety of succulent fungi deep in the hills of Canteleu, a Rouen suburb.

Juanito, the elder of the two brothers, whose Spanish father fled the Franco regime in Spain to settle in France, has been cultivating mushrooms for 25 years. He originally bought the land that holds the giant caves, which go as deep as 150 feet and cover almost an acre and a half, to stock merchandise for his building business. The mystery and allure of their original function, which was mushroom cultivation, overtook him, and he went into the business himself. Luciano, who was in real estate, joined his brother in the mushroom business three years ago.

Rouen is a bourgeois city of winding streets, luxurious boutiques, a gorgeous cathedral and a very well-dressed population. One would never guess that a stone’s throw west of its bustle are these troglodytic caves whose damp, chill atmosphere is perfect for growing mushrooms.

In the Middle Ages, there was a pair of natural caves in the hillside. When work started on the great Gothic cathedral in the 12th century, the builders turned to the soft white rock in the nearby hills. As the cathedral grew, so did the caves.

Samples and drinks

At the turn of the 20th century, the caves were expanded. “Prisoners did the work,” Luciano says. “You can see the marks of their tools.” Ceilings were rounded and a simple aeration system installed so mushrooms could be farmed. During World War II, the German army conscripted the caves to store their equipment. Post-war, the caves were left fallow until Martin bought them. I visited the brothers on a gray winter day. It was chilly, but nothing like the preceding weeks, when temperatures hit record lows. As far underground as we work we felt the cold,” Luciano said. “The mushrooms had a hard time growing.”

They met me at the mouth of the caves, which doubles as a bar and a dining area in fine weather. “Sometimes we serve drinks and samples, to attract customers,” Luciano said. He handed me a lamp to wear on my forehead, and made sure his brother knew we were going into the caves. “We watch out for each other. No one ever goes into the caves without the other one knowing it; our cell phones don’t work underground, so we have to be careful. If whoever is in the caves doesn’t emerge after two hours, the other one goes in after him.”

We slowly made our way into the belly of the earth, our lights shining feebly in the close darkness. “Stop, listen,” Luciano said. There was nothing to hear and the farther we went, the more silent it became. Aside from the electrical wires that ran high along the walls, and a metal grate here and there, these caves might have been untouched for more than a century. “I spent a career in real estate,” Luciano said. “I love the silence in here!”

Paris or Anjou

We rounded a corner into a large cavern where low, flat metal tables set side by side were filled with what looked like friable, pale-brown earth. “We grow button mushrooms here,” Luciano, said. He explained that the metal tables are delivered every six weeks or so, already filled with what is called compostage, a blend of earth and button mushroom mycelia. “The mycelia look like white powder,” Luciano said, bending low over one of the tables so his headlight flashed on what looked like a rivulet of gray mist in the compostage. He then pointed at what looked like a miniature white pebble. “That’s a baby mushroom,” he said, as proudly as if he’d created it himself. “And all that gray mist you see will turn into mushrooms too.”

Button mushrooms that are all white are called champignons de Paris; those that are brown-topped and white stemmed are called blonds d’Anjou. They are members of the same family, Agaricus bisporus. Both are grown on low tables, and they take about six weeks to mature. The electricity that Juanito installed operates lights that stay on for six hours every day. “Mushrooms like light,” Luciano said. “It calls them out of their soil.”

We continued on our way in the dark, slowly turning corners, and dipping our heads as we went through arched doorways. Columns here and there looked just like mushrooms stems; the air was cold, still and damp. “We can control the temperature,” Luciano said, pointing to doors in the walls that opened onto tunnels that let in air from outside. “We open these doors when we need to; the air outside is always warmer than the air inside—except for this winter, when it was so cold we had to keep everything closed all the time.” The humidity remains constant.

Oysters and shiitakes

Our destination was a large, low-ceilinged chamber at the back of the caves that was lit up like Broadway. A series of shelves held what looked like rectangular white or black plastic boxes, standing on end in tidy, regular rows. I started over to see them up close, but Luciano called me back. “Look here,” he said, making sure his light was shining on the wall. “The prisoners carved their initials, and they made designs on the wall.” Sure enough, there was a symbol that looked something like a sundial, next to the Roman numeral XIV.

We both went to take a look at the boxes sitting on shelves. “These are ballots that we get from a supplier,” Luciano said. “They’re packed with a blend of soil, birch and beech wood shavings, and mycelia that gradually turn into mushrooms.” The sturdy plastic coverings are slit to allow the mushrooms to emerge, which they do in stages.

The pleurotes (family Pleurotus), or oyster mushrooms, emerge as dense groups of dark-gray balls, which look something like clusters of pencil erasers stuck together. Over a period of about two weeks these emerge and grow into graceful layers of silvery-gray leaves. “We harvest everything by hand,” Luciano said, gently breaking a bunch of the leaves off. He turned them over, to reveal delicate creamy white gills.

We moved on to shelves of shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes), which burst forth from their white-covered plastic rectangles individually, rather than in clumps. Drier and sturdier than the pleurote, the rust-capped shiitake is considered by the French to be a substitute for the valued cèpe, or boletus mushroom. “The flavor is a bit smokier than a cèpe,” Luciano said. “And the texture is better—it’s not so slimy.”

Grown and gone

The shiitake is the most difficult of the mushrooms to cultivate, according to the Martins. “We don’t really know why,” Luciano says. “Sometimes, nothing will come out of a ballot. Once the mushrooms emerge, though, they’re ready to harvest in three to four weeks.”

A ballot, or rectangular mushroom block, contains enough mycelia to produce mushrooms over about a three-month period. Towards the end of its productivity, the box deflates and becomes heavy with water. “The mushrooms attract humidity— they need it to grow,” Luciano said. “When we harvest them, they leave water behind.”

When the button mushrooms are all harvested, the spent compostage on each table is replaced by a new batch, rich with mycelia. When the ballots finish producing pleurotes and shiitakes, they are disposed of and replaced by tight, new ones. “Mushrooms are basically heat and water,” Luciano said, waving his arms to include all the ballots with their fungal decor. “Our job is to control the air temperature and the light, and we’re in here all the time, supervising, checking and harvesting.”

The Martins grow mushrooms by hand, and they also market them that way. Each week, they carefully set their precious fungi in wooden crates and take them to farmers’ markets within a 50-mile radius of the caves. Once there and on display, those mushrooms don’t stay put for long.

A Little Mushroom Info

Mushrooms are a source of protein and very low in calories. Button mushrooms are delicious raw or cooked; other varieties are best cooked, quickly over moderate heat until tender.

Shiitake Long considered a health food in Asian cultures, the shiitake contains vitamin D, vitamin B and iron. They should be cooked just until softened and slightly caramelized.

Button Whether white and brown, they contain vitamin B, magnesium and selenium.

Oyster Contains vitamin B and folate, as well as protein.

To clean mushrooms, trim the stem tip, then wipe them using a damp dish towel. If they are very dirty and you’re in a hurry, put them in a colander and rinse very quickly—they absorb water ,so the faster the better. Keep mushrooms in a bowl lined with a paper towel and covered with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. They will keep for about a week in the refrigerator.

WARM MUSHROOM AND MACHE SALAD

Salade Chaude de Champignons et Mache

For the mushrooms:

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, green germ removed, minced

1-1/2 lbs (750 g) mixed shiitake, pleurote and button mushrooms (or just buttons), wiped clean, stems trimmed, thinly sliced

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

For the mâche:

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Large pinch fine sea salt

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil or walnut oil

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon ground walnuts

8 cups mâche (or other tender lettuce)

To cook the mushrooms, put the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, stir, and when it starts to sizzle, add the mushrooms. Season generously with salt and either stir or toss. Cook, stirring or tossing often, until mushrooms are tender and golden, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and add pepper. While mushrooms are cooking, put lemon juice and salt in a large bowl, whisk, then whisk in the oil. Add shallot and walnuts, whisking until combined. Add the mâche to the dressing and toss. Add the hot mushrooms to the salad and toss until all ingredients are combined. Season to taste, then serve immediately.

Susan Herrmann Loomis teaches cooking classes in Normandy and Paris. www.onruetatin.com. Find her cookbooks in the France Today Bookstore.

Originally published in the April 2012 issue of France Today

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Morel mushrooms – season waning

LANESBORO, Minn. (FOX 47) – They are the priceless gems of the deep forest… Definitely a sign of spring.  And for those who enjoy Morel mushroom hunting, time may be running out this year.  Put on your hiking boots, it’s time to hunt for Morels… with our guide of course.

One could call Frank Wright a professional mushroom hunter.  Morels don’t grow on trees, especially dead ones.  However, that’s what you want to find if you hope to be lead to the valued fungus.

Morels typically grow from the roots of dead elm trees, proving the path to getting here wasn’t a dead end.  Wright finds the first mushrooms of the day. “Even though it’s been rained on a few times it’s still pretty solid. And I like to cut them off rather than break them off because then you’re less likely to have a bunch of soil in there,” said Wright.  “What’s totally characteristic of the Morel is that they are totally hollow. And so if you look down the middle there you can see that that is just a totally empty hollow mushroom.”

The forests in southeast Minnesota have been known to produce the finest morels available thanks in part to high levels of limestone.  Wright knows these forests inside and out.

He also found other forms of edible fungi called Flammulina Velutipes.  “So if you have a black stem and an orange top, that’s a Flammulina velutipes or a wild Enoki,” he said.

With morale running high, and a basket filling up as much as he wanted, Wright decided to call it a day.

The going rate for a pound of fresh-picked Morel mushrooms is roughly 14 dollars a pound.  Even so, Frank says that he has never sold a mushroom in his life.

He prefers to sauté them with butter and oil.

Mushrooms with Garlic and Herbs

Chef Bruce Auden arrived in San Antonio in 1985 to serve as executive chef at Polo at the Fairmount Hotel. He brought a fresh, contemporary approach to food, and over the years, mentored numerous young chefs who in turn have made their mark on our city. After leaving Polo, Auden opened his own place, Restaurant Biga, on East Locust Street, and his wife, Debra, began making incredible artisan breads at LocuStreet Bakery, housed under the same roof. Their appetizer of Expensive Mushrooms with Garlic and Herbs was a huge hit, and even today, Auden offers a version of the dish, now called Sizzling Mushrooms, at his casual venue, Auden’s Kitchen.

2 portobello mushrooms, wiped clean and stems removed

6 shiitake mushrooms, wiped clean and stems removed

8 cremini mushrooms, wiped clean and cut in half

6 oyster mushrooms, wiped clean

1/4 red onion, julienned (cut into thin strips)

1 tablespoon minced fresh, fragrant herbs (such as rosemary and thyme)

1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

White wine (dry, crisp), to taste

Several slices good crusty bread, toasted on the grill, if desired

Instructions: Place fajita sizzle pan (or a black iron skillet) on a heated grill and heat until the pan is very hot. In a bowl, mix the mushrooms, onion, herbs, garlic, vinegar and oil. Pour the mixture onto the hot pan and close the grill cover. Cook until mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the grill, splash with wine to sizzle, and serve together with grilled bread on the fajita pan base.

Per serving: 70 calories (57.8 percent calories from fat), 5 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 10 mg sodium, 6 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, 2 g protein.

Recipes for Mushrooms with Bill & Sheila

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Machines help growers of tasty mushrooms ACHIEVE HIGH  RANKINGS for total quality assurance and HACCP

Since 1925, four generations of the Basciani family have contributed their talents to make Basciani Foods one of the largest commercial mushroom harvesting and processing centers in the country. Mushrooms are Pennsylvania’s largest cash crop-almost 500 million pounds of the fungus are grown in the Keystone State-and Basciani is doing its share with a sprawling complex in Avondale, PA.

Mushrooms have become a staple of the American diet as more than one billion pounds of mushrooms are cooked, sautéed, grilled or otherwise enjoyed across the country on an annual basis. Basciani has helped put some additional spotlight on mushrooms over the past few years; The company has been featured in segments on The Discovery Channel’s show “Epicurious” and “America’s Heartland” on PBS.

Although Basciani’s main mushroom farm is located in Avondale, the company has other satellite processing operations in Chicago, Minneapolis, Orlando and Independence, LA, according to plant manager Fred Recchiuti. From these facilities, Basciani ships 1.5 million pounds of freshly-harvested mushrooms per week to its hundreds of foodservice and retail customers.

The process of growing and harvesting mushrooms is an art as much as a science. Proper production requires old-fashioned handpicking and sorting as well as advanced technological equipment, including Eriez E-Z Tec DSP metal detectors, which are used at all the Basciani facilities.

Basciani takes special pride in the fact that its total quality assurance/HACCP scores are consistently in the upper 90 percentile range. “We’ve added several metal detectors to our bulk and retail packaging lines over the last 10 years because of our growth. We need to make sure the products meet the critical control points and are 100 percent safe right before they are shipped to the end user,” Recchiuti says. “The Eriez E-Z Tec metal detectors play an important role in that process.”

Sterile environment is a must

For Basciani, perfect mushrooms come from a meticulous process. A special compost made of horse manure and hay goes through a pasteurization stage; the compost is steamed cooked so the growing environment becomes sterile and free of impurities. The pasteurization process takes up to two weeks, with temperatures inside the compost chamber reaching 150 deg F. The compost is tilled weekly, and water is added to create a moist and rich growing environment.

The prepared compost is then seeded with tiny cultural fungus called spawn, which grows and becomes mushrooms. The entire growing cycle from compost pasteurization to harvesting can take up to 15 weeks, according to the company.

Once they reach maturity, the mushrooms are picked and hand-sorted. The harvested mushrooms are then washed, immediately moved to a cooler and subsequently placed on either a bulk or retail packaging line, depending upon their destination. The boxed product is then placed in refrigerated trucks and delivered to the markets within 24 to 48 hours after harvest.

“The bulk lines are designated for our foodservice customers, which include national restaurant chains such as Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesday, Outback Steakhouse and many more. We also sell to national pizza chains,” Recchiuti says. “The retail lines are mostly for supermarkets and other consumer outlets.”

New level of product purity

Attention to foreign material prevention is a mainstay at every Basciani facility. At the Avondale farm, every container conveyed over five bulk packaging lines or two packaging lines moves through E-Z Tec DSP metal detectors before leaving the facility to ensure the fresh produce is free of metal contamination.

According to Recchiuti, metal contamination can work its way into the processing stage while the mushrooms are being sliced before packaging. Minute metal fragments may be undetectable to a line worker, but can be caught as the packages are moved through the metal detectors stationed at the end of each processing line.

“While the mushrooms are getting sliced, they go through hundreds of rotating razor blades,” Recchiuti observes. “Foreign objects like a stone or nail can cause the razor blades to break, leaving some fragments in the sliced mushrooms. That’s why all boxes go through the metal detectors to make sure we are meeting those critical control points and to make certain the product is safe.”

The E-Z Tec DSP model is particularly useful in harsh environments because of its stainless steel design. The oscillator and receiving coils are wound on a rigid frame and encapsulated in a stainless steel shell (USDA/FDA and Candian Standards Association approved material). The control is housed in a water-tight, dust-tight and corrosion-resistant stainless steel enclosure. This is especially important at Basciani where a high level of moisture is present during the harvesting and processing stages.

Recchiuti also says he is impressed with the ease of operation and set-up with the touchscreen interface on the DSP model. The 4 x 5 in. wide-angled control with backlit screen allows the user to quickly make changes without having to scroll through different menus. Numeric data and value entries are made through the on-screen keypad.

The DSP model also offers calibration verification, reject confirmation and quick recovery after detection of tramp metal. The compact cabinet design allows for installation where space is at a premium.

For Basciani, one consideration in purchasing the E-Z Tec metal detectors was the value-added support offered by its local Eriez sales representative, Steve Hilliard of PennQuip Inc. Hilliard included start-up assistance and training to Basciani personnel as well as follow-up visits for additional product set-ups.

Eriez, 814-835-6000. www.eriez.com

PennQuip Inc., 215-646-3331. www.pennquip.com

Recipes for Mushrooms with Bill & Sheila

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Morels – Mushroom hunting is for everyone

The out-of-doors are a popular place. Some like to hunt or fish, others might boat or canoe. Many like to camp, hike, bird watch, even just swim in a lake or enjoy a picnic.

But there’s one other sport that draws thousands — even folks who rarely venture into Mother Nature’s territory.

That’s mushroom hunting, an activity that brings out families, senior citizens, even 10- or 12-year-old kids to roam woodlots, fencerows and heavy forest seeking the elusive morel mushroom.

These myriads of fungi seekers look avidly for this brown capped, ribbed mushroom mainly for one reason. You can talk about healthful exercise, a chance to see wildflowers and forest creatures, or breathe fresh air, but the real reason is the mushroom tastes great.

If you’ve never eaten a morel mushroom, and would like to right this minute, you can often find them in larger supermarkets where they sell for a price slightly lower than gold bars.

But the best way to get some is to head forth and find them. Normally, the time to do that is now. But it’s been a strange spring. First we had a week of warm, but dry weather, then it turned cold, then warm again, then cold and rainy with temperatures in the 40s.

Morels like it warm and damp, and there’s been little enough of that. Perhaps a few hunters have found some, but I’ve heard of none, and have found none myself.

But the usual succession of small, elusive blacks, then larger greys, then the big yellow mushroom is coming or has already arrived in some places, so it’s either time or nearly time to start looking.

Over the next few weeks hunting the mushroom will get better and better, after each rain followed by a few days of warm weather, then taper off abruptly, ending it all for the season. You can be scientific about the business of hunting these elusive plants, starting on hilltops where the ground warms fastest, then working down the hillsides on successive trips, but the tried-and-true method for most hunters is simply to hunt.

You walk and walk, uphill and down, through valleys, along those fencerows, little woodlots and big, old apple orchards, around fallen timber (especially elms), through deep woods filled with trilliums, spring beauties, May apples and other flowers. And sooner or later you’re likely to find some.

Mushroom finds might turn up immediately. I’ve had it happen. Or you might search for long hours, using that “walk a few steps, then stop and look around.” But if you walk enough, there they are. Most hunters know to use mesh bags, so any ripe spawn can fall through the mesh as you hike, and they know to leave at least a couple from each little bonanza to produce spawn for next year.

Finally, most know to split the morels lengthwise and soak them for a few hours in salt water to remove bugs and forest debris. Then it’s time to eat them.

Frying some up in a good batter is obvious, and placing a few on steaks nearly grilled is, too. But did you ever try some in an omlet? I keep it simple, mixing eggs and milk as usual, then adding a few chopped up mushrooms before frying. A delicate, subtle and flavorsome way to enjoy the morel mushroom.

If you think we Americans have a corner on the market, know that the first morel recipes came from the ancient Romans, and one of these called for cooking them in salt water, oil and pure wine, and serving with chopped coriander.

A French recipe from 1793 called for placing them in a saucepan with pepper, salt and parsley, adding a piece of ham, then stew for an hour in a little water, then bind with the yolks of two or three eggs and serve on buttered toast.

If none of the above strike your fancy, just fry them in a little butter, and enjoy. Hard to go wrong with that choice.

Mushroom Recipes with Bill & Sheila

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Treat Mom Like Royalty – Give Her a Queen Anne Shiitake Mushroom Log Kit

The Queen Anne Shiitake Log Kit is a sure winner for Mother’s Day when Mother loves the unusual in gardening or gourmet cooking. If Mom is a mushroom-lover, this mushroom log kit is a treat, because it will keep producing fresh, organic shiitakes for years. In addition to their flavor and health benefits, shiitakes can generate joyfulness. A portion of Lost Creek Mushroom Farm sales is donated to Mushrooms in Ghana Project.

Perkins, OK (PRWEB) April 26, 2012

For mothers who love mushrooms, gardening, or gourmet cooking, the Queen Anne shiitake mushroom log kit is an easy answer to “How can I surprise my mom for Mother’s Day?” The 12-inch shiitake log, a real oak or other hardwood log, stands in an attractive embossed metal pot. The log will fruit — produce fresh shiitake mushrooms — every two months for years.

Sandra Williams, owner of Lost Creek Mushroom Farm and designer of the kit, is especially fond of the Queen Anne. “I was looking for a container that was graceful, something that would add beauty to the room and enhance the presentation of the mushroom log, whether it was bare between fruitings or blossoming with shiitakes.”

Shiitakes are known for their flavor, meaty texture, and health benefits — reducing cholesterol, stimulating the immune system, providing high-quality protein with little or no fat. The second-most favorite mushroom in the world contains properties that create feelings of joy. “Mom eats these delicious mushrooms and feels glad that she has such a wonderful child,” the Mushroom Lady joked. “But truly, they do elicit feelings of joy. In olden times they were used to heal grief and were happily served at celebrations.”

The Queen Anne is the most recent addition to Lost Creek’s line of shiitake log kits. The logs can be kept in the house like plants, or on the patio under shade in temperate regions. Logs are soaked in non-chlorinated ice water, which starts the fruiting cycle. At first the log buds, or “pins.” After 6-10 days, the mushrooms are ready to harvest. Then the logs “rests” for two months, building up more mycelia, with a soaking cycle of 12 hours every two weeks in room-temperature, non-chlorinated water.

“These mushroom log kits are great gifts,” Williams explained, “they last for a long time and keep producing. You can expect a few mushrooms at first, and increasingly larger yields as the logs mature. We’ve been creating kits for almost 20 years now, and we’ve had a terrific response.”

The Queen Anne sells for $48.00, including shipping and handling. The kit contains a ready-to-fruit 12-inch log, an embossed metal pot, instructions and recipes. The log is guaranteed to grow shiitakes.

To increase the value of your Mother’s Day Gift, add The Shiitake Sampler Cookbook by Janet Bratkovich for $7.95. The cookbook sells separately for $9.95, including postage.

Lost Creek Mushroom Farm has kits starting from $18.00 for a 6″ ‘Shroomie. The Ma Pa Kit features two 9-10” logs and sells for $49.95. Alternating the fruiting log will produce mushrooms every month. Their best-seller is a single 9-10” log for $29.95. Gift baskets, at $49.95, include shiitake soup mixes, shiitake dip mixes, a ‘Shroomie, the Shiitake Sampler Cookbook and organic, log-grown dried shiitake mushrooms. All prices include sh.

The Queen Anne Kit is available only at Lost Creek’s website and by phone. Order online at http://www.shiitakemushroomlog.com or by phone at 1-800-792-0053. Lost Creek Mushroom Farm log kits are available on Amazon.com at slightly higher prices.

A portion of sales is donated to [Mushrooms in Ghana Project. Through Mushrooms in Ghana Project Lost Creek Mushroom Farm has brought Ghanaian mushroom growers to the US, supported mushroom production training programs, established a shiitake research project in central Ghana, and is equipping a spawn (mushroom seed material) laboratory that can supply small-scale mushroom farmers in central and northern Ghana.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/4/prweb9443895.htm

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Buddhist monk opens Mushroom Farm inCalifornia

Pleurotus ostreatus, the oyster mushroom, is a common edible mushroom. It was first cultivated in Germany as a subsistence measure during World War I and is now grown commercially around the world for food. However, the first documented cultivation was by Kaufert There is some question about the name Pleurotus corticatus, but no question he cultivated an oyster mushroom. It is related to the similarly cultivated “king oyster mushroom”. Oyster mushrooms can also be used industrially for mycoremediation purposes. The oyster mushroom may be considered a medicinal mushroom, since it contains statins such as lovastatin which work to reduce cholesterol.

The oyster mushroom is one of the more commonly sought wild mushrooms, though it can also be cultivated on straw and other media. It often has the scent of anise due to the presence of benzaldehyde (which, however, smells more like almonds).

Of the many Southern Californians starting urban farms these days, few have stories more colorful than Brett and Tanya Wyatt of BT Farm. Brett, 53, was an observant Jew studying geography at UC Davis, then a Buddhist monk in Myanmar, where he managed to flee just before the regime raided his monastery. He then earned a doctorate analyzing organic farming concepts in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he met Tanya, 44, who supervised a farm group and grew mushrooms. A year ago he returned to California to teach computer skills at a public high school in Watts, and they promptly decided to establish an urban farm.

They were able to buy a home in Hacienda Heights cheaply because the previous owner had been shot to death last August in the alley behind the backyard, which was strewn with broken glass. “None of the locals would touch the place, because they thought his spirit was still here,” Brett says.

Tanya closely planted the yards surrounding the house with vegetables and spices from her homeland, including galangal, lemongrass, bamboo shoots and banana leaves, as well as crops more mainstream here, such as broccoli, spinach and sunflower sprouts. All are as fresh as can be when they sell at the Monrovia farmers market on Fridays, at Playa Vista on Saturdays and at Newport Beach on Sundays.

But their biggest bet is on oyster mushrooms, which, unlike virtually all other farmers market vendors, they grow themselves from scratch, from mycelia cultured on agar, which they disperse into a medium of sawdust, rice bran and sugar, sheathed in plastic bags. They keep the bags in their living room, next to the mantle, and in a plastic storage room in the backyard.

The whole process is trickier than it seems, because they have to carefully sterilize the medium by steaming it for four hours in a 55-gallon drum to kill all the other molds that might otherwise compete with the mushrooms. If anything goes wrong, the whole batch could be spoiled.

Their next mushroom crop should be ready in a week or so; if all goes well, they intend to start growing other types of mushrooms and triple production.

As one key to their success, they are planning to emphasize the ultra-fresh and ultra-local provenance of their produce.

“It’s an experiment in urban farming and marketing,” says Brett Wyatt, whose academic work involved looking at sociological issues from a geographic perspective. “Farmers market shoppers are not just buying vegetables, they’re buying an idea, the concept of freshness.”

Not all shoppers are enticed by the urban farm angle, however, as the Wyatts found when they first started selling at a farmers market, in Orange County, earlier this year. Customers ignored them and flocked to competitors who sold larger quantities cheaper.

“That was a nightmare,” Brett Wyatt says. “Nobody really understood what we were doing.”

The Wyatts use no synthetic pesticides, just natural neem oil, and had considered becoming certified organic but found that it was impractical. It would have taken three years and cost $1,200 a year, a large portion of their sales. But the real deal-breaker, Wyatt says, was that he couldn’t find a source for organic sawdust, which would have been required to certify their mushroom as organic.

At one market where they were thinking of selling, they happened to pass a mushroom vendor, peeked in the back of her van and saw boxes that said “product of China.” (I’ve seen the same thing, in non-certified sections of farmers markets.)

“No way would we eat those mushrooms,” says Brett. “But they retail at $4 a pound. How can I compete with that?” (The Wyatts charge $9 a pound for their oyster mushroom.)

At the Playa Vista farmers market, they found shoppers and management to be more receptive to their homegrown, pesticide-free ethos. They are starting to see that with the right combination of crops, markets and marketing, they could expand production and make a living doing what they love, Brett Wyatt says.

To the Wyatts, feeling good about what they’re doing is their main reason for starting an urban farm: “I want to contribute to farmers markets as they should be,” says Brett. “It makes us happy.”

food@latimes.com

Recipes for Mushrooms with Bill & Sheila

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