Edible Sacramento Fall 2022

Emily, a biology teacher at Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, used her science background to help their fungiculture business grow. “We had six months of setup and building everything,” she says. “On July 4, 2020, our first mush roomswere ready.We set up a roadside stand, advertised on Facebook, and sold out.” Now, Cool Mushroom Farm sells its mushrooms at theHistoric FolsomFarmersMarket, online, and direct ly to restaurants. Inside their garage, an insulated mini room allows the mushrooms to live in year-round comfort: 60 to 75 degrees. “Lower [heat] is better,” Dillon says. “Higher can breed bad bacteria.” Humidity is a concern, too; mushrooms like it moist (85 percent while first growing). A humidifier keeps their room just right. And a timer turns on the lights, 18 hours a day. “Light helps with color; the blue [mushroom color] getsmore blue,” he explains. Because mushrooms are considered a sustainable crop, USDA programs encourage small farmers to grow specialty mushrooms, especially as a secondary crop on tree farms. Specialty mushrooms include more than 1,000 edible species but make up only 1 percent of total sales. Common white (button) and brown (cremini) mushrooms are both the same species.

The Mighty Mushroom Medicinally, researchers have confirmed what Asian tradition has dictated for millennia: Mushrooms are natural pharmaceuticals. Various studies have linked mushrooms to reduced risks of cancer and heart disease, low ered blood sugar, and boosts to immunity and brain health. Mushrooms are the only non-animal source of vitaminD. PackedwithB vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids, mushrooms also can be a better protein source than beans. Of course, they’re delicious, too. Linnane started growingmushrooms as a hobbywhileworking as a hor ticulturist at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. To get more mushroom room, hemoved back home in 2017 and built growsheds onhis father’sNew castle property.While the coast provides an idealmushroomclimate, inland weather ismore challenging. “Hot summer, cold winter … mushrooms like it more temperate,” Lin nane explains. “Sowe created environmentally controlled spaces for them.” The Yialourises launched Cool MushroomFarmat the height of the pan demic in summer 2020. They had lived inNapa, where Dillonworked at a wa ter treatment plant, but he dreamed of being a fungi farmer. After much re search, the couple moved to Cool, where they found “the perfect setup for a mushroomfarm,”Dillon says.

38 FALL 2022

edible Sacramento