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eric_the_red
Registered: 02/28/03
Posts: 14,453
Loc: happy land
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down here on the farm.
#2917242 - 07/22/04 06:40 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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i completely forgot about updating this thread. i just updated a few things and i'll try to take more pictures and finish it off soon.
the farm has been up and running for a couple months now. it was pretty much left for dead when it was closed down years ago, so a lot of things don't work. luckily, a mushroom farmer bought it and now we are fixing and/or rigging things when time and money allow.
the main ingredients for composting: organically grown straw and turkey manure.
cottonseed meal is added for its carbohydrate and linoleic acid content. gypsum is also added. we have found that not all gypsum is equal. our supplier switched products on us and the yields went to shit. the good gypsum was whitish (not gray) and was powdered. hmm...i can't remember at the moment what else was added.
trays: 2'x6', made of pine. we made the first few from oak and they are extremely heavy. after having to lift them, it was decided that pine is better. we don't want to have to use many chemicals on the farm, so we don't use any fungicides on the trays. we scrape them, then pressure wash them. after that, we spray a weak bleach/water mix on them and set them in the sun for about a week and let the uv rays kill everything on them.
spawning: spawning is done in the open air. i add 9 handfuls of spawn to each tray. 9 of my handfuls is equal to 9 cans of catfood or canned tuna. first, i spray the tray with water, because they come out of phase II composting a little dried out. then, i sprinkle 4 handfuls across the top of each tray. after that, i turn the compost with a pitchfork and add 3 handfuls of spawn to the top. after mixing that in, i sprinkle two handfuls across the top of the tray. the trays are lightly misted, then covered with plastic sheets and taken to the grow rooms.
casing: after the spawn has colonized the compost, the trays are cased. the casing is screened peat moss, with gypsum added. we try to keep the casing layer around 1.5 inches deep.
one of the phase II composting rooms: concrete walls and ceilings. runs on a timer. can either recirculate air or bring in fresh air. air is heated by a ghetto-rigged water heater.
grow room hallway & rooms: the original liquid heating/cooling system is busted, due to water being left in the pipes after the farm was shut down years ago. we are going to take all the water lines down from the ceiling sooner or later.
the fans on the cooling units still work, so we have a 2 ton ac unit pumping cold air into the hall and use plastic ducts and fans to circulate the cold air into the grow rooms. the grow room walls/ceilings look pretty much like storage buildings. they are insulated by two layers of (i think) r-14 or r-19 insulation (the pink stuff). sheets of plastic keep the insulation dry and the metal siding covers the plastic.
mushrooms:
we sell portabella and white button kits. we kept this one at the farm to see how many pounds the kits were putting out. i don't remember what we picked off of this one, but it was a pretty good yield.
white button mushrooms can get very big if you let them.
crimini mushrooms (baby portabellas)
Edited by eric_the_red (04/06/05 12:48 AM)
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Psilygirl
cyan goddess
Registered: 08/28/03
Posts: 4,418
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 7 years, 4 months
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awesome!!
keep the pics coming!!
-------------------- "Love says 'I am everything.' Wisdom says 'I am nothing.' Between the two, my life flows." Puget Sound Mycological Society
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phobey
watcher
Registered: 03/20/03
Posts: 299
Loc: home
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neato cool job you have.
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billbraski
just some dood.
Registered: 12/16/02
Posts: 238
Loc: the woods behind your hou...
Last seen: 18 years, 2 months
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thanks for sharing. ditto on the cool job.
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charvo
JOURNEYMAN
Registered: 03/09/03
Posts: 654
Loc: In The Hand Of The World
Last seen: 9 years, 10 months
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nice, what kind of lab or clean room space have you got? i see alot of doors in that one pic.looks like a decent set up you got there. what kind of farm was it before you started working on it.
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eric_the_red
Registered: 02/28/03
Posts: 14,453
Loc: happy land
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Re: down here on the farm. [Re: charvo]
#2928007 - 07/26/04 06:59 AM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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right now it has no lab at all. we are buying spawn from sylvan. it saves a lot of time, but seems like a waste of money to me. there is a space for a lab upstairs. whenever i get time this week this week, i'm going to drive to a semi-nearby mushroom farm that just closed down and (hopefully) buy up all their lab equipment.
the farm was originally built to grow mushrooms, so it is a nice layout.
-------------------- Anno cock? is that some kind of Greek liqueur? -Geo's All Knowing Sex Slave
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GGreatOne234
Stranger
Registered: 12/23/99
Posts: 8,946
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ATWAR
Connoisseur
Registered: 01/26/03
Posts: 1,640
Loc: #108768 in line...
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I love it. Simple yet obviously very effective. Have you (the company) ever considered producing fresh mushrooms or expanding to include other species?
-------------------- To give is to live...
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eric_the_red
Registered: 02/28/03
Posts: 14,453
Loc: happy land
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Re: down here on the farm. [Re: ATWAR]
#2934551 - 07/27/04 10:05 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
ATWAR said: Have you (the company) ever considered producing fresh mushrooms
what do you mean? our mushrooms are the freshest around here. we are the only farm within at least 200 miles (most likely many, many more) that makes it possible for a consumer to buy mushrooms at a grocery store less than 3 hours from the time that they were picked.
we should be adding shitake to the line-up at the farm soon. i am slowly building up to a medium sized grow op at home. this will be to grow oysters, maitake, reishi, and lion's mane for my own use and to sell at the farmer's market sooner or later. this will be completely separate from the farm though.
-------------------- Anno cock? is that some kind of Greek liqueur? -Geo's All Knowing Sex Slave
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ATWAR
Connoisseur
Registered: 01/26/03
Posts: 1,640
Loc: #108768 in line...
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Ah, that was an oversight on my part, I assumed you sold the kits only. I didn't really pay attention enough to notice your also growing mushrooms in those pictures. Honestly I dont know how that got in there... The "we sell mushroom kits" part just stuck... If you expand to include shitake, I am sure plenty would find that info interesting as well (hint hint)...
Do you use any method for humidification?
-------------------- To give is to live...
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shirley knott
not my real name
Registered: 11/11/02
Posts: 9,105
Loc: London
Last seen: 7 years, 2 months
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Quote:
GGreatOne234 said: MORE!!!!!!
-------------------- buh
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bluelou
NUTCASEdrugbucket!
Registered: 05/11/02
Posts: 1,086
Loc: $hroom Central
Last seen: 6 years, 6 months
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FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BUTTONS!!
Well it seems like fore ever for someone to come up with BUTTON KITS!~!!!! PLEASE tell us a little about how they grow, i have done shittake they SUCK? LOVE MUSHROOMS that actually taste good, when do you start selling KITS?
-------------------- Have you tried my(black kow) pile style tek outdoors!!!!!!!!
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eric_the_red
Registered: 02/28/03
Posts: 14,453
Loc: happy land
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Re: down here on the farm. [Re: bluelou]
#2941587 - 07/29/04 05:14 PM (19 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
ATWAR said: Do you use any method for humidification?
the farm was designed quite well, so we don't have to work too hard to keep the humidity up. all we do is water the beds and the rooms hold in the humidity.
Quote:
bluelou said: PLEASE tell us a little about how they grow....
i will go over everything once i get pics of the whole process posted.
Quote:
when do you start selling KITS?
we've been selling them for a month or so.
-------------------- Anno cock? is that some kind of Greek liqueur? -Geo's All Knowing Sex Slave
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Fucknuckle
Dog Lover
Registered: 04/24/04
Posts: 6,762
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Wow very inspiring indeed!! You know, we have a couple of pole barns on the property that could be set up the same way or close to it. Hummmmm.................................... and lots of very high end resturants nearby hummmmmm............
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bluelou
NUTCASEdrugbucket!
Registered: 05/11/02
Posts: 1,086
Loc: $hroom Central
Last seen: 6 years, 6 months
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Thanx new friend an Shroomerite!
Can ya provide a link so we can order?can they grow in high heat 85 to 95? Seen on TV there is a shroom farm in miami but still need to learn alot?
-------------------- Have you tried my(black kow) pile style tek outdoors!!!!!!!!
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eric_the_red
Registered: 02/28/03
Posts: 14,453
Loc: happy land
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Re: down here on the farm. [Re: bluelou]
#2970152 - 08/05/04 09:57 PM (19 years, 7 months ago) |
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no link....our site went down for some reason. it went down before i even got a chance to see it.
we can't ship any kits. it's too hot right now and i'm not sure we'll be shipping them later anyway. we have just been selling them locals or those who want to pick them up locally. if you really, really want one though, pm me sometime near the end of the summer/beginning of fall when it starts to cool off and maybe we can work something out.
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Phishgrrl
Walking in thetall trees...
Registered: 05/03/04
Posts: 5,079
Last seen: 18 years, 9 months
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wow, I hadn't seen this thread before- that is an awesome farm. Great work.
-------------------- Once in awhile you can get shown the light In the strangest of places if you look at it right...
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bluelou
NUTCASEdrugbucket!
Registered: 05/11/02
Posts: 1,086
Loc: $hroom Central
Last seen: 6 years, 6 months
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Re: down here on the farm. [Re: Phishgrrl]
#2978966 - 08/08/04 05:44 PM (19 years, 7 months ago) |
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Thanx!
Just read another link someone had here telling all about them, cool temps for shure! well ill see about ordering later from that cool link provided peace!!
-------------------- Have you tried my(black kow) pile style tek outdoors!!!!!!!!
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mattymonkey
Feel Like aStranger...
Registered: 11/07/04
Posts: 973
Last seen: 11 years, 2 months
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Re: down here on the farm. [Re: bluelou]
#4020575 - 04/06/05 06:55 AM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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is this "the farm" down in tennessee?
i thought the common portabello and button mushrooms were carcinogenic in large amounts.. i guess their affect is negligable but why focus on these? consumer demand? its amazing that there is no farm within 200miles growing these though.. so popular and all..
thanks for spreadin the mushroom vibe to the masses!
-------------------- "listening for the secret.. searching for the sound.."
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Eightball
whore consumer
Registered: 07/21/01
Posts: 3,013
Last seen: 9 years, 8 months
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Re: down here on the farm. [Re: eric_the_red]
#4022082 - 04/06/05 03:17 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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freakin amazing. Curious as to how business is going for you and what expansions if any you've done to your mushroom selection. I have a very motivated business partner and we're basically going to get like 1300 sq ft expandable to 2600 sq ft of warehouse space and do oysters at the start and build a customer base. This will quite likely be in south florida (not miami though) because theres just sooo many high end restraunts and my friend went to cullenary school with loads of their chefs. Got any tips?
-------------------- If you're frightened of dying and you're holding on.you'll see devils tearing your life away. But...if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels Freeing you from the earth.
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