Mushrooms

Sporadical City Mushrooms is a small urban mushroom farm which supplies a variety of mushrooms to both local restaurants and to the public through box schemes, farmgate sales and markets. They also sell vegan xo sauce, mushroom confit, cold smoked dried mushroom broth, mushroom kits, certified organic mushroom mulch, straw bales and handcrafted chopping boards. They also give farm tours and run mushroom growing workshops.

A good way to buy their mushrooms is by signing up for their 3 month, 6 month or 9 month supply of mushroom boxes, where you also choose how much you want in each box (pick up weekly or fortnightly from the farm in Alphington). One off purchases also available and welcome. By buying directly from the farmer, you are guaranteeing yourself access to the freshest mushrooms while minimising your ecological food-print and investing in your local economy and food security. This is called Community Supported Agriculture or CSA for short.

Sporadical City Mushrooms aims to be a zero-waste company and chooses to grow their mushrooms in reusable plastic buckets instead of single use plastic bags like most other commercial growers. They believe that cities have a much bigger role to play in feeding themselves and that small scale farming and local food systems are essential for food security & sovereignty, a healthy environment and the future of our community and the planet.

In August 2022, Ann Stanley visited Sporadical City Mushrooms. Read her writeup of the visit.

The video below was produced by www.healthyfreshfoodboxes.com.

Name:

Sugarloaf Produce

Category:

Eltham Farmers’ Market, Mushrooms, Producer – primary, Vegetables

Products:

A wide range of vegetables. Also, swiss brown mushrooms.

Local outlets:

Carlton Farmers' Market

Eltham Farmers' Market

St Andrews General Store and Post Office

Township/suburb:

Strathewen

Municipality:

Nillumbik

Notes (in their own words):

Sugarloaf Produce is a small organic farm located at the base of Mt. Sugarloaf and the Kinglake Ranges. They are the 5th generation to farm this property. Composted organic matter is the key to growing their produce, and all of their compost is made on site using a mixture of farm green waste, cow, sheep and poultry manure, sawdust from their mill and other organic materials. Other biological techniques used on the farm include crop rotation, mixed cropping and mixed stocking. Beneficial compost teas are sprayed on crops regularly, and plentiful habitat is provided for beneficial insects in their vast bushland areas.

Produce includes: beans, beetroot, broad beans, broccoli, capsicum, carrot, cauliflower, chilli, cucumber, eggplant, garlic, globe artichoke, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, onions, potatoes, pumpkin, radish, rhubarb, rocket, silverbeet, spinach, tomatoes and zucchini.

Name:

The Mushroom Co

Category:

Eltham Farmers’ Market, Mushrooms, Producer – primary

Products:

A range of exotic mushrooms and mushroom kits

Local outlets:

Alphington Farmers' Market

Eltham Farmers' Market

Township/suburb:

Ringwood

Municipality:

Maroondah

Notes (in their own words):

The Mushroom Company grows shiitake, shimeji, brown oyster, enoki, king oyster and black fungi mushrooms and sell them at farmers’ markets. In winter, they grow chestnut mushrooms and nameko as well, and they are the only company in Australia to grow nameko. The mushrooms are grown as spawns in test tubes, then transferred to jugs with cooked grains, then transferred to mushroom bags. No chemicals are used. They also sell growing kits if you like to experiment with growing your own. The only thing they spray on their mushrooms is clean water. If you visit them at a farmers’ market, Wendy will introduce all of the mushrooms to you, as well as some recipes for you to enjoy them.

Name:

The Mushroomery

Category:

Mushrooms, Producer – primary

Products:

A range of mushrooms and mushroom kits

Local outlets:

Online

Alphington Farmers' Market

Carlton Farmers' Market

Coburg Farmers' Market

Township/suburb:

Alphington

Municipality:

Darebin

Notes (in their own words):

The Mushroomery is a little urban mushroom farm which offers a variety of mushrooms to both the local community and restaurants, including oysters, lions mane and swordbelts. You can buy the mushrooms either as once-off purchases or via an ongoing subscription/arrangement. They also sell mushroom kits, mushroom pickles, mushroom mulch and mushroom garum. Plus, at markets, mushroom toasties.

They grow their mushroom in reusable buckets, rather than single use plastic bags, thus reducing waste.

As well as selling mushroom, Buttons, who is the owner of The Mushroomery, also wants to spread the knowledge of how mushrooms grow and what benefits they can have for both your and the environment’s health. She feels that those of us in the urban bubble are losing connection and understanding of the food systems that support us. She hopes that her urban farm will be a visible place where people can learn more and that she can contribute to bridging the gap between rural and urban areas.

Name:

Urban Farming Collective

Category:

Mushrooms, Producer – primary

Products:

Mushrooms

Local outlets:

Online

Alphington Farmers' Market

Vegan Market of Melbourne

Township/suburb:

Heidelberg West

Municipality:

Banyule

Notes (in their own words):

The Urban Farming Collective sell mushrooms that they grow in their backyard in their urban farm. The species include Swiss brown, white button and oyster mushrooms. They also sell mushroom kits. They also go foraging for highly prized wild mushrooms like pines and morels.

They happily show people around their urban farm.