My ‘Shroom Trip (A Guest Blog by Team Member Douglas Kuhn)

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 I can see for miles and miles, all I see is mushrooms. No, I wasn’t on a psychedelic trip, I was on a Whole Foods Market field trip to Landenburg, Pennsylvania where 50 percent of the mushrooms in the US are grown. The teams at Mother Earth Organic Mushroom farm were gracious enough to give our group a tour of their operations.

After today, I will never take for granted the variety and year round selection of mushrooms. I just didn’t know that raising mushrooms was such a delicate process. The actual growth takes place in covered barns on top of compost beds. The compost is carefully selected, mixed, watered, aerated and kept at constant temperatures for several weeks before the mushroom spores are introduced. When the compost is just right, spores are introduced and the twelve-week growth cycle begins. Being an organic operation, all the stages of production are carefully recorded to keep the organic certification. Even the air circulating in the barns goes through filters to keep out stray fungus and mushroom-eating bacteria. Cleaning of the equipment and barns is done with environmentally friendly cleaner.

The entire farm smelled of potting soil with a little manure thrown in. We saw crimini varieties and white buttons growing. I learned that mushrooms produce heat as they grow and continue to produce heat and grow after they are picked. (Wow…maybe a possible alternative energy source, but let me focus on eating them for now.) It is important to chill them down to stop the growth and keep them fresh. So right to the refrigerator after purchasing, everyone! I never knew that mushrooms are a low calorie source of minerals and B vitamins. We got to taste the white buttons straight from the barn. Definitely the freshest crispest mushroom I ever munched. And, best of all we got to take home lots of free samples.

But what to do with all those white button mushrooms? I really like to oven roast them to concentrate the flavor and give them a beautiful golden color. They keep for at least five days after roasting and can be used in a variety of ways such as in salads, tossed with pasta or added to steamed vegetables.  

To roast: Wipe the mushrooms clean with a paper towel. Toss with enough olive oil to coat, a pinch of sea salt and a grind of pepper. Spread onto a baking dish. Roast in a 475 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring once during cooking. You can tell they are done when they are dry to the touch and golden brown.