Discovering NC Agriculture is a year-long series focusing on twelve N.C. grown, raised, caught, and made commodities. Tune in each month to see how an N.C. commodity is grown, harvested, packed for consumer use and more. Learn nutritional value, find fun recipes to try, hear from local chefs who use that product, and other unique commodity facts throughout the series. We look forward to helping you better understand some of our N.C. commodities and how they impact your everyday lives!
Mushrooms are an interesting and diverse crop farmed and foraged across North Carolina. Laura and Ches Stewart, owners of Haw River Mushrooms in Saxapahaw, surprised themselves when they fell in love with mushroom farming in 2013. Since then, they have been on a business journey to grow a variety of mushrooms, as well as create delicious value-added products with them.
As a young adult, Ches was involved in agriculture and developed a passion to operate his own farm. “Originally, he wanted to focus on regenerative agriculture with livestock,” Laura said. “However, after researching the market and taking a Mushroom Growing class, we both decided to explore a product many farmers hadn’t at that time.” As first-generation farmers, Laura and Ches not only took a leap of faith by purchasing farmland in Graham, but also by diving into a crop that takes lots of time, attention and labor. “A lot of people don’t understand how much labor goes into mushroom farming,” Laura said. “We grow 14 varieties of mushrooms throughout the year, which means we are working every day, 365 days a year. While mushrooms are fast growers, they are labor intensive and you have to be on top of all stages in the growing process, a bottle neck in one can lead to a crop shortage in the weeks ahead.” From Italian Oyster, Blue Oyster and Shitake to Pink Oyster and Lions Mane, Laura and Ches work hard to bring a variety of mushrooms to the market, as well as educate people on how to use them.
When grown in the wild, mushrooms take root and flourish in hard wood, such as trees and fallen limbs. At Haw River Mushroom, Laura and Ches emulate that characteristic on their farm by using fresh sawdust from local mills. “All of our mushroom varieties are placed in a mixture of 50% sawdust, 50% soybean hull, and 6% water to grow inside bags,” Laura said. “We heat the mixture to 195 degrees Fahrenheit to sterilize it before moving the bags to our lab where they will be placed into cultures in the form of grain spawn and given time to colonize.” The time it takes for mushrooms to colonize is highly dependent on the variety but typically averages anywhere from two to eight weeks. “Once our mushrooms are colonized, we take them to our grow rooms and break open each bag. This is that mushrooms first burst of oxygen,” Laura said. “Typically, in nature, this process is done by a woodpecker or some other circumstance that breaks open the wood.” Once oxygen is taken in by the mushroom, the growth process begins, and mushrooms start to flourish. “Mushrooms are really like apples on an apple tree,” Laura said. “They are the fruit that allows reproduction to continue.”
Throughout the year, fourteen varieties of mushrooms are grown at Haw River. Some of their most popular varieties, like oyster and lion’s mane, are grown year-round, while others, like the pink oyster, are seasonal. “We grow mushrooms all year long, but some are only available during specific times of the year,” Laura said. “Another factor we must consider is the cultivation time for different varieties. For example, the Cinnamon Cap and Reishi varieties are grown year-round, but since they take four times as long as the Oyster varieties to cultivate, they aren’t always as readily available.” Although she loves the flavor profiles of all mushroom varieties grown on the farm, Laura’s favorites are the oyster mushrooms because they are easy and versatile.
When harvest time approaches at Haw River Mushroom, Laura and Ches look at the mushroom caps to ensure they are ready for harvest. “A mushroom that’s ready to be harvested will have a slightly curvy cap, but won’t be reverse umbrella,” Laura said. Harvested mushrooms are then stored in a 35-degree Fahrenheit cooler until used. “The biggest factor to remember with mushrooms is that they have a very short shelf life, so they have to be used quickly,” Laura said. “Typically mushrooms are in peak condition for just 5-7 days once harvested, unless used in a value-added product.” In addition to their raw mushrooms, Haw River also sells several products that incorporate their mushrooms, including mushroom coffee, umami salt and an award winning mushroom jerky.
All products from Haw River Mushrooms can be purchased at the Durham Farmers’ Market, the Carrboro Farmers’ Market, the Chapel Hill Farmers’ Market, the Eno River Farmers Market, all four Weaver Street Market locations, The Eddy Pub, the Saxapahaw General Store, Swamp Rabbit Cafe and Grocery, and on their website. In fact, Haw River Mushrooms currently ships their products nationwide! If you’re interested in visiting the farm, check their website and social media pages for upcoming farm tours and log inoculation classes. Whether you visit in person, meet them at a farmers’ market, or order their products online, we promise they will make you fall in love with N.C. Mushrooms!
