Due to modern eating trends and the increasing demand for exotic mushrooms, Lowerfields Farm has created controlled growing rooms specifically designed to provide optimum growing conditions for a wide variety of exotic mushrooms.
Classed as wood destroying fungi, exotic mushrooms are set apart from types such as the button mushroom that grow naturally on the ground. Tim and Simon recreate small tree stumps or logs, distribute spores across them and allow them to germinate. Once the time is right, the growing room conditions are altered to suit the needs of the particular variety. The brothers are proud that they do not use any chemicals, pesticides or fertilisers anywhere in the growing process. The mushrooms also receive 24-hour monitoring and surveillance during the growing process ensuring attention is paid to hygiene, temperature, humidity, light and ventilation.
The growing rooms evoke feelings of entering a surreal subterranean world, as the elaborate shapes of the mushroom varieties emerge in the dark. Each variety favours particular conditions, with some mushrooms enjoying temperatures below a cool 4°C, while others thrive in the warmth of 20°C. The length of the growing process differs too, ranging from 20 days to 6 months.
Grey and yellow oyster mushrooms, Enoki and Shi-take are all grown at the farm. These varieties were previously only grown abroad and so it could be said that the company is helping to reduce the carbon footprint associated with this type of farming. Picking takes place daily, by hand, throughout the year. In the packhouse, mushrooms are graded prior to being chilled and delivered to Pauleys.
Knowing when a mushroom is ready requires specialist expertise; all the pickers are fully trained to gain a thorough understanding of the species. A keen interest in the environment too means the company has established a policy of encouraging wildlife to be present on the land, with an emphasis on increasing the number of ground-nesting birds. Owl boxes have been introduced at various locations to persuade owls to adopt the farm as their home.
We asked Tim Livesey how he prefers to eat his mushrooms: “People always ask if I eat mushrooms and the truth is that I eat them every day, but nobody believes me! Because we have such a range of mushrooms to choose from I can never get bored with them.
In the summer I eat a lot of Enoki mushrooms, they’re simply fantastic sprinkled onto a salad or in sandwiches. In the winter they’re perfect in casseroles and soups. They are so easy to cook that it is almost impossible to ruin a good mushroom through overcooking.”
To achieve the best quality and availability of produce, we may sometimes need to source produce from growers other than those mentioned. In the event of British produce not being available or not meeting the required specification, we will source from an alternative origin to match our high quality standards.
To achieve the best quality and availability of produce, we may sometimes need to source produce from growers other than those mentioned. In the event of British produce not being available or not meeting the required specification, we will source from an alternative origin to match our high quality standards.
