It began with a stop at a shop that sprouted into a full-blown hobby.
What was planted five years ago for Adriana Navarro Borrell and husband Chase Morrell has now taken over their southside backyard with a stunning display of mushrooms.
It all got started about five years ago with a trip down east.
鈥淲e went to鈥圡ontreal, the MycoBoutique, a little tiny store in Montreal,鈥� said Adriana. 鈥淭hey had all these amazing cultures and kinds of things. So we got excited and we bought a small kit. We started small with a kit and later on we got going.鈥�
Now, their backyard boasts an impressive array of mushroom varieties
including oyster, shiitake and wine caps, a new addition this year.
Given the biologist background the two boast, their backyard agriculture is in good hands.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a work in progress for us,鈥� said Adriana, who teaches in the Agriculture Sciences program at Lethbridge College while Chase works for the City as a lab technician and an operator at the wastewater treatment plant. 鈥淲hen we bought this house five years ago we wanted a house that had space for a garden and had trees, too. So we ended up with a house with a big backyard. Then we started creating space for our mushroom project and now we鈥檝e created another space for the wine cap mushrooms. But we have flowers and garden space.
鈥淲e are very self-sufficient with the way we produce food. We love producing our food and all of those things. We have the compost area as well and it鈥檚 another full corner we鈥檝e developed to have a big pile of compost every year.鈥�
Chase said when the couple bought their house, there was just a lawn in the backyard.
Quickly, the transformation began.
鈥淥ne year we decided to dig out some of the grass,鈥� said Chase. 鈥淪o we dug out the grass and planted a garden and the next year we decided we needed more space. So we dug out more grass and put in more garden. Then this year we needed more garden. Every year we keep digging out more and more grass. I don鈥檛 know how much longer we鈥檒l have a yard.鈥�
The yard鈥檚 lawn square footage may be dwindling, but the yields off the mushroom logs continue to flourish.
But like conversion of the yard, growing mushrooms can also be a work in progress.
鈥淚t can require a lot of waiting,鈥� said Chase. 鈥淪o our biggest productions are on the logs. You鈥檒l set up logs and then it needs to colonize for about a year and then the next year you鈥檒l have your mushrooms growing from it. So if you made mistakes in the first year, you鈥檒l wait a whole other year to find out it鈥檚 not going to work. I think we鈥檙e about five years in at this point and we鈥檙e starting to get some of our best yields right now.鈥�
Chase said they start their mushrooms in the spring and let them colonize over the summer.
鈥淵ou might get some harvest at the end of summer, but it鈥檚 most likely the next year you鈥檙e going to see your bigger harvest.鈥�
That looked to be the case for Adriana and Chase until just recently when a hearty harvest hit.
鈥淎ll summer and into the fall I鈥檝e been looking at the log and there was just nothing,鈥� said Chase. 鈥淚 started thinking something was wrong. Just last week it started happening. (Last Tuesday), was the first harvest and the first day there was one pound of oyster mushrooms. I think we鈥檒l have another pound and they鈥檙e still coming. I didn鈥檛 think it was going to happen at all. But it鈥檚 probably going to be our best year.鈥�
The wine caps are the newest mushroom addition to Adriana and Chase鈥檚
backyard.
鈥淐oming up soon it should start pruning and if not, then in the spring next year hopefully,鈥� said Chase, adding they bought two new species to work with this winter for next spring.
鈥淚t鈥檚 yellow oyster, which is more of a tropical oyster, and a lion鈥檚 mane. That one has the taste of lobster.鈥�
When the mushrooms are harvested, Adriana and Chase have some tasty
recipes lined up.
鈥淲e鈥檒l chop it up and make a pasta sauce out of the oysters and probably some pizzas,鈥� said Adriana. 鈥淚f they keep coming and we can鈥檛 keep up to the production we鈥檒l start giving them away or drying them.鈥�
One of Adriana's prized recipes is a creamy mushroom pasta recipe.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e so meaty tasting that it鈥檚 like having a really nice seafood pasta. It has that chewy texture of shrimp or calamari.鈥�
The mushroom maintenance doesn鈥檛 end with a fall harvest.
鈥淲e bury them under the snow in the winter,鈥濃�坰aid Adriana. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want them exposed to minus-20 weather. We usually cover them with lots of snow.鈥�
With their backyard garden in full bloom, Adriana and Chase are keeping their options open for the future.
鈥淲e always say about maybe moving on to an acreage and growing crops
and building a greenhouse and growing mushrooms and becoming a small farmer,鈥� said Adriana.
鈥淚f we start mastering all of the growth parameters of all these different species of mushroom we could turn it into something,鈥濃�坅dded Chase. 鈥淏ut right now we just do it for fun and if it turns into something in the future, great. If it doesn鈥檛, we鈥檙e still enjoying ourselves.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an endless cycle of fun for us.鈥�
