As a farmer’s market vendor AND mother of two adventurous girls, I have long encouraged my daughters to shop with fellow vendors. In between customers, we often plan our dinners for the week and include the freshest produce from our favorite farmers.
Harper, my eldest daughter, quickly became a huge fan of Fruit of the Fungi, grower and purveyor of fresh and dried mushrooms. She would always advocate for a mushroom-centric meal (mushroom risotto is a family favorite, as is beef bourguignon) and happily slip over to their booth at either the Clinton Farmer’s Market during the summer or the Oneida County Public Winter Market.
Left entirely to her own devices, she would return with the most amazing-looking specimens: furry Lion’s Mane, commanding King Trumpet, sturdy Shiitake, adorable Piopinno and Brown Beech, or mysterious Oyster and Maitake. Who knew there were so many types of mushrooms? I was only familiar with your typical grocery store selections—white and brown. We were in for a real treat!
Fruit of the Fungi, based in Lebanon, New York, is run by KC and Kristi Mangine. KC’s parents, Ken and Bev, set up at local markets and distribute throughout the greater Utica area. KC and Kristi can be found at the Syracuse Regional Market year-round and often partner with local CSA programs to provide mushrooms. All of their dried products are available at nymushrooms.com.
I had the pleasure recently of asking KC about his family’s path toward mushroom farming, and where they might see themselves going in the next few years. An excerpt:
“We moved to Central New York in 2005, hoping to do some sort of pasture-based farming. Although we first tried beef, chickens, and pigs, we quickly learned livestock farming wasn’t for us.
“I had worked at Bloodnick Family Farm near Binghamton in 1999. They had shiitake mushroom logs and would always sell out at the Vestal Farmer’s Market. People would come before they had even set up to buy whatever they had. That planted the seed.
“When we moved here, we inoculated 300 logs, although only about 100 were successful. By 2008, we were selling shiitakes at the Hamilton Farmer’s Market. Once we had cracked the code, we just keep inoculating and growing our number of logs.
“Eventually, we wanted to grow other varieties and larger quantities, so we moved to indoor cultivation in 2015. Things went from seasonal to full-time. The volume, quality, and consistency all increased when we moved things inside. There wasn’t a blueprint for a mushroom farm then or now, really. We attended a few seminars in Washington State and designed the farm based on what we learned there. In 2020, we built a second building and were able to incorporate a lot of things we learned along the way.
“I really love being a direct-to-consumer operation. We love being a small part of our customer’s lives just as much as we enjoy growing mushrooms. As we see more people diving into mushrooms for health reasons, it is becoming clear that that may be where the future of our farm lies: Getting both fresh and dried mushroom products into customer’s diets.”
Thanks to my adventurous daughters and our friends at Fruit of the Fungi, I now know how good mushrooms can be—and happily pass by those white and brown orbs at the grocery store!