While the Central Valley's relatively dry climate is not as ideal for fungal growth as the wetter Bay, a bumper crop of mushrooms is appearing on farmers' market and restaurant tables around the region. Local growers like Foggy Dew Fungi in Auburn supply chefs and enthusiasts with edible varieties like meaty oyster mushrooms and fluffy lion's mane as well as varieties that are gaining popularity for their purported medicinal benefits, such as reishi.
"In the early days, we couldn't sell lion's mane if we tried; now we can't keep up with demand," says Foggy Dew co-owner Brendan Linnane. Originally based in Newcastle, Placer County, Foggy Dew rode that success to open a new, larger facility in Auburn.
From talking to people at the farmer's market, Linnane found that people were interested in low tech ways to learn about and grow their own oyster mushrooms. Foggy Dew branched out to sell grow kits — mushroom blocks made out of natural sawdust, wheat bran and beet pulp to supply the nutrients required to fruit fresh mushrooms.
Tight margins make it more difficult to sell directly to restaurants, Linnane says. But he does supply a few, such as Pizzeria Luba and Restaurant Josephine in Auburn and The Chef's Table in Rocklin.
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