Mushrooms are a thing. Not only for the crazy fact that they hold the earth together as shown in the documentary, Fantastic Fungi, but for eating too. They can heal you and feed you. Here we talk to farmers cultivating them and why. While each farm has its unique story and its individual style of growing mushrooms, all share a common ethos: produce healthy, sustainable food at the intersection of good ecology and good eating.
David Speegle loves when he gets a call about how to cook mushrooms. As the mushroom grower (and chef) for Cheekee Greens, a mushroom farm, his number is actually on the label of the mushroom package you can buy in Whole Foods, as well as other local markets, including Produce Place, Herban Market and Demeters Common. You see, David is passionate about not only mushrooms, but getting people to eat local, farm raised food. And he thinks the best way to cook that food is to ask the farmer who grows it. Hence why his name is on the package. “So, they call me. I say let’s get to know [the mushrooms]; cook them altogether simply with salt and pepper and taste the difference. My favorite way is to make a fall mushroom compote which is onions, apples, garlic, and mushrooms cooked down to a yummy, caramelized mixture that you can serve with anything — on pizza, with steak, or in a pot pie or omelet.”