The Forest People
Mushroom Farming for the Future
by Torrey Douglass
Small spaces can produce big results. Just ask Lama, Matthew, and Leela, the family behind The Forest People, who grow oyster mushrooms in two repurposed shipping containers alongside their home in the redwood-forested hills of Anderson Valley. The Forest People’s guiding aspiration entails growing a high volume of nutrient-dense food requiring minimal space and inputs. Those two containers, a combined total of 700 square feet, have the capacity to produce up to 4,000 pounds of oyster mushrooms per year—a powerhouse food operation with a tiny footprint.
Lama and Matthew originally met while living in Idaho, where they connected through their shared interest in regenerative agriculture (an approach to growing food that leaves the soil healthier rather than depleted). They began to dream about ways to build a small urban homestead and started experimenting with mushroom production. Soon after building their first mushroom house, a wholesale buyer offered to purchase the entire crop, providing an early and heartening dose of encouragement while also illuminating the impressive potential of a successful mushroom operation.
After marrying, Lama and Matthew decided to relocate to Northern California. Not only did Lama have family living in and around the Bay Area, but the two wanted to pursue a land-based lifestyle in a progressive community where they could raise their daughter. They ended up at Frogwood—in times past both a restaurant and resort, but now a neighborhood of sorts tucked in the redwoods outside of Boonville—and began growing mushrooms in earnest in 2018.
Matthew’s interest in mycology stemmed from mushroom forays along the Boise River and in the foothills with his uncle and brother. Lama’s interest was sparked after reading Paul Stamets’ book Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World, published in 2005 by Berkeley’s Ten Speed Press. She reflects, “I realized immediately I had to become an ally to the mushrooms because of their role in the ecosystem. Mushrooms act as a communication network, as healers, as decomposers. They move nutrients through the forest and are great recyclers.” On a more basic level, they help keep her daughter fed—one of Leela’s favorite snacks is oyster mushrooms fried in butter until crispy and served with a touch of salt.
The “pros” of growing oyster mushrooms are numerous. They grow on materials—sometimes byproducts that would otherwise be wasted—produced by the agricultural and food industries: straw, coffee grounds, beer mash, paper products, and grasses as varied as rice, bamboo, rye, wheat, and corn. Compared to other food crops, they require considerably less water and space. They are not vulnerable to pests that plague other mushroom species and are rich in protein, B-vitamins, and lovastatin—a molecule known for reducing cholesterol. Some studies have even indicated oyster mushrooms might possess cancer-fighting properties (see Paul Stamets’ article “The Mighty Oyster Mushroom” for more on that topic on the HuffPost website).
The “cons” they’ve encountered deal more with running a business than with the oyster mushrooms specifically. “We are food producers at heart and want to provide for the community,” Lama considers. “It’s challenging to try to have a business-minded outlook, but it’s something we need to do in order to keep going.”
It’s a challenge Lama faced head-on when she applied for the 2019 Startup Mendo competition, created by West Business Development Center (also known as West Center). The organization offers free business consulting to local entrepreneurs—if you have a business idea, they can help you think through if it’s viable and, if it is, help you put together a plan to make it happen. The 2019 competition finalists included five businesses whose owners participated in a series of West Center workshops covering topics like marketing, accounting, social media strategies, and writing a business plan.
The business concept that earned Lama her place in the competition? Mushroom jerky! Oyster mushrooms only last about a week once harvested. The Forest People have been successful selling their delectable goods through farmers markets, wholesale accounts, and the Mendo Lake Food Hub, as well as to favorite local eateries like The Bewildered Pig, Oco Time, Harbor House Inn, and Cultivo. Yet sometimes there are more mushrooms than they can sell, and turning those leftovers into mushroom jerky is yet another way to transform something that would otherwise be wasted into a desirable delicacy.
The jerky allows The Forest People to utilize their entire crop by creating a shelf-stable, ready-to-eat snack. It’s also vegan, and while only 3% of Americans overall identify as vegans, the rate grows to 12% for the much-coveted millennial demographic. The recognition that a plant-based diet is best for our health and the planet has inspired interest in veganism, spiking the market potential for snacks like mushroom jerky in the process. Lama explained this potential during her presentation for the Startup Mendo judges at the final stage of the competition, where she also laid out her strategy for product development and deployment. Thanks to her hard work and preparation, the judges awarded her first place and the $10,000 prize, providing much needed capital for bringing their mushroom jerky to market.
It’s fitting that this new endeavor for The Forest People is funded (at least partially) through winnings from a community business competition sponsored by local businesses—so much of what they do is rooted in a love for community. The organic straw used to grow their mushrooms is sourced locally when possible, with the current batch of rye straw purchased from the Mendocino Grain Project. Lama volunteers with the Not-So-Simple-Living Fair, a homesteading and agricultural skills event organized by the Anderson Valley Foodshed each summer. She also manages the Boonville Farmers’ Market Friday evenings from May through October—a generous commitment of time and energy that helps Mendocino County farmers and food producers connect with their customers.
Lama, Matthew, and Leela hope to ultimately create and sustain a closed-loop system for growing food that is both regenerative and waste-free. As such, they are enthusiastic proponents of the Johnson-Su Bio-reactor method of compost creation, using the post-mushroom-production straw to create “high quality fungal-dominant compost.” The resulting material is high in microbial diversity, increases the soil’s water retention and carbon sequestration, and improves seed germination, growth rates, and crop yield.
Essentially it’s double espresso for your crops. This magic mixture is applied to their large subsistence garden, where Matthew and Lama grow veggies and other food for themselves, constantly refining their techniques while learning and applying new strategies. Like soil regeneration, building expertise to realize their goals is a long-term endeavor that requires patience and consistent effort, but can eventually yield astounding results.
Mushrooms are the current focus of The Forest People, but don’t expect them to stop there. The lessons they learn now will inform more ambitious projects down the road, delving deeper into the many ways food production can stop harming the planet and instead play a role in its healing.
Find The Forest People at the Fort Bragg, Ukiah, and Boonville farmers markets. ForestPeopleMushrooms.com.
Torrey Douglass is a web and graphic designer living in Boonville with her husband, two children, and a constantly revolving population of pets and farm animals.
