If you have figured out how to arrange each component on the farm, you know roughly the size of the farm as well. More importantly, you know how much space you must keep free for later expansion. For example, if you do not need a mixing and sterilization area, you just leave these two places empty.
Mushroom Farm Design | A step-by-step guide
In this article, I will talk about various aspects about how to design a mushroom farm which I learned through studying not only books but also visiting different mushrooms farms and working there. Over the next paragraphs, I will guide you through the following steps.
- Ready-to-Grow/Fruit
- Own Spawn production
- Own culture bank
- Criteria for site selection
- Design process
- Design principles
- Components of a mushroom farm
- how much space you need for which part of your farm
- phasing and construction management
- boundary treatments
- building for life
- General layout
- Design principles
- Regulations
While each step can quickly fill a book, I will give you here a condensed version of these points and refer to them if needed.
Step 1 Phases of a mushroom company
Before thinking about design, we should think about how to start one. What do I mean by that? While growing mushrooms contain several steps to do so, you do not need all steps to have on your farm if you start from scratch. For me, there are a total of three phases in which the growth of a mushroom farm can be divided.
Phase 1 The Ready-to-Grow/Fruit
Here you buy a ready-to-grow/fruit bag (RTG), which you then put into a growing tent (Figure 1). A RTG is an inoculated and already fully colonized block of substrate (e.g., wood).
The advantages of this phase are that you “only” have to take care of the cultivation parameters and the selling part. The disadvantages are that you “only” have access to certain types of mushrooms, and your margin is lower.
Figure 1: Phase 1 – ready-to-grow bag => tent => fruiting
Phase 2 Producing your own spawn
After you learn everything about producing and selling your mushrooms, it is now time to think about producing your own spawn (video 1). This step can set your farm at great risk if you rush to fast into it. Especially if your current customers. But done properly, you can provide them with more options and better service.
Figure 2: Spawn bag (substrate wheat)
Depending on the size of the spawn bag and the inoculation rate, each spawn bag can be used to inoculate up to 20 RTG bags. Which means the cost per spawn bag can be divided by 20.
In addition to that, there are many more mushroom species available for you to grow than you can get as RTG.
The risk lies in the process itself which I described more in detail in my articles
Phase 3 Producing your own cultures
After you mastered the art of spawn production, the logical step is that you start producing your own cultures. If you should go this road is up to you, but this path allows you to go after local mushroom species which helps you to position yourself better in the market.
Figure 3: mushroom culture (substrate agar-agar)
- How much money do you want to make?
- How big should the company become?
- How big have the company to become?
The importance of these questions stems from the fact that depending on how you answer these three questions, they will determine the size of the property; you need to rent or buy! Simple like that. The implications are not!
- Do you want to earn U$ 100,000 or U$ 250,000 per year?
- Do you want to produce 1,000 lb or 2,500 lb per month?
- Do you want to work on your own or are you thinking about having employees down the road?
And finally, we must distinguish between your companies Profit & Loss statement and your private Profit & Loss statement. Both will impact each other. If you spent too much as an individual person and your business is the only income source, it must generate way more. On the other hand, if you spent too much in your business, there might be less to take out.
If you want to read more about this topic, I wrote an article with the title “ How to Interpret your Profit/Loss Statement ” about that.
Step 2 Site Selection
In this step, I will talk about factors which you should have to keep in mind while searching for the perfect spot.
1. Criteria for site selection
Physical context
The physical context of the site describes the geographic locale of your mushroom farm. Which means it’s about the landscape it is located in, nearby cities and High Roads and rivers/forests.
This information can be put later on your website under the about section.
But more importantly, it makes sure that your farm is easily accessible for your customers (if wanted), your employees (if desired) and especially for you and your suppliers (e.g., RTG, Spawn or substrate).
Historical context
To go even deeper into this topic, you can add any historical information you can find about this location. But this is not only interesting only for your website. Depending on where you want to locate your mushroom farm, you should know as much as possible about the past of the land.
A bad reputation of the location (e.g., because of chemical usage) can harm your business. This means the site should be away from industrial pollutants like chemical fumes, coal exhaust, and other such pesticides/chemical pollutants that cause harm to mushroom production.
Landscape visual impact assessment
This topic can play an important role when it comes to the fact that you want to have visitors on your farm or the opposite, which means you do not wish to have frequent visitors.
The visual impact assessment looks from outside of your farm towards it and describes the visible changes throughout the year. This helps to figure out which part of the farm is more prone to the public than others.
Surrounding character analysis
While doing your research about the visual impact of the season on your surroundings in this section, you summarize what types of trees, bushes, etc. are growing around your farm.
You analyze what type of buildings are around your farm.
In doing so, you can better blend in your mushroom farm or stand more out.
Topography and Drainage
These two factors are critical to your farm. You already write down parameters about the location. But you should also note the climate the site is in, the altitude above sea level and if there are free-draining sands or gravels below the farm. You also need to know how flat the area is.
Supply
When looking for a site, you should make sure that you have easy access to plenty of water at the site, as the mushroom is 90% of water.
The site should not only be easily accessible for your suppliers, but it should be located as close as possible to you. This helps to keep the (travel) costs down.
On the other hand, how easy is it for you to find labor at lower costs?
The availability of electricity at competitive prices, as power consumption is tremendous in mushroom cultivation.
At the site, it should be possible to install an area in which you can dump your waste.
2. Design process
The design process is rather simple and follows a 3-step approach.
First, you just sketch the rough layout of your farm. At this point, you just put each component on the map. In the 2nd stage, you go more in the details and putting in all measures you have. Like for e.g., the sizes of the components. In the final stage, you will insert water and green areas as well as roads.
You may be talking during this stage with your local government about your plans. This makes sure that (almost) nothing will stop your business to grow or even start with.
Do not think of these peoples as “bad” people. They do just their jobs. Your job is to make their jobs easier. In doing so, they are more likely to turn the favor around (social equity).
3. Design principles
- Function and Quality
- Quality of the public realm
- Accessibility
- Response to context
- Safe and accessible environments
How to Grow Mushrooms
This article was co-authored by Andrew Carberry, MPH. Andrew Carberry is a Food Systems Expert and the Senior Program Associate at the Wallace Centere at Winrock International in Little Rock, Arkansas. He has worked in food systems since 2008 and has experience working on farm-to-school projects, food safety programs, and working with local and state coalitions in Arkansas. He is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and holds a Masters degree in public health and nutrition from the University of Tennessee.
There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.
This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.
This article has been viewed 453,375 times.
Mushrooms grow quickly compared to most fruits and vegetables, and don’t take up precious space in your garden. Most hobbyists start out with oyster mushrooms, the easiest type to grow, but once you learn the tools of the trade you can try your hand at dozens of species.
Steps
Part 1
Part 1 of 2:
Growing Your First Mushrooms
Purchase oyster mushroom spawn. Oyster mushrooms are the easiest to grow, and a great choice for novices. To get started, buy them online, in a home gardening store, or in a homebrew supply store in the form of “spawn”: spores or root-like mycelium stored in sawdust, grain, or agar. You can buy the spawn alone or as part of a complete oyster mushroom kit. [1] X Research source Any oyster mushroom variety will work, but blue grey oysters and pink oysters are especially easy and quick to grow. [2] X Trustworthy Source EDIS Electronic database of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’s peer-reviewed articles Go to source
Growing outdoors? “Plug spawn” is a slow but even easier alternative. Just drill holes in the side of a newly fallen hardwood log (avoid “softwood” or pine because they will inhibit the growth of fungus), insert the plugs, and wait for damp weather. [3] X Research source
Make a pasteurized substrate. If your kit came with a large bag of straw, that’s a ready-to-go substrate, or material that provides nutrients and a place to grow. If you only have a small container of mushroom spawn, you’ll need to make your own substrate, and heat it so only beneficial microbes can grow. Here are two ways to make a substrate:
Cardboard: [4] X Trustworthy Source EDIS Electronic database of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’s peer-reviewed articles Go to source
Best for spawn in sawdust [5] X Research source
1. Cut corrugated cardboard into pieces of equal size, a few inches square.
2. Put the cardboard in a bucket and weigh it down with a heavy object.
3. Add boiling water to submerge the cardboard.
4. Cover with lid and let cool for eight hours.
5. Wash hands with antibacterial soap.
6. Squeeze out as much water as you can.
Straw: [6] X Research source
Best for spawn in grain [7] X Research source
1. Choose a cereal straw such as wheat or rye.
2. Cut into 3–4 inch lengths (7.5–10cm) using a shredder or a weed whacker in a garbage can.
3. Tie in a pillowcase or nylon mesh laundry bag.
Submerge in pot of water on stovetop.
4. Heat at 160–170ºF (70–75ºC) for one hour.
5. Drain well and let cool to below 80ºF (27ºC). [8] X Research source
