Starting mushroom cultivation in South of France looking for answers to some ?s

Hi all,

I moved to the South of France to start a small permaculture farm. I currently am focusing on mushroom cultivation and am having a ton of trouble finding correct substrates and local mushroom knowledge in general in this region ( I am up in the French alps, about 30 min from Monaco, there are zero mushroom cultivators out here for some odd reason! )

I purchased shiitake and oyster plug spawn recently and was hoping to find a good tree species locally to inoculate. Also, I have been cutting off the butts of some local mushrooms (store bought) and attempting to create mycelium over the winter indoors. My problem is which substrate to inoculate after. Turns out there are VERY few trees available that are not pine. I am currently organizing cutting a small oak tree down, but it's become very complicated finding any options that are not A.extremely expensive B. ALL pine or Olive tree. I was considering straw, but straw is VERY expensive here and I don't have a spot to pasteurize it currently. I know there are a ton of other options to use for substate, but I am feeling a bit confused on what is best. I have a ton of goat poop, but it I am hesitant to attempt to inoculate it, as I have only heard of people using horse and cow poop. I also have 6 compost piles that I till every other day.

Does anyone have any substrate suggestions for me? OR any suggestions in general of different ideas that include less wood/straw and more compost/creative substrates?

There are many types of mushrooms that you can cultivate in your area. I would think about what kind of substrate you can get. If you can get wood chips, that is a great substrate. Blewits can grow in rich soil with a lot of leaf litter, but they aren't easy to cultivate. In general, it is easier to grow mushrooms on logs, straw, or wood chips than on dung or soil.
John S
PDX OR

Maybe look into landscaping businesses for hardwood chips?
Pretty sure goat poop makes for a good Agaricus compost.
The french love their champignons de paris.

I think you may have discovered why no one else is growing mushrooms where you have moved to
Have you considered other crops ?
What is the soil like ?
Have you thought about sweet potatoes they are becoming more popular ?
Walnuts are making a come back ?

David
Angers , France .

phoenix oysters grow on pine and spruce and are very aggressive. get some burlap sacks. fill w/ fresh wet sawdust chips . throw in a couple handfusl of spawn . mix well. put under a shady tree. conifers are best. stack your sacks 3 high and drape a few empty sacks over the tops and sides. keep moist. in 2-3mo. maybe sooner your sacks will become completely white with mycelium. increase watering. they will fruit right out of the side of the bags. make sure they are laying on bare soil. ground contact is important! good luck!

also you could get some blewitt spawn and mix it in your compost bins . its hit and miss with them tho. and it takes a year before you get mushrooms. better off with the p. oysters.

Julie Thiry wrote:Hi Lucy & fellow permies,
I'm a newbie and trying to start healthy gardening in our little family livestock farm in the south of France. We have an empty barn that I'm considering to cultivate mushrooms. Anyone has ideas to share? Lucy, where do you get your mushroom spawns from? We are 700m above sea level in the Cervennes.
Thanks all

hi julie! I'm sure you can buy spawn online from producers in france. just do a search. you could grow in your barn. could do oysters in burlap. king stropharia on the floor. going to have to water more often indoors than if you grew under a shady tree outside but it could be done. they should have bare ground contact to produce the most mushrooms.

steve bossie wrote:

Julie Thiry wrote:Hi Lucy & fellow permies,
I'm a newbie and trying to start healthy gardening in our little family livestock farm in the south of France. We have an empty barn that I'm considering to cultivate mushrooms. Anyone has ideas to share? Lucy, where do you get your mushroom spawns from? We are 700m above sea level in the Cervennes.
Thanks all

hi julie! I'm sure you can buy spawn online from producers in france. just do a search. you could grow in your barn. could do oysters in burlap. king stropharia on the floor. going to have to water more often indoors than if you grew under a shady tree outside but it could be done. they should have bare ground contact to produce the most mushrooms.

Hi Steve, Thanks for the info. From what I've searched, most are supplying home kits from overseas. Here, outdoors are quite windy and we are surrounded by chestnut trees, so I'm not sure if that's a suitable option as there are no other mushroom cultivators here neither. But thanks for the heads-up. Will have to read up and do more research then.

i have had good luck with everything mushrooms, field and forest and mushroom mountain here in the states. if you're in a warm , humind eviroment and mulch your beds i think it would work for you. if not the barn idea could still work for you.

Hello to all!

My name is Mayah. I’m a recent graduate in International Business back here in the States. My question is more inclined for those across the Pond (The Atlantic).
Can anyone aide in my search?

I am looking for farmers in the mushroom field who have heard or know of commercial cultivation farms throughout the EU. I have been place in charge of social media networking for the EU market.

Thank you,

@pisces_talks

My husband is an advisor (technical / cultural) in the mushroom industry for commercial growers and compost producers internationally. He has over 35 years experience all over the world with wide range of climates and resources.  We also had our own farm for 11 years. Currently living in and working from France (originally from UK) My email is kdirwin00@gmail.com