Scott had always been a mushroom fan, foraging for wild mushrooms in his spare time. Following a testicular cancer diagnosis, he began reading up on healthy eating – and was surprised by how often the nutritional benefits of mushrooms were recommended.
Seeking out unusual varieties, he was astonished at the difference between the mushrooms available to buy, and the flavour of a freshly picked mushroom. After learning everything there is to know about mushrooms – starting with lots of foraging, before working their way up to growing their own – Scott and Becca bought an abandoned greenhouse that no one else wanted, and set up their first growing room.
Today, Forest Fungi have multiple climate-controlled growing rooms (or ‘Shroom Rooms’, as they call them!), each designed to create the ideal natural conditions for a particular gourmet mushroom variety to flourish. Temperature, light, humidity, CO2 – everything is just right to make each variety grow as happily, healthily, and full of flavour as possible. Different varieties like to grow in different materials; shiitake thrives in organic oak sawdust, and oyster mushrooms are grown using organic straw.
Forest Fungi have been 100% organic from the beginning. They use no artificial chemicals during their growing process, and even their growing materials – the straw, sawdust, and also rye blocks – are certified organic. You’ll not find a purer, fresher mushroom anywhere.
If you ever find yourself on the South Devon coast, you can visit Forest Fungi’s farmshop and see the fantastical Shroom Rooms for yourself.
