Country Nerd Farm is an organic gourmet mushroom farm located in Mariposa, California, nestled in the Sierra Foothills.
We grow edible mushrooms like shiitake, lion’s mane, several types of oyster mushrooms, and other functional fungi such as reishi.
Our substrate is sourced from local deadfall, not pellets shipped thousands of miles.
We strive to use the most natural and carbon-friendly means of production at all stages of our operation. Our substrate is made from fallen trees, ground into sawdust, and mixed with organic wheat bran produced in California.
Our hammer mill converts wood chips into sawdust for mushroom substrate.
Using the incredible power of evaporative cooling in a greenhouse environment, we avoid much of the energy consumption associated with conventional mushroom farming, which makes heavy use of air conditioning. Using as little as 1 Watt-hour of power per square foot, we’re able to cool our greenhouses up to 40 degrees in the middle of summer, using California’s hot but very dry air to our advantage. A 7kW solar array also partially offsets our farm’s energy consumption.
Our humidification approach also provides an ideal environment for natural predators of mushroom pests like the fungus gnat. During the warm season, numerous frogs take up residence in the cool, moist greenhouses, keeping pests at bay while avoiding the heat.
Our growing process might take a bit more work than some others, but we love the results and we’re sure you will too!