“There is no reason why any restaurant in SA should be importing mushrooms or food from Victoria if there is a supplier in SA." - Adam Bray.
Move over button mushrooms, there’s thousands of other varieties of mushrooms on offer that put them in the shade, so to speak. Shaggy Ink Cap or a Lion’s Mane anyone?
Adam Bray is leading the way with sustainable mushroom growing in the west. He has the manner of someone who seems natural in any environment yet with a commanding presence as you’d expect from ex-AFL coach for the Indonesian National Footy team. Now an authority on mushroom growing, Adam supplies his produce to some of Adelaide's top restaurants and has very real dreams of expanding his love of growing these delicious frilly fungi.
Where it all started
At the time the pandemic hit South Australia, Adam was landscaping and working for a home staging company but all home inspections closed and Adam was stood down. After some time musing, the trajectory of Adam’s professional life transformed overnight after he stayed up all night one night watching Youtube videos of Japanese/Korean manufacturers and understanding the process of growing mushrooms. No couch potatoes here!
Adam counts himself more than lucky in that out of the pandemic he was able to shift gears and find a new direction and his own business.
The business started small so at the time of the shorter lockdowns he only had a few kilos to sell, but if it had a been larger scale production and he had 100 kilos to off load in a few daws, he would have lost thousands of dollars.
The learning phase
The learning phase was not without some disastrous moments like the time he used his girlfriend’s house as a lab and they returned from a short holiday to a fog of spores. Imagine the worst pollen day then times that by 50, that’s what they walked into. Leaving the mushrooms to their own devices was a learning curve and Adam learned the hard way, understanding mushrooms and their eccentric ways, the west’s very own Mushroom Whisperer.
After that mishap, he took over his Dad's shed to experiment with this newfound passion but it didn’t take long for Adam to produce the fruits of this new labour. Three months is all it took for him to go from buying a readymade home mushroom growing kit to buying pressure cookers, basic lab equipment, and growing his own mushrooms from scratch in a tent from a hardware store - his first harvest.
Why City of Charles Sturt?
Adam grew up with his parents in Woodville West and has enjoyed the liveability of the city and beach all within 20 minutes and everything in between. He played football locally and plans to send his kids to the local sporting clubs. He’s lived overseas and in Bowden, but came back to the area that offers everything in terms of a healthy lifestyle; super convenient location, close to the train and city, yet clean and quiet.
Sustainability
Adam is a man with a dream of growing local, eating local and respecting the environment to do so. Mushroom growing can involve throwing away hundreds of plastic bags a week (up to 12,000-15,000 year), something most of us don’t realise that can be involved with growing produce. Adam knew he had to amend this approach so he purchased large glass jars to re-create his farm and no longer be reliant on plastic bags. The logistics and costs are both increased but Adam knows it is worth it to keep the environment front of mind. His growing process is now minimal waste, using sawdust and very little water. The spent mushroom substrate will be used in Council and community gardens for compost.
“I want to make the glass jars a real sticking point, even if it means I can’t grow all the varieties I want," he says.
How to eat a ‘shroom’
If you’re used to a normal pizza mushroom, you’ll be amazed to hear there are thousands of edible mushrooms in the world. We eat 3 - 4 varieties in a common Aussie diet.
Adam plans to re-educate the west as an ideal fat free, sugar free, gluten free, dairy free, vegan and organic part of an everyday diet and there are so many ways to eat them. Think Pho, noodle soups, broths, pastas, stir-frys, crumbed, fried & schnitzeled, treated like salt & pepper squid, pickled, antipasto platters….you get the picture.
Mushrooms are everywhere
There are more than 10,000 varieties of mushrooms and new sorts discovered all the time. They are everywhere and we don’t even realise. Just everywhere, right? Whenever you cross the grass you're walking across the top of mushrooms. After heavy rain you’ll see them pop up if you’re looking. Inky Caps are local to the neighbourhood and you may spot them in the area. They literally turn to ink after a little while (DO NOT eat them in case Council has done some weed spraying recently). Instead look up 'Westside Mushies' for your next exotic mushroom experience.
New digs
Adam has now achieved his goal to set-up a working urban farm on his own commercial lease on the west side. He has big plans for his new mushie lair, LOTWST where he hopes to run some educational courses attached to the farm with a café so that people can see the harvest and how his mushrooms are grown.
The farm could use solar panels and be completely sustained off the grid. He has some exciting, sustainable plans as to where it all can lead.
His sights are set on a fully fledged medium scale urban mushie farm as part of the community, offering a mini local farmers market with assorted gourmet pantry items from local chefs. He doesn’t know how just yet, but he is busy learning and networking with restauranteurs, chefs and local small business owners with a view to growing his business. Interested business partners or people with advice and ideas should get in touch with Adam, he is loves to learn from experienced people in the area.
Business Support Program
Adam has received a Business Support Grant to design and develop a new website and the City of Charles Sturt is proud to help as Adam develops and his business.
Adam’s tips for businesses
- Make time for people and be generous
- Invest in those natural, organic network connections
- Take your time to get to know your local business owners particularly to the hospitality sector
- Support local businesses every chance you get
- Innovate, change the game or start your own game - share the passion.
- “There is no reason why any restaurant in SA should be importing mushrooms or food from Victoria if there is a supplier in SA”.
- Humans need to reduce our food miles and be smarter about the way we live
Westside Mushies
LOTWST
34b Tapleys Hill Road, Royal Park, 5014
Website: https://westsidemushies.square.site/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/westsidemushies
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CWOLGDHvZnm/
Email: westsidemushies@outlook.com.au