MUSHROOM MAGIC IN THE HILLS
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY | Mark Fergus
John swings open a heavy steel door to proudly reveal shelves lined with lustrous, yellow beauty. We are met by a pleasant, earthy perfume and a hovering cloud of foggy condensation as we step inside the temperature-controlled and insulated container.
We are in Monbulk, known for flower production and horticulture, but these splashes of colour are not flowers. They are Yellow Oyster mushrooms, one of many varieties grown here in shipping containers, ready to be harvested and sent to some of the country’s finest restaurants. In 2021, John and Libby Ford’s Unearthed Co. won a trophy in the best fruit and vegetable category, ‘From the Earth’, for their Abalone mushrooms at the prestigious Delicious magazine Produce Awards. It was decided upon by a national judging panel that included some of the country’s most renowned chefs and experts.
Read the full article in issue 53 Autumn 2023 here.
