In This Issue:
Producer Profile:
Forest Mushrooms
By Rachel Givens
 The presence of Forest Mushrooms is everywhere. The fact is that almost every establishment in Minnesota which serves culinary mushrooms gets its stock from Forest Mushrooms. The operation produces two types of mushrooms, oyster and shiitake. Forest Mushrooms is a distributor as well as producer. To serve the total needs of their customers, Forest Mushrooms has become a one stop resource by sourcing many varieties. The farm grows 25 percent of what it sells—about 3000 pounds of mushrooms for every 12000 pounds sold.
In 1985, Kevin Doyle, an SJU graduate in botany with interests in fungi, began Forest Mushrooms. In 1986 he purchased from St. John’s Abbey the Collegeville farm where the distribution and tightly managed growing operations are located. Because mushrooms, like people, take in oxygen to “breathe” and exhale carbon dioxide, a wind tunnel in the growing rooms removes the carbon dioxide so the mushrooms do not suffocate themselves. Plus the growing rooms are kept at a steady 63 degrees Fahrenheit and 93 percent humidity.
In the growing room for the oyster mushrooms, black plastic bags hang from the tops of some shelves and sit on the bottoms of others. These bags are filled with straw to allow the mushrooms to grow, and holes are cut in the bags. In the early stages of development, the bags simply look like bags with holes poked in them, but as the mushrooms grow, they burst from the holes and blossom into bouquets of oyster mushroom caps.
In an adjacent room, shiitakes grow on wooden blocks. Because trees have naturally evolved to resist fungal growth, the wooden blocks have to be treated so the shiitakes can survive on them. Every day of the year, oyster mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms have to be harvested from these rooms.
Come to the Minnesota Street Market to get the certified organic oyster and shiitake mushrooms grown locally and enjoy in your soups and other dishes.
February Member Specials
Product Description / % Off / Sale Price
Product Discount %age Sale Price
Bulk
Organic Golden Flax 15% / $1.61
Frozen
Luna & Larry's Coconut Ice Cream 15% / $6.20
Udis Gluten Free Baguette NEW! 15% / $5.77
Udis Whole Wheat Bread 15% / $5.09
Udis White Bread 15% / $5.09
Organic Bistro Salmon Dinners 15% / $4.84
Grocery
Earth Balance Coconut Spread 15% / $5.43
Amore Tomato Paste Tube 10% / $3.14
Bionaturae Egg Pasta 10% / $3.95
Bionaturae Whole Wheat Pasta 10% / $3.23
Boulder Creek Natural Chips 15% / $3.73
Blue Sky Natural Soda 20% / $3.83
Bragg Liquid Amino 16 oz 15% / $4.94
Dalallo whole wheat lasagna 17% / $3.56
Doctor Kracker 25% / $3.45
Flamous Falafel Chips 15% / $5.09
Good Earth Tea 25 bags 15% / $4.78
Kettle Brand Chips 20% / $2.55
Loriva Roasted Peanut oil 15% / $5.67
Loriva Sesame ev oil 15% / $7.52
Loriva Sesame toasted oil 15% / $5.60
Loriva Walnut oil 15% / $5.68
Midel Ginger Snaps 10% / $3.95
Native Forest Artichoke hearts 15% / $3.90
Native Forest Mandarine slices 15% / $2.54
Native Forest Pineapple slices 15% / $3.06
Oogave Soda 15% / $6.16
Panda Chews 15% / $3.39
Ricola Cough Syrup 15% / $2.29
Rustic Crust Ciabatta 15% / $3.90
San j reduced salt tamari 15% / $3.86
Sesmark Crackers 10% / $2.87
Seasons Potato Chips 15% / $3.39
Suzie's Puff Corn Cake 15% / $3.05
Suzie's Puff Rice Cake 15% / $2.63
Thai Kitchen Organic Coconut Milk 15% / $3.11
Think Thin Bars 15% / $1.94
Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta 15% / $3.56
Way Better Snacks 15% / $3.35
Xylichew 10% / $2.02
Healthcare
Kiss My Face Moisturizer 20% / $9.57
Lily of the Desert 20 %
Nature's Gate Shampoo 20% / $6.23
Nature's Gate Conditioner 20% / $6.23
The Minnesota Street Market
at Living in the Avon Hills Conference
This Saturday from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
At the Great Hall/Quad at Saint John's University
Rita DeZurik and Andrew Dirksen will be presenting at the Avon Hills Conference next weekend on behalf of the Minnesota Street Market!
3:30-4:15 pm Your Co-op: Creation of a Local Food & Art Cooperative. This presentation will highlight co-op principles as well as the vision of the Market—to create a hub for sustainable living—fostering community connections between land, people, and institutions. For more info, visit the Living in the Avon Hills website
Grow Local: Gardening, Skill & Seed Share Event
March 16th from 10 a.m. - Noon at the Minnesota Street Market
$10 ($5 for members) household fee - Families are welcome!
Make pots/trays, select a variety of open-pollinated seeds, & start your own garden transplants! Registration fee includes 6 pots. Purchase additional for 50 cents/pot.
Learn labor-saving, space-saving, and environmentally friendly garden designs & techniques. Share your successes, challenges, and questions. Let's Grow Local!
Registration info: Contact Pat at 320.290.8958 or community@mnstreetmarket.com |
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