So, what do I mean when I say gourmet mushrooms are the cleanest food you can eat? If we are honest about it, we must admit that there is no way to be sure what is ending up in our produce. Even food grown organically is vulnerable to environmental contaminants. For example, what is the quality of the air in the location where farmers grow your vegetables? What is in the soil? What about the water they use for irrigation? Is it really clean?
Recently, there was a disaster at a lithium battery plant nearby. I am sure everyone has heard about the fire at Moss Landing in January of 2025. No one knows exactly the amount of toxins that were pumped into the environment around the plant, but there is no doubt that some bad stuff ended up in the soil surrounding the area. You may or may not know that a large portion of the countries green leafy vegetables are grown right here in our area. Much of that food is certified organic, but that doesn't mean the environment they're being grown in is free of toxins.
We are all being exposed to unhealthy things in our everyday lives. As we are becoming more aware of unhealthy situations, we are adjusting the ways that we do things to limit our exposure. At our farm here in Santa Cruz, have the advantage of being able to control several variables that most farmers can’t. For one, we use only steam distilled water to hydrate our mushroom growing substrates, not tap water. Another benefit is that our mushrooms are grown indoors, allowing us to filter the air that they breathe. Organically sourced sawdust and vital nutrients give our magnificent mushrooms a “leg up,” and you can see it in the way they thrive. Our mushrooms are happy!
Santa Cruz Mushrooms is an on-site mushroom farm with a built in farm stand open to the public. If you are a chef, restauranteur, or just curious, we would like to invite you to stop in when you are in the area. You can see the lab, incubation area, and fruiting chamber. We love to talk about mushrooms, and it’s a family friendly environment. If you are visiting Santa Cruz you are going to want to make sure that you don’t miss out on seeing the only local mushroom farm in town! We are located at 1970 17th Avenue (in the Live Oak area) and are open 9:00 to 4:00 Tuesday though Friday – 12:00 to 3:00 on Saturday.
