Mountaintop blooms in its biological kingdom

By Sonia Isaacs

Producers Name : Daniel Tibbett and Katrina Atkinson

Business Name: Mountaintop

Mushrooms

Location: Montville

Number of years in operation: 5

Q: In a few words how would you best describe your business?

A boutique mushroom farm, specialising in gourmet, exotic and rare varieties. Our mission is to supply the best quality gourmet mushrooms possible. We supply restaurants and farmers markets across the Sunshine Coast

Q: How did it all begin?

With a passion and curiosity for local sustainable food systems. After travelling, we sold our van and threw everything we had into learning about growing gourmet mushrooms. We had very little capital, but a drive and determination that wouldn’t give up, and we have now grown the business into the largest and longest standing gourmet mushroom farm on the sunshine coast.

Q:What are your backgrounds/ interests?

Interesting food, grown by local producers. Farmers markets where you can talk to those producers and hear the story behind the food. Sustainability and resilience in global food system which can experience supply chain breakdowns easily.

Q: How many types of mushrooms do you offer?

We usually have around 10 different species growing at any time, they change seasonally throughout the year

Q: What is your favourite your product?

Yandina farmers market, Witta Market, and the Maple Street Co-Op

Q: Anything else you’d like our readers to know?

Our farm is looking for a new home. We are looking for an agricultural shed, here in the hinterland, that we can rent off the landowner.

In a volatile real-estate market, where our farm moves next will greatly contribute to its future success and ability to continue providing fresh, gourmet mushrooms to the sunshine coast community.

If there is anyone with a shed that is interested in supporting a small scale, local family agribusiness, please get in touch with us, we would love to hear from you!

By Mitch Gaynor

IT was a perfect day to Celebrate Glasshouse Country with a long lunch at Yanalla Farms on Saturday. Under warm winter skies about 120 people dined between rows of lychee trees, enjoying some of the finest produce available in the region, as part of The Curated Plate Festival. A farm tour of Karen and Robert’s gorgeous Yanalla Farms, a lychee cocktail to meeting local farmers and learning more about the amazing innovation and work they put in to their agri-businesses made for a very relaxing day out.

A banquet between the lychee trees, delivered by chefs Dan Penfold, Zac & Kelly of Penfolds Catering was not only a visual feast, but delicious. Sunshine Coast Foodie, Martin Duncan, brought the day together brilliantly with effervescent hosting and a genuine passion for supporting local producers.