Country Zest & Style Summer 2020 Edition

Kyle Vanderhoof with an armful of a recent harvest.

Photos ©dillonkeenphotography.com

Kyle Vanderhoof is the owner and farmer of Caveman Mushrooms near Marshall.

“Our growing facility is around 2,300 square feet of space,” Mr. Vanderhoof told Country ZEST recently. He’s currently only using one of the three caves to produce his mushrooms and hopes with the reopening of local restaurant businesses to quickly fill the caves and step up production.

Mr. Vanderhoof has been intrigued with foraging for edible and medicinal plants and mushrooms since the age of seven. Often, he was unable to locate what he wanted and needed to wait all winter for spring and summer to find them.

“This created a curiosity of growing my own,” he said, adding that after hundreds of hours of research, he finally gave it a try.

“I ordered my first shipment of a do-it-yourself supply,” three years ago, he said. At first, weeks went by with epic failure after failure.

“I went back to the books, reading scholarly journals, watching educational videos before trying one last time,” he said. “This time, success, and I was absolutely hooked.”

Following all that meticulous study, Mr. Vanderhoof harvested his first Blue Oyster mushroom. He still recalls feeling the adrenaline course through his body when he discovered it, and the rush didn’t stop there. As he sauteed the mushrooms to make a delectable Oyster mushroom and spinach orecchiette, the intoxicating aromas filled his home near Locust Grove and the same magical feeling was back again.

He hasn’t stopped growing and soon decided he was ready to share these delicious delicacies with the world. He began his business this past February and found his unique growing location hidden 50 feet under ground.

“The cool temperatures and high humidity year-round allows minimal input into our operation,” he said. “No heating, no cooling.”

The mushrooms are grown by placing three main ingredients into a small plastic bag: hardwood sawdust, nitrogen-rich organic matter such as soy bean hulls, and water. Next, the bags are placed into a sterilizer and cooked for 18 hours to kill any competing molds or bacteria that may ruin the bags.

Once the bags are cooled to room temperature, tissue is taken from a mushroom and quickly placed inside the bag, which is sealed and placed in a climate-controlled room for two weeks. The bags become completely white, covered by the growing piece of mushroom tissue previously placed in them. Once complete, the bags are transferred into a fruiting room and cut to allow the mushrooms to grow.

From start to finish, the process takes two to four weeks. Caveman Mushrooms currently produces between 50-75 pounds a week. The result is a plethora of Shiitake, Oyster, Pom Pom (also called Lions Mane) and Trumpet mushrooms. He hopes to expand to 300 pounds a week by the end of 2020.

The customer list is currently limited. With restaurants on hold, Mr. Vanderhoof makes home deliveries to private residents and said, “It has proven to be extremely successful.” In addition, he sells to Millers Farm and a new farm-to-table business, Provision Markets, both in Orange, and a new restaurant in Locust Grove called Graze Steakhouse.

For now, the prices have been reduced to help local families and businesses during a time when finances are being hit hard. His typical price is $12-16 per pound. And while Virginia has had a shelter-in-place policy, he’s reduced prices to $10 per pound for everyone. Currently, he does not sell at any Farmers Markets.

Armed with a plant biology and agriculture background, his mushroom education has been the best part of the new enterprise for Mr. Vanderhoof.

“It’s the science behind all that goes into this,” he said. “Controlling and manipulating climate to bring out different attributes of the mushroom is an art form. It’s important that everyone has access to unique and delicious foods grown right under their feet.” Kyle Vanderhoof can be reached on his Facebook page, Caveman Mushrooms, or at 814-688-0423.