A mushrooms operation in Suffolk and Norfolk is set for growth after securing a long-term contract with a national retail chain. Waveney Mushrooms, a family-owned business, says it is planning to invest in its operations and create new jobs after clinching a long-term supply deal with Aldi to stock its produce until 2021.

The firm, which operates farms across the two counties including at Bungay, has supplied Aldi for 20 years.

The three-year deal will enable the grower to further invest in its packing and growing facilities, drive efficiency and create new jobs, it says.

Since the partnership began, Waveney, which employs 175 staff, has supplied over 20,000 tonnes of produce to the retailer and the investment has led to the creation of more than 80 new jobs at its sites.

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Source: Eastern Daily Press

At present, in mushroom base built in Lianggen Village, Huairou District, Beijing of China, White fungi vigorously evolve from cut logs and blossom into fruitful outcomes.

Cut-log mushroom cultivation originates from age-old domestication method of wild mushroom, cut-log Black fungus cultivation is to artificially inoculate strain on cut logs, after the spawn running, put logs in natural environment for fruiting.

“By now, we have inoculated nearly 35,000 logs, the anticipated annual mushroom output reaches at least 1500 kg while annual output value hits over 450,000 CNY,” introduces secretary of Lianggen Village warmly, going on that this year, mushroom cultivation that covers a series of varieties such as Black fungus, White fungus, Shiitake mushroom and Monkey head mushroom is in implementation by pattern of cut logs in the village.

Over the years, Black fungus growing has been firmly grasped as the powerful industry that supports poverty alleviation in region of Da Hinggan Mountains, Heilongjiang Province of China. In the meantime of producing economic benefits, it also results in environmental pollution. Each year, a great number of Black fungus bags are seen as useless garbages after the production, which wastes resources and causes  environmental pollution.

“The majority of Lignin and Cellulose contained in bags of Black fungus are decomposed during the cultivation process, after that, the remaining nutrients meet the growth requirement of Stropharia rugosoannulata,” introduces one of growers in Tahe County, Da Hinggan Mountains of Heilongjiang Province warmly, going on that recently, Stropharia rugosoannulata cultivation implemented via waste Black fungus bags got succeeded, which fills in local market blank while exploiting a prosperous road for growers.

On August 9, The Third National Black Fungus Innovation Development Meeting is fiercely in progress.

Since 2016, National Black Fungus Industry Innovation Development Meeting has been successfully held for two times in Harbin and Shangzhi City of Heilongjiang Province of China. This time, number of visitors and participants reaches over 20,000 person-times.

Mushrooms carry the intrinsic characteristic of circular, high-efficiency and ecological as well as showing broad development prospect. As the key platform that focuses on technical exchange and communication, economic and trade cooperation and display of Black fungus products, The Third National Black Fungus Innovation Development Meeting organized by CEMBN provides 100 standard booths and over 20 special booths, involving in above 200 Chinese mushroom enterprises. The successful organization of the meeting will undoubtedly accelerate the further development of China’s Black fungus industry.

NAMWON, Jul. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — A rare type of puffball mushroom has been discovered yet again this year in Korea at an apple orchard near the foot of Mt. Jiri in Namwon, North Jeolla Province.

This is the 15th mushroom of the same category found in the same region over the last five years.

The city government of Namwon revealed yesterday that 55-year-old orchard owner Ju Ji-hwan of Sannae-myeon had discovered the rare Calvatia nipponica mushroom recently.

Measuring 18 to 20 centimeters in length, Calvatia nipponica are puffball-shaped mushrooms with a typical white exterior.

Two of the same mushroom types were discovered in Ju’s very orchard in 2014, with two to eight being discovered each year.

Calvatia are known to be effective in detoxification and other remedies and are found nationwide in the provinces of Gangwon, and North and South Jeolla from time to time.

Lina Jang (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Climate in the growing room
All growers recognise the importance of climate in the growing room. How the climate feels when you enter the growing room is a good indicator. Sometimes what your instinct says goes against what the data from the climate control computer suggests. Experience can help you finetune that “instinct” if you go into the growing rooms daily. In this blog I will be give you some simple tips of things to check in relation to RH measurements every time you inspect the growing rooms. This can help avoid errors in measurements and climate control.

Clean the water reservoir
The growing room is cleaned after it has been emptied. Cleaning the RH measuring box should be part of this routine. Ensure the water reservoir of the RH measuring box is emptied and cleaned. It wouldn't be the first time a slimy bacteria forms in the reservoir, so that even the new sock or wick feels slimy. This reduces evaporation, resulting in a higher RH measurement than in reality.

Replace the sock
When you clean the growing room remove the sock from the wet bulb sensor. Do not replace it immediately but wait until the room is filled. While there is no sock in the wet bulb, the wet bulb and the dry bulb should both give the same temperature reading. This is a routine action that can prevent a lot of headaches. On many farms, this is only done sporadically - or not at all - so a long time passes before anyone notices any deviations. And problems can occur fast, as just 0.1OC deviation is already a 1% difference in RH!

The fan
There is a fan in the RH measuring box in the majority of climate control systems. This ensures a constant flow of air over the sensors. The fan can sometimes malfunction. This is not reflected at once in the RH measurement, so checking whether the fan is still running by listening when you look at the RH measuring box is a small, but very worthwhile, task.

Replace the sock later on?
During mycelium growth the RH is not that important as water is still sprayed onto the casing soil. If drier air causes the casing to dry out faster, it is easy to add more water into the casing.
So you could think: “Let's just replace the sock later”. Completely wrong. Why? The Mollier diagram of course! By also measuring the wet bulb temperature, the computer can determine the energy level in the air. This enables the computer to decide whether to use outside air for cooling. If there is no sock, the computer will always measure a higher energy level because it “thinks” the RH is always 100%. The result will be extra costs for cooling because the computer decides too quickly to use outside air which has a higher energy level than the actual air in the growing room. You will use more energy and risk burnt compost due to an insufficient cooling capacity.

Mark den Ouden
Mushroom Office

Next Masterclass Compost and Mushroom course are:
22 to 27 October 2018
18-23 February 2019
See www.mushroomoffice.com