Heavy rainfall brings mushroom explosion across Santa Barbara County
SOLVANG, Calif. - Neither plant nor animal, mushrooms have existed since ancient times.
"They’re just really neat. They look like something out of a work of art or space," said mushroom grower Julian Wolfe of Wolfe Family Farms in Solvang.
Heavy rain is igniting an explosion of mushrooms across Santa Barbara County.
"I mean, even on our property where we’ve never seen mushrooms grow before in the last five years … we're seeing mushrooms all over the place," said Julian.
"There’s lot of destruction around here sometimes when the rains come through … and to see the aftermath with the positivity of the growing plants and the growing mushrooms … it kind of gives light at the end of the tunnel," said mushroom grower Marissa Wolfe of Wolfe Family Farms in Solvang.
Julian and Marissa are the largest mushroom growers in the region.
Their facility is filling up quickly with these low calorie fungi.
"Welcome to the mushroom room. We’ve got all kinds of varieties we grow in here," said Julian.
And they couldn’t be happier to see not only a change in size, but also in volume.
"When you put them out in nature, and you get that natural rain, everything is just bigger and the lions mane on the trees grows bigger. Production has increased. We’re adding new blocks every week. And sales at the market are just sky rocketing," said Julian.
Chef Preston Knox of Barbareno Restaurant in Santa Barbara welcomes the incoming supply of mushrooms for his menus.
"I would say they are very important in a lot of dishes they’re in. we probably go through about 40 pounds of mushrooms a week … these are popping up everywhere," said Knox.
Right now one of the most popular mushrooms in Solvang are the locally grown chitakes.
"These are chitake mushrooms from wolfe family farms … and these are going to be prepared for our mushroom tart dish," said chef and co-owner Melissa Scrymgeour of Clean Slate Wine Bar in Solvang.
Wolfe’s mushrooms are piling up for Scrymgeour.
"Working with a small family business like Wolfe Family Farms fits perfectly into our clean slate concept … so when the rain comes and those mushrooms are prominent we feature those mushrooms in dishes to pair with the wines that we offer," said Scrymgeour.
As demands increase, the passionate mushroom growers are doing everything they can to keep up with the lives of mushrooms.
"I'd say the mushrooms at least doubled ... but there are sometimes where it’s a little more than double so we’re having trouble keeping up with production at times i were constantly trying to make more space for a new mushrooms as it’s a great time to be in business," said Julian.
The bloom has brought a mushroom boom to restaurant menus around the region.
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