Lorenzo Piccioni, second-generation mushroom farmer, said in 1964 his father and uncle produced approximately 6,800 to 9072 kilograms of white mushrooms a week, mainly for the canned market. The operation has grown under the direction of Piccioni and his sister, Anna Maria, and produces more than that a day.
Photo: Diana Martin
European technology is used to offload 38 metric tonnes of pasteurized substrate, already infused with mycelium spawn, from trucks into the grow rooms. Each room has two vertical racks with six grow shelves, which takes two hours to fill.
Photo: Diana Martin
As the substrate moves along the conveyer belt toward the grow shelves, workers break apart large chunks that were missed by the machine.
Photo: Diana Martin
Once a rack is filled, a flashlight is used to identify problem clumps of substrate that are crumbled by hand to ensure the best conditions for mushroom development within the well-lit climate-controlled room.
Photo: Diana Martin
Mycelium spawn begins to germinate almost immediately producing white spider-web-like fingers that will eventually develop into mushrooms. With a growing cycle of between six-to-eight weeks, mushrooms double in size every 24 hours during the fruiting stage.
Photo: Diana Martin
Nutritionists marvelled at the modern facility, lining up photographs at every opportunity during the Farm and Food Care Ontario fall tour of the mushroom operation.
Photo: Diana Martin
Fresh market mushrooms account for approximately 90 percent of the mushrooms sold in Canada and according to Statistics Canada, Ontario is the nation’s premier mushroom producer with 81,510 short tons (73,944,628 kg) in 2023. Mushrooms are considered a highly sustainable industry with a 453,592 kg per acre yield.
Photo: Diana Martin
Piccioni relies on temporary foreign workers, many of whom are second or third generation workers within the family operation.
Photo: Diana Martin
Dago Cruz selects and sizes brown mushrooms, slicing off the bottom of the stem before boxing them. Cremini mushrooms are carefully selected by size and thrive-ability with the strongest ones left to develop into portobellos.
Photo: Diana Martin
Cremini, portebellini and portobellos develop from the same brown mushroom variety. The portobello, seen here, averages a cap size of 15 centimetres, a portebellini approximately seven centimetres and the cremini is five centimetres.
Photo: Diana Martin
Mushrooms are a source of antioxidants which could help with aging, cognition and brain health, prebiotic fibre, and naturally occurring vitamin D. The nutritionists were particularly intrigued by the fungi’s nutrient value and its ability to increase vitamin D content after harvest by being placed in the sun 15 minutes before use.
Photo: Diana Martin
The mycelium-to-consumer operation includes a cleaning, grading and packaging facility allowing for same-day delivery to approximately 70 Loblaws, Longo’s and Costco stores, and the Ontario Food Terminal. There is a six-to-eight hour window for peak picking said Piccioni, with a four-to-seven day optimal shelf life in the refrigerator.
Photo: Diana Martin
This second-generation mushroom farm in Dundas, Ont., picks, packages and sells 99.790 kilograms of white, brown and portobello mushrooms weekly. Farmtario reporter captured these images during a fall tour hosted by Farm and Food Care Ontario.
