April showers bring mushrooms and flowers! We are launching our second market this month and have some fun-gi info for you this month.Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ 

April showers bring mushrooms and flowers!

This month also begins morel hunting season and busy bee activity. Our crew will be busy as well, launching our 2 market debut. Read more about what we’re up to, learn about Chestnut mushrooms, and check out a new study about the relationship of honey bees and a fungus.
 

What we’re up to:

First and foremost, we need to highlight our Farmer’s Markets appearance. We are now beginning our two market debut!

Hyde Park Winter Farmers Market on Sundays from 10am - 1pm on April 16, 23, and 30th.
@3301 Madison Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45209

Findlay Market Farmer’s Market on Saturday from 8am - 3pm on April 15,and 29th.
@1801 Race St., Cincinnati, OH 45202

April 9th is Easter, so there will be no Hyde Park Farmer’s Market. And with that, Pete & Emalee are taking the weekend off, don’t text! They will be soaking up the sun on the Florida coast. Emalee is most excited to visit the Dali museum and Pete is just happy for the get-away. Kelley (that’s me) will be holding down production, to ensure your mushrooms will be ready for the next week. Come see us then!

We will be stocked with Shiitake, Lion's Mane, Blue Oyster, King Oyster, Queen Oyster, White Oyster, Chestnut, and Comb Tooth.
 

We also had a television appearance this past month!

Did you see the feature of our own, Pete, on Goodmorning Cincinnati Channel 12 a couple weeks ago? He was interviewed along with a partner store, ETC Provisions and Produce, to chat about different varieties of culinary mushrooms.

Watch the video through the button below.
 Video 
 

Ohio Proud Certification

Our mushrooms are grown and processed in our beautiful state of Ohio… And now, we have an official certification to prove it. You can find this logo on our new retail packaging. Thanks for supporting local!
 

Mushroom of the Month: Chestnut

These eye-catching mushrooms are a culinary favorite, Pholiota adiposa. In Latin, pholiota means scaly and adeps means lard or grease (more like mucilaginous in this case) - appropriately named. We call them Chestnut mushrooms, but others use nicknames like cinnamon cap and fat Pholiota.

Eating these mushrooms, you will taste nutty and earthy notes, while experiencing a crunchy, chewy bite. The caps of these mushrooms have that mucilaginous coating or sticky-ness, which is a great thickening agent for soups, stews, and sauces. Their picture-perfect mushroom shape is a bonus.

Chestnut mushrooms can be found growing in the wild in Europe, North America and North Asia on decomposing wood, check dying beech trees. They grow in short, dense clusters like the photo above. There are look-alikes, such as other Pholiota species and Agaricus bisporus. To ensure you have a Chestnut mushroom look for tan gills and reddish-brown spore print. As always, do not forage mushrooms without an experienced guide.

Medicinally, Chestnut mushrooms have all the beneficial components of any typical mushroom; being a protein source with various antioxidants. But on top of that, a 2014 study, isolated a compound from Chestnut mushrooms that was found to inhibit HIV replication. Pretty fascinating. Read the study here.

Chestnut mushrooms are beautiful and tasty. We are honored to grow them for you.

 

Recipe: Savory Mushroom & Goat Cheese Tart

This recipe is one we love so much, it’s also on our website.

Here's what you need:

  • 1 large Chestnut Mushroom bag from Rich Life Farm (or substitute Shiitake)

  • Puff Pastry dough (2 sheets or about 15 oz package) OR visit our website to learn how you can make your own!

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 cup minced shallots (or your choice of spring onions, ramps, sweet onions, red onion)

  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic

  • Β½ cup white wine

  • 2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning

  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

  • 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary

  • 3 extra large eggs

  • ΒΎ cup milk (skim, 2% or whole milk are all fine)

  • Β½ cup goat cheese, crumbled (add a little more if you are using a leaner milk...3/4 cups).

  • ΒΌ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

How to:

  1. Start cooking your puff pastry according to the packet’s instructions. Once cooked, remove and set to the side until your are at step 6.

  2. In the meantime, over medium heat, sautΓ© the shallots and garlic in the olive oil for 5 minutes, stirring and not letting the mixture brown.

  3. Add the mushrooms and continue to sautΓ© for 10 minutes. Mushrooms are water-based so they will start to shrink as you cook them (releasing the steam).

  4. Add the white wine and herbs to mushrooms and cook down to where there is very little moisture in the pan. The idea is to get the mushroom mixture very dry. You can reduce heat to low and cook longer if you would like. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Let cool.

  5. Combine the mushroom mixture with the milk, eggs, goat cheese and nutmeg.

  6. Now everything is ready! Reduce oven to 350 degrees with the rack still in the middle.

  7. Pour mushroom mixture into baked tart shell and bake for 20-30 minutes until the custard is set. And voila! You have yourself some perfect mushroom and cheese tarts!

Enjoy! Thank you, John, for sharing this recipe and photo results with us.

If you have any mushroom recipes to share, email them over and we’d be more than happy to spread across this community.
 

Partner Spotlight: ETC Produce & Provisions

ETC Produce & Provisions is a grocery store in Findlay Market that makes local food accessible. You can find a variety of produce, dairy, meat and browse through various meal bundles to make cooking at home simple. Our mushrooms are sold in 4oz containers packaged by ETC.

If you don’t want to drive, they offer at home deliveries to certain zip codes. Visit their website to see if your residence qualifies. Plus their online ordering is so easy, there’s no reason to grocery shop elsewhere.

You can find more about ETC Produce & Provisions at www.etcproduce.com or in Findlay Market at 1801 Race Street Unit 149.
 

You can also find our mushrooms at restaurants and specialty stores lsted on our website. For the complete list, click the button below:
 Where to find Mushrooms 
 

Honey Bees love their fungi too

April is the month when honey bees become increasingly active. You might be worried about the decline in the bee population during these past couple years, but don’t lose hope.

One factor of bee populations declining is due to a deadly viral infection from Varroa mites. One infected bee will bring the sickness back to the hive, decimating the entire colony. Recently, researchers have found a means to eradicate these infections, thanks to a fungus called Metarihizium. 

Metarihizium is a common fungus found in soil all around the world and it has been found to parasitize the varroa mites. Bye-bye, nasty mites! Currently, a thermotolerant strain of this fungus is being developed to inoculate the soils around stressed and populated bee hives.

There is a bright future for our bees. You can read more about this research, here.
 

Thanks for tuning in!

We hope to see you at one of our two farmer’s markets. Until then, we wish you a happy day!

Instagram: @richlifefarm

Facebook: Rich Life Farm and Fungi

Ohio Proud. #liveyourrichlife
Rich Life Farm and Fungi

Rich Life Farm & Fungi, info@richlifefarm.com, 1144 Ten Mile Rd, New Richmond, United States

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