Kohokuta TWP. — Mushroom farmers near Howell are surviving hunger.
Erin Hamilton of Kohokuta Township is the founder of Mushroom Conservatory. She sells her do-it-yourself mushroom growing kits and educates interested hobbyists.
“The possibilities for health and food security are endless,” she says. “I think we can reduce world hunger.”
About a year ago, Mushroom Conservatory began working with Eagles Wings Montessori School in the village of Ankadikeri Irafi, Madagascar.
Hamilton provided mushroom cultures to teachers so students could produce their own food with few resources.
She also works with Eco Agric Uganda, an organization that works with rural farmers and others. Over the past few months, hundreds of women and girls have learned how to grow mushrooms to feed their families and set up micro-enterprises to sell the mushrooms to others.
“We want to create more programs across Africa,” Hamilton said. “I am working on a guide covering different regions of Africa and locally available materials for growing mushrooms.”
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She also works on the University of Michigan's Sustainable Living Experience. Last semester, she helped students organize a mushroom growing space in the basement of their dormitory and continues to mentor her.
“We have between 40 and 60 buckets in operation right now. We've had some successful harvests,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton, who grew up on a farm, said she never expected to become a “mushroom lady.”
Her kit includes cultures to grow a variety of oyster mushrooms and lion's mane mushrooms, and she plans to add turkey tail and reishi mushrooms as well.
Hamilton originally established the mushroom greenhouse to grow premium gourmet mushrooms for private chefs and restaurants. She initially worked in a warehouse in Ann Arbor and then moved her business and her family to a farm near Howell.
This kit started out as a “science kit” for the homeschool community. It is currently carried in approximately 300 retail stores. Hamilton also sells individual kits and hosts workshops through her website, themushroomconservatory.com.
“Once you get the kit, you need to start with brown rice, or add brown rice to a bucket with straw or coffee grounds,” she says.
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Each kit has five 5-gallon buckets, each of which can produce 4 pounds of mushrooms. It can be harvested about 3 times.
— Contact reporter Jennifer Eberbach at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com.