Science and art all part of fun-gi

“MUSHROOMS double their size every 24 hours – they just pop out of the ground and grow quickly,” says Kevin Tolson, owner of Regal Mushrooms, which grows 80 tonnes of mushrooms a week. However, the Londonderry mushroom farmer says it’s difficult to grow mushrooms to make them commercially viable. “It’s a complex process and there is a huge infra- structure cost on a hi-tech mushroom farm,” he said, pointing to the mushroom pickers working on five tiers of mushrooms.

He said knowledge was vital in the mushroom industry and he could consult his brothers Robert and David who ran farms in Glosodia and Vineyard. And if the brothers are still stuck for answers, there’s the maestro, their father Rob, 76, who started the business and has 55 years of experience in the industry. At Regal Mushrooms, when workers move from one growing room to another, they have to change their clothes and have their shoes cleaned. “Hygiene is important to us – we have to be alert with diseases,” Mr Tolson said. “The mushroom compost is where all the food comes from for the mushroom. My father’s an incredible composter. “There’s a lot of chemistry in making mushroom compost and growing mushrooms but there’s also an art form to it – something you just can’t get looking at a sheet of analytical numbers or lab analysis.’’