From milling bran to mushrooms: our local substrate

Contrary to what many people imagine, cultivated mushrooms do not grow in soil. They develop on a substrate: a mix of plant materials that the mycelium, the invisible part of the fungus, colonises before producing the mushrooms we harvest. Choosing the substrate means choosing where what we eat really comes from.

At Mycotopia, it will come from the region.

Grain and bran from the Moulin de la Pallanterie

The Moulin de la Pallanterie, a Geneva flour mill, will supply us with two things that would otherwise have little use.

• Leftover grain from milling. It is used to make mushroom spawn: the mycelium first multiplies on sterilised grain, which is then used to inoculate the substrate.
• Wheat bran, the outer layer of the grain separated from the flour. Added to the substrate, it enriches it and feeds the mycelium.

Wood chips from Environnement 2000, in Versoix

Many specialty mushrooms, such as shiitake, chestnut mushroom and lion's mane, grow naturally on wood. Their substrate will therefore be based on hardwood chips supplied by Environnement 2000, a Versoix company that has been recovering wood from the cantons of Geneva and Vaud since 1987: urban tree felling, forest maintenance, sorting wood by species and quality.

A short loop

Geneva grain, regional wood, a farm in the canton: the raw materials will travel just a few kilometres. And once the harvest is over, the spent substrate, rich in organic matter, can return to the land as a soil improver. This loop, from by-product to plate and back to the soil, is at the heart of Mycotopia.

To learn more about the project, read the story of Mycotopia.

To follow the farm as it takes shape and hear when we open, join the waiting list at the bottom of the page. Are you a chef or restaurant owner? Visit our page for professionals. In the meantime, our mushroom recipes give you a foretaste.