Michael Ebenal first developed an interest in mushrooms as a young boy on family camping trips, and this interest never ebbed, culminating in a mushroom growing operation that Ebenal owns with his wife on the outskirts of Merritt.
“I developed an interest for mushrooms at a young age when my aunt would take me on camping trips,” explained Ebenal.
“There were so many all over and nobody really knew which ones were edible or poisonous, and the unknown aspect of them was fascinating to me. In 2016 my wife came across an ad for a mushroom cultivation course in Oregon and I have been obsessed with cultivating and foraging ever since.”
Wanting to expand on what he had learned, and to begin to grow mushrooms for consumption and sale, Ebenal constructed a specialized indoor facility, that also allowed him to recycle waste products from various industries into a growing medium for different types of fungi.
“I built a facility specifically for cultivating mushrooms last year and most of the mushrooms I cultivate are grown indoors in a temperature and humidity-controlled building,” said Ebenal.
“What’s really cool about having a facility in town that cultivates these kinds of mushrooms is that I am taking various waste streams and growing gourmet and medicinal food on it. There are over 200 types of waste material that oyster mushrooms can be cultivated on, such as sawdust, cardboard, and cannabis waste. I cultivate these mushrooms on a mixture of woof chips and spent hops or coffee grounds that normally would be considered a waste stream. I receive the wood chips from the sawmill and spent hops from the local brewer,” Ebenal explained.
Ebenal also experiments with using mushrooms for the good of the environment and to improve peoples’ health.
“I have been experimenting with using mushrooms to break down plastics,” said Ebenal.
“Peter McCoy from Portland has been using oyster mushrooms to decompose cigarette filters. Most of the mushrooms I cultivate are wood loving mushrooms like Oyster, Lion’s Man, Wine Cap, Shiitake and Chestnut mushrooms. Unlike the common button mushrooms that grow on compost material, these mushrooms are primary decomposers which break down the sugars in wood, turning the sugars in polysaccharides which are known to fight diseases. Lion’s Mane is one of my best-selling mushrooms. It tastes like scallops and is good for your brain. This mushroom is being researched all over the world and has been shown to encourage neurogenesis, or the formation of new brain cells.”
A young Michael Ebenal with his aunt.
Through the cultivation of mushrooms and exploring the benefits of home raised food, Ebenal and his wife, who both sit on the board of the Nicola Valley Community Garden, have expanded their production to include other plants and livestock.
“My wife and I also raise sheep and chickens and have a large garden for growing food,” said Ebenal.
“We are planting lots of fruit trees on our property and we both have a passion for permaculture. We are essentially turning our land into a sustainable food forest by using lots of different trees, plants and fungi all growing together. We don’t use any chemicals such as fungicides, pesticides, or herbicides on our food or our land.”
Ebenal shares his passion and knowledge for permaculture and mushroom cultivation and foraging through his website and Instagram page. His fresh mushrooms are available at The Local Butcher and by prearranged pickup from his farm. Ebenal also sells grow-your-own mushroom kits and medicinal mushroom powders and tinctures across Canada.
“To people interested in cultivation I can say I am willing to teach anyone everything I do to cultivate mushrooms on our farm,” said Ebenal.
“There are roughly eight times more species of fungi than there are plants. Some of these mushrooms can feed you, some can heal you, some can kill you, some can induce a psychedelic experience, and many are still very unknown. Unlike plants, there are no mushrooms that can hurt you by touching them. I’d say start by getting a mushroom field guide and start identifying mushrooms that are edible and have no poisonous lookalikes. When you are able to identify that one consistently, move on to another.”
To help others develop an interest in mushrooms and to learn to safely identify which varieties are edible and which are not, Ebenal also leads mushroom foraging walks, the next of which will take place on May 30.
