This week, we had the pleasure of speaking with Winslow Robinson of Riverside Farm in North Yarmouth, Maine. Winslow and his partner Laura focus on honest, holistic health and wellness, as well as creative innovations for efficiency in farming. In this interview, we learned more about their experience with mushroom log cultivation and their innovations: a 'Mush Room," wax spraying gun, spawn blaster, and a log turner.
Left to right: shiitakes growing from a log, Laura and Winslow Robinson with their daughter Finley, Riverside Farm's "Mush Room."
Left to right: shiitakes growing from a log, Laura and Winslow Robinson with their daughter Finley.
Nate: Hi there! Please introduce yourself and let us know where you are located.
Winslow: Hi I'm Winslow Robinson, we are located in North Yarmouth, Maine!
Nate: Thanks for speaking with us. Please tell us a little about Riverside Farm and what you do there.
Winslow: Riverside Farm is an organic no-till farm and apiary, focusing on log-cultivated mushrooms, mixed veggies, honey, eggs and pork.
Nate: So do you typically grow solo or with employees or family? We'd love to know the scale of your operation.
Winslow: We grow primarily solo with some help from friends, locating about 8-10 trees each November for harvesting bolts (logs) in late January / early February.
Nate: And what sparked your interest in working with fungi?
Winslow: We attended a DIY shiitake mushroom course a few years ago, and were inspired to try cultivating mushrooms on logs.
Nate: What types of mushrooms have you grown? Are there any that you really focus on?
Winslow: We grow primarily shiitake, as we’ve had trouble with fungus beetles on oyster mushrooms. We’ve found the only significant pest pressure in our area is slugs, which are slowed by crushed stone and elevating logs in our production space.
Nate: There are so many different ways of growing mushrooms outside. Can you share which method(s) you’ve used and anything you’ve learned along the way?
Winslow: We use the log method. Having spent ages applying wax manually, we developed a wax gun, which applies molten beeswax to our bolts to seal in the sawdust spawn. A stainless steel Venturi valve at the end of an air gun pulls melted wax from a stainless culinary piston funnel (wrapped in heat tape) through a food-grade silicone hose. Pressure can be finely controlled at the air compressor, and on the air gun, to dose wax atomization. Silicone tape helps to hold heat tape wrapped around the silicone hose, ensuring the beeswax remains liquid at cold ambient temps.
The wax gun in use.
Nate: There are so many different ways of growing mushrooms outside. Can you share which method(s) you’ve used and anything you’ve learned along the way?
Winslow: We use the log method. Having spent ages applying wax manually, we developed a wax gun, which applies molten beeswax to our bolts to seal in the sawdust spawn. A stainless steel Venturi valve at the end of an air gun pulls melted wax from a stainless culinary piston funnel (wrapped in heat tape) through a food-grade silicone hose. Pressure can be finely controlled at the air compressor, and on the air gun, to dose wax atomization. Silicone tape helps to hold heat tape wrapped around the silicone hose, ensuring the beeswax remains liquid at cold ambient temps.
The wax gun in use.
The wax gun in use.
Nate: It's so cool to see it in action - so that brings us to your Mush Room! Why did you create it? Did you face any challenges and how does it work? How is it in regards to growing in Maine?
Winslow: The Mush Room is a basic high tunnel built in the woods, to have greater control over environmental conditions (e.g., wind, shade, humidity), and serve as a home from inoculation to harvest. The build kit is from Johnny’s with a Gothic shape to shed snow, which we modified with bent hoop returns to support logs during fruiting. Here are some pics and vids of the Mush Room, and other farm-y innovations (e.g., mushroom spawn blaster, semi-automated log turner).
Shiitake logs being harvested in preparation for sales.
The Mush Room on a snowy winter night.
Riverside Farm's "Mush Room" on a snowy winter night.
Nate: Does the Mush Room offer adequate shade and ambient sunlight?
Winslow: Totally! It is located in the woods under a deciduous canopy. Until the leaves emerge we create dappled light with shade netting. Ambient light comes through leaves and does an excellent job for us.
Nate: Does the Mush Room allow you to grow mushrooms all year round?
Winslow: We've only fruited in the summer and fall, but are interested in trying year-round cultivation.
Nate: How do you care for your logs during colonization?
Winslow: Our logs are stacked to minimize oxygen exposure, which maximizes space. We cover them with shade netting and row cover fabric to protect them from direct sun. After the risk of frost has passed, automated misting keeps the logs from drying out; when it’s still chilly we water them daily. Once it’s hot we aerate the tunnel, raising the roll up sides. The sides have Proteknet to exclude pests.
Nate: How long does it typically take for your logs to fruit?
Nate: Does the Mush Room offer adequate shade and ambient sunlight?
Winslow: Totally! It is located in the woods under a deciduous canopy. Until the leaves emerge we create dappled light with shade netting. Ambient light comes through leaves and does an excellent job for us.
Nate: Does the Mush Room allow you to grow mushrooms all year round?
Winslow: We've only fruited in the summer and fall, but are interested in trying year-round cultivation.
The Mush Room on a snowy winter night.
Nate: How do you care for your logs during colonization?
Winslow: Our logs are stacked to minimize oxygen exposure, which maximizes space. We cover them with shade netting and row cover fabric to protect them from direct sun. After the risk of frost has passed, automated misting keeps the logs from drying out; when it’s still chilly we water them daily. Once it’s hot we aerate the tunnel, raising the roll up sides. The sides have Proteknet to exclude pests.
Nate: How long does it typically take for your logs to fruit?
Winslow: Mushrooms are ready to fruit by mid-August, after about six months in the Mush Room. After that we force them for our summer CSA and farm stand sales.
Nate: That is an attractive turnaround time considering that usually logs take about a year to colonize and fruit when left outside. What are you working on now, if anything, and what would you like to try in the future?
Winslow: We’re currently building a mushroom spawn blaster that deposits the precise amount of spawn into a timed air-powered barrel, shooting the spawn into the log. The blaster consists of a few Arduino Nanos and modified open-source foam dart blasters using 3D modeling + 3D printing. On trigger pull, this prototype sends a Bluetooth signal to turn on an LED - a modest step towards pulling a trigger and firing a live-made 'spawn dart.'
We've also been developing an automated log turning tool, to precisely rotate our bolts for each inoculation row. Stomping a foot pedal turns the logs 2 inches at a time, minimizing material handling for each log. One NEMA 23 stepper motor rotates the log over four drive wheels.
Mushroom blaster (credit: FrontlineFoam) and airless drive wheels (credit: McMaster-Carr) being printed with clear food-grade and white flexible filaments.
Nate: It's really impressive that you continue to work on cultivation efficiency in the technical realm. We know it’s hard to choose, but do you have a favorite mushroom and why?
Winslow: It's hard to beat the flavor of fresh shiitake fried in ample butter!
Nate: I'd have to agree with you! How do you prepare your harvests for sale?
Winslow: We harvest into a sanitized belly bucket, and refrigerate in slotted cardboard containers.
Nate: Do you have any words of wisdom you’d like to share with folks who are curious about growing or are just getting started? Particularly for those growing in cold and fluctuant climates such as Maine?
Winslow: Be sure to store your bolts under cover between harvest and inoculation - if they are covered in snow and ice, the frosty conditions make drilling difficult, and can create wax adherence problems.
Nate: Thank you so much for your insight and time!
Winslow: Thank you!
Nate: It's really impressive that you continue to work on cultivation efficiency in the technical realm. We know it’s hard to choose, but do you have a favorite mushroom and why?
Winslow: It's hard to beat the flavor of fresh shiitake fried in ample butter!
Nate: I'd have to agree with you! How do you prepare your harvests for sale?
Winslow: We harvest into a sanitized belly bucket, and refrigerate in slotted cardboard containers.
Nate: Do you have any words of wisdom you’d like to share with folks who are curious about growing or are just getting started? Particularly for those growing in cold and fluctuant climates such as Maine?
Winslow: Be sure to store your bolts under cover between harvest and inoculation - if they are covered in snow and ice, the frosty conditions make drilling difficult, and can create wax adherence problems.
Nate: Thank you so much for your insight and time!
Winslow: Thank you!