Danny Rhodes of Desert Fungi in Velarde, New Mexico gives us a detailed tour of his greenhouse mushroom farm operation. I found the wet wall/swamp cooler system he rigged to control the temperature in his mushroom growing greenhouse in the summer especially interesting. Danny produces between 100-150 lbs of Oyster, Shiitake, and Lion’s Mane Mushrooms per week, most of which he sells at the Santa Fe Farmer’s Market and direct to local restaurants.
“Rob Torcellini bought a $700 greenhouse kit to grow more vegetables in his backyard. Then he added fish to get rid of a mosquito problem and before long he was a committed aquaponic gardener. Now his 10 by 12 foot greenhouse is filled with not only vegetables, but fish. And the best part is: the poo from that fish is what fertilizes his garden.”
Will Allen walks us through the Growing Power farm operation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They use vertical growing techniques to maximize yields and growing space for vegetables and mushrooms and they also produce tilapia (in heated tanks) and yellow perch (a lake fish that can no longer be fished for in many places because of contamination) in unheated tanks. The greenhouse producing all of this food is heated by compost.
The Real Know How 