SAGUACHE — Tylor and Danielle Berreth, proprietors of Saguache-based Alpine Valley Mushrooms are a common sight at farmers markets and events such as the Crestone Energy Fair selling their produce — mushrooms.
According to Tylor Berreth, the two have been in business for about a year and a half and have a son Boletus who is the same age as the business. The entire family is a great addition to any market or festival they attend.
The couple had a cafe in their current Saguache location that has morphed into their mushroom farm.
Interest in mushrooms began when Tylor was a student at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and he was tasked to grow an herb for herbal medicine classes. He decided that rather than grow an herb, he grew a shitake mushroom, and "That was the starting point, that was the first mushroom I ever grew. I became interested in the medicinal benefits. I became super-fascinated. A huge shout-out to my teachers at MSU Denver including Dr. Stephen Rissman," who is a professor and a faculty member in the Integrative Health Program in the Department of Health Professions at the university. "He helped me pursue that passion."
Tylor added that his wife Danielle began taking classes at the botanical garden and studied medicinal medicine.
"She started to get into the herbal medicine, and I got into the fungal medicine, and we just combined forces and we grew our passions together," he said.
"Right at the time all of this was happening, we went to the Cherry Creek Farmers Market, and we met this guy who was with Fresh From the Farm Fungi, Gary Heferle he has been absolutely crucial in my development as a mycologist. He took me under his wing, and I was working [informally] as his apprentice, I was gaining knowledge and we traded knowledge and it formed into this beautiful friendship. I consider him as my mushroom mentor," said Tylor.
Passion is the word Tylor, a mycologist — entrepreneur used during an interview with the Valley Courier and is emblematic of his devotion to the craft of growing and selling mushrooms. The Berreth's son, Boletus, is named after a variety of porcini mushroom, said Tylor.
The mushrooms are grown in Saguache and the couple produce about 50 pounds weekly. They are grown on a locally produced organic substrate that is sourced from practitioners of regenerative agricultural techniques.
Lion's mane mushrooms are a variety the couple focuses on, especially in winter months. The farm also produces extracts of the mushroom. Local strains of mushrooms are an attribute Alpine Valley Mushroom prides itself on. Currently, the farm is producing a Crestone and a Salida oyster mushroom. Both are species Tylor cloned in the farm's lab. The farm also produces blue oyster and in the summer months, pioppinno mushrooms to name just a few.
Aside from growing mushrooms, Alpine Valley Mushrooms is spearheading, "A bioremediation project at the Saguache County landfill. I'm inoculating the landfill with specific types of mycelium to hopefully accelerate the degradation of the trash there. I just got a Saguache County Sales Tax grant for that. People are really excited about the idea of breaking down trash faster and bioremediating the plastics there."
The Berreths are passionate about what they are producing, "It is really important for us to get this into the hands of everybody, and that we can and make it accessible," said Tylor.
The farm also offers classes in mushroom cultivation and their medicinal uses.
Alpine Valley Mushrooms are available at Saguache Works in Saguache, The Elephant Cloud in Crestone, and the SLV Apothecary in Alamosa. Valley Roots Food Hub also sells the mushrooms on its website.
For more information visit Alpine Valley Mushroom on Facebook or the Valley Roots Food Hub at www.valleyrootsfoodhub.com.
