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    Chester County Mushroom Farming
    Chester County Mushroom Farming
    Chester County Mushroom Farming
    Ebook188 pages35 minutes

    Chester County Mushroom Farming

    By Bruce Edward Mowday

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    About this ebook

    Chester County is well known for its sprawling scenic views, rich farmland, the Main Line, and mushrooms. Chester County, and specifically the village of Kennett Square, is known as the mushroom capital of the world because of the quantity and quality of mushrooms grown there. Mushrooms have been around for centuries, with the French beginning cultivation in the 1600s, and mushroom farming began in Chester County more than 120 years ago. The earliest farmers were Quakers, but over the years members of the Irish, Italian, and Hispanic communities have joined the ranks of Chester County mushroom farmers. The local mushroom farmers were responsible for the forming of the American Mushroom Institute more than a half century ago.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateJul 7, 2008
    ISBN9781439620212
    Chester County Mushroom Farming
    Author

    Bruce Edward Mowday

    Bruce Edward Mowday is the author of five Arcadia volumes: Coatesville, Downingtown, West Chester, Along the Brandywine River, and Chester County Mushroom Farming. Parkesburg is a collaboration involving the Parkesburg Free Library, the author, and local citizens. Many of the photographs in Parkesburg were drawn from the library�s�collection.

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      Book preview

      Chester County Mushroom Farming - Bruce Edward Mowday

      2008

      INTRODUCTION

      Historians have noted the existence of mushrooms for many centuries. In ancient civilizations mushrooms were utilized as a medicine and not as a food source. Not until French chefs in the 17th century began using mushrooms in exotic dishes did the mushrooms become a flavorful and nutritious addition to the diets of many people. Today a variety of mushrooms are grown throughout the world and enjoyed in an array of dishes.

      While many countries of the world grow mushrooms and most culinary cultures make use of them, the center of the mushroom universe in the United States is Chester County, Pennsylvania. The area around Kennett Square is proudly known as the Mushroom Capital of the World. There are more mushroom-growing operations concentrated in southern Chester County than any other area in the United States.

      In the United States, mushroom growing began after the Civil War as growers from the Kennett Square area started cultivating mushrooms as a seasonal crop. As advancements were made in the science of growing mushrooms, farmers were able to have longer growing periods. Mushroom farming grew in Pennsylvania and Chester County to a year-round endeavor as scientific advances were made. Today mushroom farming is a major component of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s leading industry, agriculture.

      The Community Awareness Committee of the AMI has traced the roots of mushroom farming in Chester County. The committee has written, The specialty, which was to make Chester County world-renowned, began about 1885, when William Swayne, a successful florist in Kennett Square, conceived the idea of growing mushrooms beneath his greenhouse benches. He sent to England for spawn, and the results were sufficiently encouraging to make him decide that a separate building would make it possible to control the growing conditions for mushroom culture. He built the first mushroom house in the area, and his son, J. Bancroft Swayne, returning from college, took over the mushroom business and made it a commercial success, eventually developing a spawn plant and a cannery in addition to the growing houses. Encouraged by the Swayne success and the attractive price of mushrooms in city markets, others began the production of mushrooms as their principal occupation.

      The idea for the AMI began prior to America’s involvement in World War II by growers in Chester County. The growers wanted an organization to act as an advocate for the mushroom farm community. Efforts to organize the AMI were suspended during the war. After World War II, the growers resumed efforts to organize the mushroom farmers, and in the 1950s, Walter L. Gmuer of F. D. Croce and Company, Inc., of New York City took a leadership role and became the first executive director of the AMI.

      Louis Toto of Landenberg spearheaded a membership drive of local mushroom growers in 1954, the same year that 100 mushroom owners agreed to work together to advertise mushrooms. With the help of attorney George J. Brutscher, the organization was incorporated and bylaws were developed and the AMI was legally incorporated on January 14, 1955.

      In 1955, as it is today, the AMI’s purpose was to promote increased consumption of cultivated mushrooms by every means possible, including research, advertising, publicity, merchandising, consumer education, and government relations. The organization also assists in the developing of better and more economical methods of growing, packaging, and shipping mushrooms.

      The AMI works with mushroom farmers and suppliers and with educational institutions, including Pennsylvania State University, for the betterment of the mushroom growers. The AMI is a national voluntary trade association representing the growers, processors, and marketers of cultivated mushrooms in the United States and industry suppliers worldwide.

      Mushroom farming in Chester County over the past century and has seen varied ethnic groups take part in the industry. Quaker and Irish growers began mushroom farming, and later Italian and Latino families joined to work in the industry and eventually own their own farms. Chester County mushroom farms have become an economic force. Mushroom farms supply many jobs to

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