Emily Sharood and Johnny Dickinson

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Emily Sherud is the sales and marketing director at Mowsum Valley Mushrooms, and Johnny Dickinson is a woodworker and owner of Winter Hill Design. Thanks for coming in today.

Johnny Dickinson:

Thanks for having us.

Emily Sharood:

Thank you.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you brought with you these really beautiful organic Italian oyster mushrooms. I mean, they're in this wonderful cardboard box, and they're so pretty. I just want to. I want to take them out and start like, you know, cooking with them or at least just admiring them. Yeah, you guys have had a lot of time to admire the mushrooms.

Emily Sharood:

Absolutely. Our Italian oysters have a chicken, almost like a chicken teriyaki flavor to them. I'll cook them whenever we're doing shows or we're introducing them to a new chef or an institution, and people will think that I've done some sort of spectacular cooking thing with them, but really it's just simple. Salt, pepper and saute in a pan for about 15 to 20 minutes. And and really, it's just the flavor of the mushroom coming out that kind of has that umami sort of flavor to it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So that's very interesting that mushrooms don't all taste like mushrooms. They taste like different whatever they are, whether it's Italian oyster or whether it's hen of the woods or whether it's shiitake. Is this specific to their type of mushroom? Is it specific, specific to where they're raised? Why do they all have different flavors?

Emily Sharood:

So mushrooms are a really neat protein in the sense that they are able to absorb whatever sort of flavors and oils that you cook them in. They have. Their tissue structure is similar, like a sponge, so it'll just soak up all those flavors in the pan. But then they also do have their own individual tastes as well, and that really does come from the substrate that they're grown in. So it's important to us at Malison Valley Mushrooms to ensure that we're growing them on hardwoods, as well as using cotton seed hulls and other agricultural byproducts so they taste as natural and organic as possible. And it really shows and reflects in the. Not in only the way they look, but in the way they taste as well.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So why mushrooms of all things?

Emily Sharood:

Well, I'd have to start back to the beginning. About seven years ago, at this point, in my brother Robert's backyard in Sanford, Maine, we were starting a permaculture garden. He was suffering from stomach issues at the time, and doctors weren't really sure as to what it was exactly. So rather than going the pharmaceutical route, he decided to begin growing his own food, primarily, you know, meats like poultry and rabbits, as well as vegetables and fruits. And at the basis of this permaculture garden was the mushroom, the mycelium root. It helped turn that sandy Sanford soil into this rich loam that allowed us to create such a garden. And so not only was it supplying us with good soil to grow the other varieties of foods, but it also allowed us to feed the poultry and the ducks with the insects that were attracted to the substrate. And then also, in turn, we were able to eat and have these amazing mushrooms on our dish. So I was going to school for marketing and design at the time, and then Robert was going to school for business management. And we were both seniors and looking to create our senior thesis and came up with the idea to collaborate. And I started doing the marketing and the graphic work and designing a website and a mock list. And we came up with the name Farming Fungi, llc, and then it transitioned into the brand Malsum Valley Mushrooms. Once we ended up locating this barn, a dairy barn that hadn't been used in about 50 years right in Springvale, Maine. And so as this started to develop, we approached my father, John, on his 50th birthday. Along with his L.L. bean slippers. He also got A business plan to farming fungi. And he started doing market research. His background is in entrepreneurialship and working with startup software companies. And so he started doing some market research and really saw that there was this niche market in the New England area where there was no specialty local mushrooms. It was really just the agaricus strains like the white button and the portobello mushroom, which is, you know, mostly based out of Pennsylvania. So we approached Whole Foods in Hannaford to find out if they would be interested in purchasing a product and selling this to their consumer. And they were on board with it. So we started looking into applications, grant applications through us for marketing, as well as an MTI seed grant to create the grow rooms. And then once we found the barn again in Springvale, Maine, we started creating the grow rooms using a proprietary software system that my father John helped design with McKenzie Designs Engineering. And from there we started growing a few pounds of mushrooms, all the way up to about 3,000 pounds of mushrooms a week at this point. And that's within a five year, five to six year span.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Johnny, what is your relationship?

Johnny Dickinson:

She's my fiance.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Okay, well, I was gonna ask about to the mushrooms, but okay, so your relationship to Emily, she's your fiance, but you have a background. You have a bachelor in fine arts from the Maine College of Art in woodworking and furniture design, and you build the structures that hold the mushroom blocks for the mushrooms.

Johnny Dickinson:

Ever since the mushroom farm started, I've always just been there to help out with whatever I can. So which that usually entails building and creating shelving units and basically anything made out of wood. So I've always been there to help out and harvest the mushrooms and gone to lots of food shows with Emma. So I've kind of had like a, I don't know, a little side. Side employment kind of, I don't know what to call it, but just being there on the sidelines helping out because she's my lady.

Emily Sharood:

Yep. Our. We started out way back in the day foraging for mushrooms. We used to go for trail walks and at that point in time, Johnny wasn't so familiar with actually eating mushrooms that have been growing in the woods. And at one, you know, thought I was a little bit crazy when I was. We were. I remember this one time specifically we were grilling chicken of the woods that we had just foraged off of one of our local paths. And, and I was so excited that we had found it together. And I had cooked it up over the fire and I was like, oh, here, try this. And Johnny was like, no. And at that moment, I was like, wow, I'm not sure if this is gonna. If this is gonna work. And with that, he took his first bite of Chicken of the woods, and we haven't really looked back since.

Johnny Dickinson:

Yeah, that's kind of. That was a turning point for me. I like mushrooms now.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That's a good thing, it sounds like. Yeah, it could have been a problem

Emily Sharood:

if that hadn't happened.

Johnny Dickinson:

I think there was a little name calling going on with it, like, if. If I didn't try the mushroom, I might have been a loser, and that wasn't an option. So.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

No, nobody likes that. So why did you not like mushrooms? Is it just that when you were growing up, you didn't eat a lot of them?

Johnny Dickinson:

Yeah, you know, it's just like, you know, kids are picky with food, and mushrooms just always seemed slippery and slimy and unappetizing, so I always stayed away from them. I always avoided any food that had mushrooms. Like, I would. I would pick them out, but at. At best, I would just not eat something that had mushrooms in it. And it took eating a really good mushroom that was cooked the right way for me to appreciate it. And now I love mushrooms, and I cook them all the time. So it's just. I think it's, you know, with. With art or with food or with anything, if you experience it the right way or, you know, in a good way that looks really good or tastes really good, you'll appreciate it.

Emily Sharood:

Yeah. So whenever anybody tells me that they don't like mushrooms, I have to agree that I don't particularly like button mushrooms or even portobello because they're grown, you know, in dirt, whereas our mushrooms are grown on this wood substrate. So it has this really amazing, earthy, woody texture to it and flavor that's just really appetizing. And the other. The other thing is that people say, oh, it's too slimy or meaty. So what I particularly choose to cook them is by allowing. Tearing them up into smaller pieces and allowing them to crisp up in the dish. So it's just. It's really all about how you cook it. And I would recommend to the people out there who feel like it might be too slimy for them would be to have them cut in smaller pieces and to cook them longer in the pan until they get nice and crisp. And that's a really great way to enjoy them.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, it's funny because as you're talking, I'm thinking about the difference between an heirloom tomato, freshly picked off the vine in July and a refrigerated tomato that has come from California on a truck in the middle of winter. And there's a big difference between one and the other. You know, they both have their function. If you want a tomato in the middle of the winter, that's the kind you get. But it shouldn't be that surprising to us that more industrially grown mushrooms are going to have a really different flavor and profile than the ones that you are growing.

Emily Sharood:

Yeah. And we try to bring both of those aspects together. So you're able to purchase our mushrooms year round, because we do grow them all indoors. And you don't have to worry about the bugs, but you get the same feeling and taste and texture as you would if you had just forage it right off of your favorite walking path. But we've ensured that it's the right variety to eat and consume, and it's at the perfect time to be picked. So it'll last about five to seven days in your fridge and you'll have it in time to enjoy.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That foraging piece is interesting, too, because there are some mushrooms that are poisonous. So it's not actually as easy as, oh, there's a mushroom growing, I'm gonna go pick it and eat it. You actually have to know what you're doing.

Emily Sharood:

Absolutely.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So you've taken that guesswork out of. Out of the equation for people?

Emily Sharood:

Yes, 100%. And I'd say at this point in time, since Johnny is a woodworker and he's lived here in Maine his whole life, that he's probably a better forager than I am. But don't tell anyone that. But he just told the whole world at this point. Yeah, I think he is.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So you didn't like mushrooms, but you were good at finding them? Is that what I understand, Johnny?

Johnny Dickinson:

Yeah, I can read the trees. And that's how I go through the forest, is I study the way the environment is changing. And I can kind of see, I guess, through the forest in a way that a different view than most people have is where I can kind of start to predict which direction I need to go to start looking for these specific types of mushrooms that we might be looking for that time of year. Like, you know, just going from birch tree to birch tree, looking for chaga or knowing, oh, there's some really big old oak trees over there. Maybe we're gonna find hen of the woods or chicken of the woods. And just kind of guiding myself through that way, I think tends to find a lot of mushrooms. Most of the mushrooms we Forage grow on trees or in some kind of symbiotic relationship with trees or they're a parasite of a tree. So if you know the trees, you're basically identifying the food sources for the mushrooms and finding them that way.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yep.

Emily Sharood:

And then for those who are interested in looking for their own mushrooms, I always highly recommend three primary sources for confirmation and starting out with tree mushrooms because tree mushrooms are a lot less likely to be poisonous than ground mushrooms. So looking for oysters would be my go to. That's how I first started out, oyster mushrooms.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So you've mentioned chaga, which I believe originally was in Siberia or other colder weather countries that they were using it for its health benefits. And we now know that in Maine we have this amazing source of really immune boosting, I guess I'll just call it food. Is that the way or fungus? Is that the way you would refer to it?

Emily Sharood:

So chaga is commonly known as a mushroom. It is definitely a fungus. But the chaga itself that we ingest is a sclerotial mass and it almost looks like burnt bark on a tree, as if somebody's lit the tree on fire. But it's got more antioxidants than even the pomegranate or an achai. So and it has, it's also been tested to have anti tumor, anti cancer, cancer properties as well. And you wouldn't actually eat it because it would be way too woody. So you would steep it in tea. So just don't go past the boiling point or else you'll kill off the beneficial microflora that's in there. But steep it in tea and add a little honey, some maple or birch syrup with it, some cinnamon, nutmeg and it's a really delicious medicinal drink.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You also we've talked about the Italian oyster mushrooms. You also offer shiitake and butter oyster and a mix and a forest medley. So are there different health benefits to each of those types of mushrooms?

Emily Sharood:

Yeah, absolutely. The shiitake mushroom has anti inflammatory properties to to it again they're all protein based so they all have that slow release energy which is great to have throughout the day. I like to even add mushrooms. I'll cook the mushrooms up first and then add them to a salad and add an egg on top of that and have that as like my start of the day. And it's just a really great way to have energy throughout. But you can also have them at night too as a side dish as well. So they're really versatile in that way.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How about the different tastes of the oyster mushroom versus the shiitake versus the butter.

Emily Sharood:

Yep. So the shiitake mushroom has more of an umami flavor to it. It's one of our most mushroomy tasting ones. So if people are really looking for that potent flavor, I would highly suggest the shiitake. I even like to cook them up nice and crisp again and make, like, a bacon shiitake. If you're a vegetarian, just use the shiitake themselves with a little bit of olive oil. Or if you are a bacon lover, I highly recommend cooking up some bacon and then and then using the bacon fat to cook your shiitake mushrooms in. And I doubt it's gonna make it to your plate before it gets off the pan. And then Johnny is an amazing chef. What do you think about the flavors?

Johnny Dickinson:

I love them all. I mean, the shiitake, again, great with any kind of meat. Their texture is a little meatier as well. They're a little more robust. The oysters are great with anything with chicken, with veggies, stir fries, fried rice. The other varieties you grow, the lion's mane, are great with seafood. They kind of almost have like, a crab meat texture to them. So, like, poached in butter and just lightly sauteed and served with crab cakes or even mixed into crab cakes. What else did we make those?

Emily Sharood:

Our scallops? We. Oh, yeah. Johnny made an amazing scallop risotto, and we added some lion's mane to that as well, and it was delicious. And then going back to the medicinal point, we call the lion's mane brain mushroom. Not only does it kind of look like a brain in a way when you cut it open, but it actually has great cognitive function and is also being used as a treatment for Alzheimer's as well as just for anybody who's looking to think a little bit clearer. So I highly suggest lion's mane as well.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I was talking to a forager recently, and he mentioned that there's a man on the west coast who's doing work with mushrooms and soil detoxification that mushrooms are very good at kind of, I don't know, soaking up oil spills or taking things out of the environment that aren't so good for us. So that being the case, then, it seems to make sense that they would just be picking up the good nutrients from the environment that we could then ingest. Yep.

Emily Sharood:

Going back to the very beginning, soil remediation was the big factor for us, starting with the mushroom as our product. It's really important to to mouse and valley mushrooms to know that we are creating a product that uses agricultural waste necessarily to create a product for. For us to enjoy and eat. And then also our waste then goes back to other farms and helps remediate their soil. Because the. The mushroom root really is great at sequestering water and retaining it and then also releasing it when it is had enough. So it's really helpful in that sense.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It seems like. It seems like this is a pretty humble thing that we're talking about, this fungus that grows on trees and on the ground forest floor. And yet it's something that you've decided to. Your family has decided to build this business around and the two of you both are focusing so much attention on it. Is this something that you are surprised by? Would you have thought this would be the direction your lives would take?

Johnny Dickinson:

Not 10 years ago? No. I mean, I was. I guess I didn't really know you at the time, but finishing up high school and getting ready to go to Wentworth Institute of Technology to study industrial design, pictured myself drawing and designing sports cars and, you know, everything like that. And then gradually got kind of tired of the artificiality of it all and realized how much I missed being back home in Maine and being in nature. And that's when Emma and I kind of met and got together and just kind of both, I think, transitioned our lives back towards that.

Emily Sharood:

Yeah, I mean, we're both artists in a sense, and we both love using mediums that are natural. It just. It makes the most sense to us, I think. And then I started out, my college career was in. I started out in pharmacy school. I always knew I wanted to help my community somehow, and I was really. I've always been a helpful person. It's kind of what brings joy and happiness to me. But I realized, soon realized that the pharmacy route wasn't for me, and then went into fashion design. Realized I loved design, but that the fashion industry is not sustainable at the moment. And so I started diving deeper into what other interests I had. And everybody needs food. It's the foundation of life. So that's kind of what brought us to the mushroom. Because the mushroom is the foundation of life. It's the beginning and it's the end. It's what keeps the circle going. So I just felt like it couldn't go wrong with the mushroom. It. The earth needs it, we need it. And it's. It's a sector that hasn't really. It's a stereotype that I want to help kind of break. There's a symbiotic relationship between mushrooms and humans. That I want to help bring about and, and make it mainstream because it's beneficial for not only the earth, but it's beneficial for us, too.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Tell me about Springvale. This is a part of Maine that not many people know about, Right.

Emily Sharood:

So Roberts was living in Sanford at the time, and Springvale is the town right over, and it's got. It's got the Malsum river running through it. And we were. There's this beautiful section of farms on Blanchard Road. And we knew, starting out that we wanted to be around farms because we were going to be creating this substrate mushroom compost that needed to be moved to farms, and we wanted to do it close by. So right off of this beautiful pond overlooking the valley, we found this picturesque dairy barn that had last been used as a dance hall and before that had been used as. As. As a dairy barn. And I've even run into a few people saying, oh, I used to milk the cows in there. And like, well, yeah, now we're harvesting mushrooms in there. So it's kind of nice to have that history behind it as well. And yeah, so we're also collaborating with the. With the local farms around us. Our operations manager, Aaron Gonzalez, has his own produce farm as well as a dairy farm, the Whites Dairy Farm, that they. That he works with as well. And. And then we have Annette's Gardens, the grow microgreens and greenhouses. And then you have Rivard's Blueberry Farm. And so it was just. It's a beautiful area and location, and the people and the food movement that's going on in Springvale is so strong. We have a farm trail walk coming up in April. And so that's. It's really the community that brought us there, and we're really excited to be a part of it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Johnny, what do you hope to do with your art moving forward?

Johnny Dickinson:

Well, I own my own business called Winter Hill Design. I do custom furniture and woodworking. I grew up woodworking with my dad, so it's always been part of me. And like I said, when I went away to school for design, for industrial design, I thought that was what I really wanted to do. But this woodworking and being in Maine has always been a part of me. So I hope to just build my business organically. And I just can't wait to have my own shop someday and just get to go out there and make whatever I want. Hopefully things that people appreciate and want. Yeah, I just. I love creating things. I love working with wood. I love nature and mushrooms. And if we can incorporate mushrooms into furniture someday. That would be cool too.

Emily Sharood:

That would be a really neat collaboration. Absolutely.

Johnny Dickinson:

I just picture us having a beautiful homestead with some land and just creating things all day every day.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I look forward to digging into these Italian oyster mushrooms that you brought, although it seems a little bit of a shame to like ruin them because they're so pretty. But I'll look at them for a

Emily Sharood:

little while before I actually I know they almost look like a bouquet of flowers. Really, they do. Johnny and I are getting married in September and I'm trying to figure out how I can incorporate the mushrooms in with the bouquets of flowers. We'll make it work. Yellow Twisted Floral Designs actually used our mushrooms for one of their weddings that they set up.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Who knew that mushrooms had so many different sides to them? I've been speaking with Emily Sharud, who is the Sales and Marketing director at Mowson Valley Mushrooms, and also her fiance Johnny Dickinson, who is a woodworker and owner of Winter Hill Design. Thank you for coming in and talking with me today.

Johnny Dickinson:

Thank you so much for having us. It's a pleasure.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Dr. Zach Mazzone D.O. created DaySpring Integrative Wellness in Bath, Maine with the belief that true health comes from building healthy relationships with your community, with your doctor, and with yourself. As a board certified family and integrative medicine physician, Dr. Mazzone and the whole staff at DaySpring are committed to supporting your wellness journey by providing integrative family medical care, osteopathic manipulation, herbal and lifestyle conc consultations, counseling and wave therapy. DaySpring offers an innovative membership based model of healthcare that gives you time together with Dr. Fazzoni to build a personalized wellness plan based on your health goals. Daily access for acute appointments is available and you can even schedule a secure video conference call in the privacy of your own home. I know Dr. Zak and his family and I believe strongly in the personalized whole person approach to health that he provides. This is why I am encouraging you to find out more for yourself by visiting dayspringintegrativewellness.com or by calling them directly at 207-751-4775. Dayspring Wellness the way It Should Be