July / August 2007
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MUSHROOM COMPOSTING GROWS IN BC
When a BC mushroom grower continually ran into problems getting quality compost to grow their mushrooms, they decided to turn the problem into a business venture. The Bloome family in Princeton, BC are the owners and operators of Upper Similkameen Mushroom Composting (USMC) and had been growing mushrooms for over 50 years when they decided to switch gears to a mushroom compost supplier. “We always relied on numerous suppliers and the quality and delivery time-lines were not always suitable,” says Ken Bloome, USMC, operations manager. “We soon recognized there was a market for a local supplier.” USMC selected an 80-foot by 300-foot Cover-All TITAN building to cover their windrow piles. “The Cover-All building is ideal for composting,” says Bloome. “The corrosive ammonia gases do not affect the fabric cover. We never considered an all steel building because we heard about too many problems. Even with extensive ventilation, ammonia gas hangs in the building and it is completely corroded within a few years. The Cover-All TITAN building was installed in just eleven days over existing compost piles. Its foundation is a four-foot high by 12-inch wide concrete containment wall for extra clearance to allow the windrow turner to work close to the walls. There are no end walls and a centre ridge vent runs along the entire ceiling to exhaust compost steam. The result is 1,500 yards of quality mushroom compost a week supplied to ten large mushroom growers. “We have no problems with ventilation; steam clears out of the building very well. The amount of natural light we have in this building is tremendous. We have no need for artificial lighting,” says Bloome. “The Cover-All building will provide us decades of use with minimal maintenance and the clear-span area is perfect for our windrow piles.
Cover-All Building Systems
RRC #5049
RRC #5049
