Mushroom Magic: Inside Ancram’s Little Forest Farm

With the Millbrook farmers market opening Memorial Day weekend, one vendor to watch is Little Forest Farm, operated by Julie McGanney and Frank Grisanzio.

Little Forest Farm was established in 2021, two years after McGanney and Grisanzio moved to their eight-acre property in Ancram. McGanney, originally from New York City, previously worked at Full Circus Farm in Pine Plains. Grisanzio, from Lakeville, Mass., holds an MFA in poetry from the New School and left his job at the publishing nonprofit Author’s Guild to pursue farming full time. They married in December 2019.

McGanney and Grisanzio specialize in mushroom production. They converted their garage into a grow house, controlling airflow, light, and moisture. Although they cannot regulate the temperature, the setup avoids extreme highs and lows during spring, summer, and fall. They are currently growing black, white, pink, and yellow oysters, king trumpets, black pearls, lion’s mane, chestnuts, and Pioppino mushrooms. While shiitakes can also be grown in blocks in the grow house, the couple prefer the traditional log-grown method, and grow the shiitakes outdoors. 

Initially, the couple thinned their own woods for logs, but now they work with a forester from Ancramdale to obtain fresh oak and sugar maple logs, ensuring the wood is fungus-free. They cut the logs to a manageable size, drill holes every six inches, inoculate them with spawn, and seal the holes with cheese wax. Each log is tagged for timing and content. “It’s fun for about 20 minutes,” Grisanzio admits. “Then we start looking forward to getting pizza.” The logs are soaked for 24 hours to force fruiting, producing shiitakes within a week to 10 days. Each log can yield up to four harvests between May and October.

Looking ahead, McGanney and Grisanzio aim to grow their business by improving efficiency and reducing waste. “Every season, we learn more,” McGanney says. “We strive to be more efficient and to sell all that we grow. We’re getting better at managing potential waste and hope to turn surplus into value-added products like dried mushrooms and blueberry jam, available year-round.” Ultimately, their goal is to nurture both Little Forest Farm and steward the entire property. 

Their Ancram property includes two chickens — providing just enough eggs for personal consumption — and a quarter -acre dedicated to vegetables and blueberries. They are also preparing a half-acre shaded plot that will eventually yield currants, ramps, elderberries, gooseberries, serviceberries, persimmons, and more. They planted pawpaw (custard apple) seeds two years ago and hope to see fruit in about eight years.

During a recent tour of the farm by the Ancram Resilient Gardens & Farms group, McGanney and Grisanzio showcased various ground covers they are testing in their vegetable garden, including straw and paper. Working toward organic certification, they are also investing in cover crops such as peas, oats, and fescue grasses that grow and decompose in place, enriching the soil. This effort is complemented by compost. 

This spring, summer, and fall, they anticipate harvesting arugula, other lettuces, kale, cucumbers, garlic, artichokes, strawberries, and numerous blueberries.

“We always want to stay on a small scale. It’s just the two of us. We want to make sure we are farming productively, but also happily,” said Grisanzio.

Little Forest Farm sells mushrooms and greens at the Millbrook Farmers Market on Saturdays from May 25 to October 26, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and at the Hudson Thursday Market on Thursday evenings from May 23 to October 14, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Their shiitakes are also available at the Chaseholm Farm stand.