by Jackie Alpers for Discover Marana
A little bit of luck during our darkest days can change everything.
In June of 1941 Bing K. Wong Sr. was convinced that he was going to lose his Marana-area farm because he had mistakenly planted the farm’s first crop of cotton two months too late. That mistake resulted in a “miracle crop”. On December 8th, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan, entering WWII. Almost overnight cotton was declared a wartime commodity because it was used to make uniforms, tents and bandages. The price of cotton skyrocketed from about 8-cents a pound to over a dollar. (Back then, that was a lot of money.) Since most of the other farmers had already sold their crop Wong, who was one of the last farmers with cotton still in the ground, ended up making a small fortune! He took the proceeds from that treasure trove and reinvested it back into the farm.
Brian Wong, Bing’s grandson and current president of BKW Farms said that Bing, “loved to buy land sight-unseen… if it was for a really good price.” By the 1970s the Wong family was farming about 20,000-25,000 acres in Casa Grande, Marana, Wilcox, and California. “That’s a lot of land for just a family farm to cover, and they weren’t doing a very good job at it, so they re-centralized their entire farming operation to Marana”, where they are currently farming 294 acres of organic fields.
In 2013 the family decided that they wanted to take a more farm-to-table approach and started growing, processing and distributing organic heirloom grains local to the region. As part of the Partner Farmer Program, Native Seed Search provided BKW Farms with about 2,000 pounds of White Sonoran Wheat seed which the farm was able to exchange with the program after harvest.
Then in 2017 the farmers got into the exotic mushroom business. For the first few years, wheat straw from their organic fields was used as the growing media, and the mushrooms were grown in a shipping container.
They later realized that if they grew the mushrooms in tents, they could educate people about the process, teaching them how to grow and provide fresh produce in small and/or urban spaces. The tents were set up in a vacant indoor building on the property which was used to simulate a downtown Tucson building that wasn’t being utilized, so that budding future farmers could easily take what they learned and directly apply it to a real-world urban setting.
David Proctor, Vice President of BKW explained, “Someone can go in, set up tents and grow practically anything, reducing food miles to the consumer. We basically show them how to set up their own system and how easy and cost effective it really is to become a grower, if you choose to be. We’re trying to ensure that farming and growing continues on into the next generation.” BKS Farms currently produces a total of about 800 pounds of lion’s mane, blue oyster and reishi mushrooms a week.
How Are the Mushrooms Grown?
Mushroom spores are introduced into bags filled with grain from the farm. The spores then colonize the entire block of grain which is subsequently added into a mushroom substrate consisting of a soy hull and oak substrate mix. Each seed of grain becomes a vessel for the mycelium to take over and colonize that substrate.
The bags keep for two crop cycles per bag, and then the substrate is recycled back into the field or under fruit trees on the farm.
Why Are Exotic and Gourmet Mushrooms So Popular?
The types of gourmet and exotic mushrooms that BKW Farms specialize in are rapidly growing in popularity and desirability. That’s because in addition to their meaty texture and taste, which is sometimes compared to seafood or steak, they are also widely lauded for their unique health benefits. Lion’s mane mushrooms are being studied for their positive effect on brain health, while blue oyster and reishi contain a compound that may help reduce the absorption of cholesterol in the gut, stimulate the immune system and enhance its ability to fight infections.
Where to Buy & Try BKW Farms Grains and/or Mushrooms
Buy: Grains and mushrooms can be ordered directly the BKW Farms Website.
Try: Barrio Bread, Sonoran Pasta Company, Zio Peppe, Dominick’s Real Italian, The Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain, Catalina Brewing Company.
White Tortilla Crust Pizza with Lion’s Mane and Blue Oyster Mushrooms
Curious about how to cook with exotic gourmet mushrooms but don’t know where to start? Try this easy Sonoran-style white pizza made with a large flour tortilla for the crust. Lemon infused ricotta, garlic and parmesan are the perfect palette for lion’s mane and blue oyster mushrooms.
White Sonoran Wheat helps give locally made flour tortillas their elasticity. This recipe calls for one large 14-to-16-inch flour tortilla commonly found in Southern Arizona. To source flour tortillas outside of this region, look for ones that are not too white or too fluffy and are made with only four ingredients: flour, water, salt and fat. 2-3 smaller tortillas can be substituted for the larger one. In the Marana area good quality flour tortillas can be purchased at La Mesa Tortillas and Rancheros Market.
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 18-20 minutes
Yield 8-10 slices
Special Equipment
1 (16-inch) pizza pan with holes
Ingredients
4 ounces fresh lion’s mane mushrooms
4 ounces fresh blue oyster mushrooms
1 large (14-to-16-inch) flour tortilla
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon melted butter
¼ teaspoon garlic powder, preferably Burlap and Barrel Purple Stripe
½ cup ricotta cheese
Juice from ½ lemon, about 1-2 tablespoons
1 small shallot, thinly sliced, about 1/3 cup
1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano leaves
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2-3 dried chiltepin peppers, crushed, optional but recommended
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F
Trim any remaining substrate from the bottom of the mushrooms. Tear the lion’s mane mushrooms into bite-sized pieces. Separate the blue oyster mushrooms from the cluster base. Set aside.
Place the tortilla on a 16-inch pizza pan with holes. Using a paring knife, poke 8 to 10 small slits about 1/8-inch-long in the tortilla to prevent excessive puffing in the oven.
Whisk together the olive oil, melted butter and garlic powder. Using a pastry brush, brush evenly over the tortilla.
Squeeze the lemon juice into the ricotta and stir until combined and smooth. Using an offset spatula or butter knife, spread the mixture evenly over the surface of the tortilla. Arrange the sliced shallots and mushrooms on top. Sprinkle with Mexican oregano, Parmesan and crushed chiltepin if using.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pan as needed until the edges are well browned and crispy. Transfer to a cutting board, slice with a pizza cutter and serve immediately.
For more information, visit bkwazgrown.com.
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