Did you know that the common banana might go extinct? While humans currently eat about 150 Cavendish bananas a year, the species faces a serious threat from a fungal ailment called Panama disease, which could lead to its extinction. Other familiar fruit crops could face a similar threat.
Food historians may someday point to the Loxahatchee area as the source of a solution. Troy Schick, an environmental engineer by day, and Renaissance Man by night, has launched a massive experiment involving thousands of rare and unusual fruit trees. The effort is expensive, so Schick also launched Cap Country Mushrooms, where wholesale sales of lion’s mane, blue oyster and chestnut gourmet mushrooms fund the fruit tree experiment.
“Our sources of fruit are always under attack. Citrus canker, avocado floral wilt and lychee mites are just a few of the local threats,” said Schick, who moved to the area from Broward County so that he could have five acres to run his experiments. “We are looking for the fruit trees of the future. This is a multigenerational experiment where it might take decades to find the right strains of the right crops for a sustainable future.”
A licensed professional engineer, Schick’s fruit nursery more resembles an overgrown jungle than a neatly cultivated fruit orchard.
“We are looking for sustainable farming that doesn’t involves clear cutting, then planting clones. Our approach is natural and sustainable,” said Schick, who embraces “syntropic farming,” which is a regenerative agricultural method that mimics natural forest ecosystems to create productive and resilient food systems, emphasizing ecological succession and diverse plant communities.
Schick is animated and passionate as he discusses the advantages.
“Imagine a barrel of warm water in a cold forest. You can easily imagine how at night, the barrels of warm water would help keep adjoining plants warmer at night. The same principle is at play here with nearby plants keeping our young fruit trees warm during cold spells,” he said.
Schick is all about sustainability, environmentalism and conservation. “I think it’s criminal that the No. 1 irrigated crop in the U.S. is turf grass, especially while there is so much food insecurity,” he said.
He then pointed out how environmentally unfriendly monoculture lawns are. “I favor pollinator-friendly yards that are bee-friendly,” Schick said.
To say that Schick’s experiment is “ambitious” is an understatement.
“This is a long-term, multi-generational; a project where I hope my kids live long enough to see the results,” he said.
Schick’s two children are currently ages two and six.
“The experiment has been running seven years, four in this location. Current trials involved thousands of specimens of about 250 different species of fruit trees,” he explained. “This isn’t about instant gratification. It takes an average of about a decade for a seed to grow into a fruit-bearing tree.”
In the middle of five acres of fruit trees and plant nurseries is a climate-controlled shipping container chilled to about fifty degrees filled with cultivated gourmet mushrooms.
“We needed to find a way to sustainably fund the fruit tree experiment and came up with gourmet mushrooms,” Schick explained. “We sell exclusively wholesale to restaurants and markets.”
Schick buys 10-pound blocks of compressed hardwood sawdust and wheat germ already impregnated with mushroom spores. Harvesting takes place early every morning, with the crop currently averaging about 300 pounds a week. The spent mushroom blocks then become compost fertilizer for the fruit trees.
Demand for specialty mushrooms is rapidly rising, as consumers look to purchase more foods that are healthy, nutritious and medicinal.
One of Cap Country’s clients is Caribbean Plants and Produce on Okeechobee Blvd. in Loxahatchee Groves.
“These normally grow in cold forests, so it’s really cool we carry these now,” owner Kayte McDonald said. “These types of mushrooms are really getting popular. We take a shipment of blue oysters, chestnut and lion’s mane every Friday for the weekend. The quality is always excellent, fresh picked.”
These gourmet mushrooms can get pricey. “While these tend to be expensive at around $16 per pound, lion’s mane, with its medicinal properties, is so popular that I’ve seen it going for $30 per pound,” McDonald said.
To learn more about Schick’s Cap Country Mushrooms, visit www.capcountrymushrooms.com.
