This market gardener grows organic mushrooms, a rare production in Manche

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“Most of the button mushrooms that we buy commercially come from foreign countries,” regrets Ludovic Dequidt, producer of La p'tite ferme bandenière, based in Tessy-Bocage.

Since the end of August, this former school teacher has launched into the culture of various varieties of organic mushrooms : button mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms.

An unusual activityin the Channel…

A passion for mushrooms

After a year of availability, during which he worked on several farms, Ludovic finally fell in love with mushrooms.

Subsequently, he joined training at the Center for Professional Training and Agricultural Promotion (CFPPA) in Montmorot, in the Jura, which allowed him to specialize in this production.

Then, Ludovic left the north of France, with his wife and children, to start a farm in the English Channel, in Tessy-Bocage.

Since last March, he has been producing various organic vegetables and fruits at La p'tite Ferme Buissonniere, and at the end of August 2024, he finally embarked on the very careful production of mushrooms.

Mushrooms produced all year round

For this production, “it shouldn’t be too humid or too hot,” assures Ludovic.

Ludovic therefore installed a thermostat, in the four rooms where he grows the mushrooms, in order to constantly monitor their temperature and humidity levels.

If we often have the idea of ​​consuming this product in autumn, it can, in reality, be produced (and therefore purchased) all year round, “except during very hot summers,” assures Ludovic.

The market gardener nevertheless believes that if the weather is too cold, the mycelia (filamentous vegetative apparatus produced by many mushrooms) can become dormant, “which would considerably slow down the growth of the mushrooms”.

One of the only ones to produce organic button mushrooms in France

Although little data exists on the subject, there are still numerous articles dealing with the fact that button mushrooms, contrary to what their name might suggest, are today mainly imported from foreign countries, to France.

The “Statista Research Department”, accounted 56 producers of mushrooms (or button mushrooms), in France, in 2017, and this includes organic mushrooms as well as those that are not!

Where to buy them?

To remedy this problem of lack of local suppliers, Ludovic Dequidt decided to launch into this production, and already sells his mushrooms to the Biocoop of Saint-Lô.

You can also find them on the market of Quibou, on Thursday evening, of Hambye, on Friday evening, of Gavray-sur-Sienne, on Saturday morning, and of Tessy-sur-Vire, on Wednesday morning.

Come and meet him, Ludovic will be happy to advise you on the use in cooking of all his varieties of mushrooms.

In the future, a project of direct sale from the farmcould be set up, and restaurateurs have already shown interest in Ludovic's products.

New Manchois mushrooms could well be very successful in the months and years to come!

Contact on the Facebook page: La p'tite ferme bandenière

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