Shiitake Farm

There are many fish, both saltwater and freshwater, that can be raised using the mash leftover from ethanol production. At the Shiitake Farm, we will focus on tilapia. We will build ponds inside a greenhouse so the tropical fish can live in any climate. We will feed the tilapia a diet of distiller’s grains (leftovers from ethanol production) and the mushrooms that don’t meet the cosmetic standards of the market. Our small farm model will yield about 20,000 pounds of tilapia per year. About 45% will be sold as fresh organic fish and the rest will be converted to fish emulsion. The farm can expect a gross income of more than $200,000 per year from it’s aquaculture operation.

In this video, David Blume talks about the early days of alcohol fuel and gasoline.

Our small farm model will produce about 10,000 gallons of ethanol fuel per year. Almost all cars manufactured after 1990 will run on 40% ethanol without any engine modification and they can be modified to run on 100% ethanol! At this point, ethanol is our only option to eliminate our dependency on oil. Ethanol is a clean fuel that can be produced from a variety of feedstock and waist products. Our feedstock of choice will be cattails. When grown in sewage water, cattails will grow up to three times their normal size and can produce an enormous amount of energy. On top of that, the plants clean the sewage water they’re grown in. So if we construct a one acre wetland that will act as secondary sewage treatment for a small town, we can grow enough cattails to produce our 10,000 gallons of ethanol and clean the town’s sewage water before it’s dumped into the river. From a permaculture standpoint, this system is obviously our first choice.

The Shiitake Farm will be using the by-products of ethanol production to grow organic shiitake and oyster mushrooms. To make ethanol, we simply separate the starch and sugar from the feedstock and what’s left over is a mash of highly concentrated nutrients. We will use this mash to produce a variety of products and some will be used as a substrate to grow the mushrooms. The market for shiitake in the United States is growing and virtually untapped. We believe this creates a wonderful opportunity for anyone who can perfect the technique of growing shiitake mushrooms. The mushrooms are not only highly valuable, the medicinal properties and health benefits are unmatched by other foods. Shiitake has been shown to reduce cholesterol, fight cancer and AIDS, boost the immune system and overall health of people who consume the mushrooms.