In the Var region, this producer grows wild mushrooms for chefs
Near Toulon, La Serre du Plan has set itself the challenge of producing mushrooms exclusively from wild strains. The Marcon family is part of this adventure.
It has already earned the trust of chefs. As a supplier of strawberries to major establishments in the South, La Serre du Plan also produces herbs and mushrooms. A member of the Collège Culinaire de France, this farm in La Garde, near Toulon, set a goal for 2021 to offer the first mushroom caps made from wild species harvested in the forest. Producing mycelium from local wild mushrooms “is unprecedented in France, and I don’t know of any other examples in Europe, ” explains its manager, Ferdinand Vlaar. The idea: to collaborate with the mycologist at Maisons Marcon to develop a cultivation process using mushrooms harvested near the Restaurant Marcon (5 Toques d’Or) in Haute-Loire.
A Local Approach
It all began in 2021 with a supply issue. At the time, La Serre du Plan was growing its mushrooms on substrate purchased from abroad or from a manufacturer. Difficulties with its suppliers convinced the farm to focus on local cultivation. Two years later, a laboratory was set up, and a team of two biologists took charge of the research. Substrate recipes were developed to match the wild mushrooms that were harvested. The team focused on oyster mushrooms, while Ferdinand Vlaar trained in the production of substrates and mycelium strains. At the same time, La Serre du Plan established a “mycology library” in collaboration with the Marcon family of Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, using wild strains collected from the forests of Ardèche and Haute-Loire.
Initial tests were conducted on a small scale, and in the Var region, one person dedicated themselves full-time to the project. A large urban mushroom farm was set up in underground tunnels near the greenhouses. Various varieties of oyster mushrooms are grown there— "one of the easiest mushrooms to cultivate."
More flavorful mushrooms
For the winter of 2026, Ferdinand Vlaar plans to harvest 200 to 300 kilograms of mushrooms per week using his own substrates and spawn. With industrial-scale operations, volumes typically exceed one metric ton. “But we want to focus on quality, not mass production. We’d rather have superior flavor than higher profitability, ” emphasizes this native of the Netherlands, who has lived in France since 1993.
The initial trials have been successful: at Marcon, the mushrooms are described as more flavorful and nutritionally richer. The long-term goal is to produce enough local substrate to distribute to other growers.
