Families attend mushroom festival.
Thousands gather in Morgan Hill Sunday for the annual celebration of the funky crop
MORGAN HILL >> It was a bright, sunny and music-filled celebration on Sunday for a humble crop — the mushroom — usually associated with darkness and funky smells.
Thousands of people, including families and couples, young and old, packed downtown Morgan Hill this weekend for the 39th annual Mushroom Mardi Gras. The event celebrates a major cash crop for Santa Clara County, while raising money for local schools.
Even as farmland gives way to commercial development and new homes, mushroom growers raised community awareness with an educational display at the festival pavilion.
“The first question is, ‘What smells so bad?'” said Shelly Cotta, sales manager for Monterey Mushrooms. Mush-
room spores can be planted in a bed that sometimes includes manure. But Cotta said the smells are much better with new mixtures of compost.
“I tell them it’s the smell of money,” joked Emily Bettencourt, a safety and sales manager at Del Fresh.
Mushrooms have a long history in Morgan Hill, well before the sprawling housing developments and suburban creep from San Jose. About a halfdozen farms in the region produce nearly a million pounds of the vegetable each week, according to local growers. About 90 percent of the crop are the common white button and crimini or baby portabella varieties found in the grocery aisles of Trader Joe’s and Safeway.
Local growers teamed up with local cattlewomen to cook up batches of “blenditarian” meatballs — a mix of beef and mushrooms. They also handed out free cookbooks touting the nutritional and culinary value of Morgan Hill’s most famous crop.
Chefs and aspiring cooks took the stage for demonstrations about getting the most flavor and nutrition from the festival’s namesake, as well as sharing other recipes.
Outside the educational exhibits, festivalgoers danced to live bands at two stages, drank wine and beer in the clear spring day, and stuffed themselves at the food stands. Mushrooms found their way into soups, sandwiches and deep-fried snacks. Families indulged in kettle corn, grilled meats and many things fried and dusted with sugar.
This year’s two-day festival featured tribute bands covering Journey, Santana and Styx. Strolling musicians and performers entertained the crowd.
Kim Otzman of Gilroy brought her 10-year-old daughter, Georgia, and her two friends to festival. Otzman likes the small, local flavor of the event, especially compared to the larger Gilroy Garlic Festival.
“It’s a great festival,” she said. “We try to get here every year.”
Otzman watched the girls emerge from the petting zoo full of polite demands. Georgia, a fourthgrader, determined that the family needed “a goat, a pig, a bunny” and several other animals.
Her mom smiled, noncommittal, and listened while the girls debated their next stop in the carnival.
A few festivalgoers even remembered the patriotic Memorial Day weekend, waving flags and donning red white and blue hats and shirts. Mike Martin, 71, pitched the miracles of hemp oil to the crowds. He topped off his salesman uniform with a Vietnam veteran cap.
Martin served four years in the Navy as a supply officer, including one year in Vietnam. He’s proud of his service, and a bit wistful for the years taking away many of his fellow veterans from the war.
He plans to attend a Memorial Day ceremony with fellow vets. He summed up the day in one word: “Honor.”