Our Farm

It was 2018, and Tom Brain was finishing 12 years of employment with the New Zealand government. A returned serviceman, veteran of the Afghanistan war, and 5 years front line Policing the streets of Auckland, it was time for a change. With his wife Nicky in tow, they moved back to Tom's homeland of Canterbury and started the Oak and Spore mushroom farm. 

The Oak and Spore Farm. All Mushroom are grown indoors in purpose built fruiting chambers

What started in their 2 car garage, quickly grew into something more. Through trial, turmoil, and a lot of failures, Tom was able to figure out how to consistently grow high-quality mushrooms.

In 2021 Tom and Nicky moved the farm from their two car garage into a new property, and purpose build the farm from the ground up (almost). 2022 saw the production of the first mushrooms from the new farm. A state-of-the-art building, capable of producing traditionally seasonal mushrooms, year-round. 

Tom sitting in front of his newly constructed environmentally controlled fruiting rooms

Our farm features a 200m2 indoor facility with two independent fruiting rooms, each capable of producing its own specific environment, regardless of outdoor conditions. All spawn and substrate production is done at the farm, with an emphasis on keeping it local. 

The art of mushroom growing is still being perfected here at Oak and Spore, it's a combination of science and art, which creates something truly delicious.
 

 - The Brain Family