SUCCESS in taming the wild mushroom has led to a fast-growing enterprise for Yorkshire forester and smallholder Peter Watson, whose Pickering-based business, Gourmet Woodland Mushrooms Ltd is now mushrooming... literally.

The company has won a Sustainable Development Fund award from the North York Moors National Park to help local landowners set up "log farms" within the National Park.

Mr Watson is promoting an innovative way of putting low value, low grade timber to profitable use by cultivating high value crops of "wild" culinary mushrooms on piles of logs in the woods.

The log farms are based on techniques developed in the laboratory by his scientific partner, mycologist Adrian Ogden, and in woodland trials in North Yorkshire.

The park's sustainable development fund officer, Rachel Wood said: "We are supporting this trial to help investigate whether mushroom growing is a viable business activity for landowners within the national park - a sustainable and environmentally sound farming practice, with potentially a delicious crop at the end of it."

"It's new to this country, but they've been doing it in China and Japan for more than 1,000 years." Mr Watson said: "We are also trialling the growth of morels, a highly prized gourmet mushroom, on sites that have been used for charcoal burning. This is believed to be the first trial of this type in Britain."

Gourmet Woodland Mushrooms Ltd has been providing training and product demonstrations at various shows and at its log farm in Pickering.

The technology is now being made available to land managers in the form of training and technical support as well as the supply of a variety of strains of commercial production quality.

With the help of the North York Moors National Park, the enterprise is embarking on further development and exploring grant aid possibilities for its customers.

"It is a great boost to the local economy when the park offers tangible support for innovative ideas provided by local business, for the benefit of the park as a whole," said Mr Watson.

"The mushrooms are usually grown on logs or stumps, although they can also succeed on other agro-forestry by-products.

"As well as the commercial packs, we are currently offering domestic DIY gardening kits for people to grow Gourmet Mushrooms in their own garden," he said.

Updated: 11:31 Friday, March 26, 2004