What The Fungus: Rebuilding After the Bald Range Wildfire
What The Fungus was a gourmet mushroom farm in the Garnet Valley area of Summerland, British Columbia. It grew and sold gourmet mushrooms locally for about twelve years. In August 2026 it was destroyed by wildfire.
We are listing it here because the farm is not gone for good. Co-owner Brian Callow has said he intends to rebuild.
How to Help
A fundraiser has been set up for the rebuild, organized by Benny Dornan on behalf of Brian Callow.
Donate to the What The Fungus rebuild fund
As of September 1, 2026, it has raised $54,550 toward a $75,000 goal from 388 donations. It passed $20,000 in the first twenty-four hours.
Nature Lion has no affiliation with the farm or the fundraiser, and we take nothing from it. We are pointing at it because a working mushroom farm in this country is a hard thing to build and a fast thing to lose.
What Happened
The Bald Range wildfire was discovered on August 7, 2026. By midday on August 11 it covered 17,802 hectares and was still out of control. The farm was destroyed in that stretch.
The farm did not have fire insurance. Callow's home survived. The home of Thor Clausen, his neighbour and business partner, was destroyed completely.
Speaking to the Summerland Review afterward, Callow said it seemed like there would be a path forward.
The Mentorship Program
Alongside the commercial operation, What The Fungus ran a mentorship program that taught mushroom cultivation to students from across Canada and the United States. That is the part of this we keep coming back to. Equipment can be replaced on a timeline you can plan around. A place where new growers learn the trade in person is rarer, and rebuilding one takes longer than rebuilding a grow room.
Why This Is Listed Here
Our directory is mostly a list of places you can buy mushrooms from today. This one is not, and we have left it in anyway. If the rebuild goes the way Callow hopes, this entry gets updated to a farm you can buy from again.
Facts on this page are drawn from the Summerland Review's August 11, 2026 report. Fundraiser figures were checked on September 1, 2026 and will have moved since.
Nature Lion supplies grain spawn, grow kits, and liquid cultures to growers across Canada. If you are starting or rebuilding an operation, our farm profit calculator and guide to starting a mushroom farm are free to use.