In the first time since it was established since its inception, the Otzarot HaYa’ar farm for mushrooms located in Betzet, Western Galilee, is shut down. Shaked Ben Shitrit Barnea, the caretaker of the farm, along with her daughter, were forced to relocate to Tiberias shortly before the start of the war in Gaza and led to the closing. “I’m the only person that knows how to take care of the mushrooms at the farm. And the moment my husband got summoned in reserve duty and we were requested to leave, I was forced to put everything in place. All the things are gone now,” she expressed. The farm was founded around eight years ago in the year 2000 by Uri along with Miriam Ben Shitrit, transitioned from being an organic farm to a specialist mushroom business that cultivates varieties like Shiitake, Maitake, Hericium and special forest mushroom varieties.

Ben Shitrit Barnea, inheriting her expertise in mushroom cultivation from her father Uri is a key contributor in the operation of the farm. In the aftermath of a devastating accident that caused the death of her father and her mother Miriam who is now the owner of the farm is the one who has kept the farm running.

The process of recovery for the farm is likely to take a long time, requiring intensive cleaning and disinfection procedures in order to keep infections at bay, an essential component of the cultivation of mushrooms. “It will take a significant time to recuperate and then reopen as we will not only have to repair the farm, as well as rebuild our customer base. Our customers have discovered other options since there are many other mushroom farms in the country, and I’m definitely by no means the only mushroom farm across the nation,” Ben Shitrit Barnea declared, outlining the issues to come.

Source: ynetnews.com