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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
Entertainment
Sophie McLaughlin

Chronicles of Belfast: BBC show celebrates the work of 'the mushroom man from East Belfast’

Seven years ago, Terry Vaz made the Orangefield area of East Belfast his home when he moved from Kuwait.

In 2021, he officially launched Hearty Growers, an urban mushroom farm operating out of the Banana Block growing speciality mushrooms for hotels and restaurants across the city.

Terry, his business and his family feature in the third instalment of BBC show The Chronicles of Belfast, airing on Monday, which looks at Autumn in the city.

Read more: Meet the beekeeper helping Belfast buzz on new TV series

The Chronicles of Belfast explores the wilder side of life in Belfast and celebrates the spots that form the ‘lungs of this busy city’ where people and wildlife can breathe and thrive.

Narrated by acclaimed Northern Irish actor Colin Morgan, the four-part series looks at the people who work all year round with nature, protecting and monitoring the wildlife that share their city.

From his farm inside a former linen mill in East Belfast, Terry supplies top restaurants and Hotels in Belfast with speciality mushrooms.

The mushrooms are grown on waste compost from businesses such as sawmills and once the mushrooms are grown the waste is used as compost for a local community garden - creating a complete sustainability loop.

Hearty Growers growing five varieties of oyster mushrooms (Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live)

Speaking to Belfast Live, Terry shared insights into filming and what makes the show a success story for the city.

He said: "The producer of Waddell Media reached out because someone in the Belfast City Council had recommended us - they wanted a sustainable business in East Belfast to profile as part of the series.

"It was incredible. It is something that reminds us not to underestimate what we are doing here.

"To have the BBC approach us to say that they wanted to tell our story and say that we are doing something worth talking about was just unreal."

For anyone tuning into the series, expect to see Terry hard at work at the urban farm, spending time with his children and also celebrating Diwali in Belfast.

"In the Autumn episode, there is a bit of everything - there is me and my kids at Orangfield pond, a bit of harvest and at the farm and a bit of deliveries that we do around the city.

"My kids were over the moon but I don't think they understood what was happening until we showed them the recording on the Player. So when they saw themselves on TV they were excited," he explained.

He continued: "The series is massively important. For me, yes it is nice for Hearty Growers to feature on a show like this, but just as a whole, the way Belfast has been portrayed is great.

"I can take this as a promo tool to talk about Belfast, not just because we are on it but because of the quality of the stories they have told - bringing wildlife, local businesses and culture into the show, I think it shows Belfast in such high quality."

Since the show has gone live on the iPlayer, Terry has been contacted by a number of people interested in learning more about the Hearty Growers story.

"We have had a couple of organisations contact us to see how we can collaborate with them in terms of conducting mushroom workshops which is just phenomenal," he added.

"It has had a really good reception so far."

The Chronicles of Belfast airs on Monday, February 13 at 8pm on BBC One NI and all four episodes are available to watch now on BBC iPlayer

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