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OfflineFalseMaria
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Small Scale Mushroom Farm as Extra Income or More... Possible? * 1
    #14424218 - 05/09/11 11:43 AM (12 years, 8 months ago)

Hey Everyone,

I've been into this mycology hobby for quite some time, and am taking this year to fully jump into the world of gourmet mushroom growing.

One of the reasons I want to do this is because I'd like to get into the commercial aspects of mushroom farming, without the illicit aspects. As a home grower, I've got the basics for some semi-serious mycology

1) AA Pressure Cooker
2) Flow Hood (Most basic Stamets version)
4) Impulse Sealer

etc..

Now I have not decided what I will be growing, but will likely start with the easier kind. Oysters and Shiitake probably.

I was just wondering if anyone on here has made a decent side-business doing this from their home basement, or perhaps a very small scale commercial operation?

We've got some Farmer's Markets in the area I'd be interested in selling to, or perhaps even some of the city's fancier restaurants.

Just wanted to get tips/tricks/warnings/etc from people on here.


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InvisibleMonkeyKnifeFight
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Re: Small Scale Mushroom Farm as Extra Income or More... Possible? [Re: FalseMaria]
    #14424382 - 05/09/11 12:23 PM (12 years, 8 months ago)

You're going to have to do the research on what you can sell fresh mushrooms for in your area as that's going to vary from place to place.  Once you know that you can do the math on your costs and you should be able to get an idea what you're looking at. 

That said unless you scale up pretty big pretty quick it's mostly going to be for fun as I bet you would be lucky to break even.  Let's assume you went with something like king oysters that can fetch a decent price.  Maybe you can get $15 a lb for them.  So then if you are harvesting 100 lbs a week you could be bringing in $6k a month.  Using straw logs you would probably need something like 10 big logs fruiting at any one time which means you would be processing multiple bales of straw a week.  And you would need room for probably 30 logs to be colonizing at any one time.  And would you deliver?  Fuel costs would take a pretty big bite out of any profits if you are going from restaurant to restaurant to deliver 5 lbs at a time.

Anyway I pulled all that out of my ass but producing a large quantity of any mushroom reliably is going to take a very large time commitment and lots of space.  If you try to do it on the side of a full time job I doubt you could ever do anything other than have some fun at farmer's markets etc.  I spend a lot of my free time on mushroom projects for fun but there's no way I could come anywhere close to producing hundreds of lbs a week regularly without quitting my job.


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InvisibleDoc_T
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Re: Small Scale Mushroom Farm as Extra Income or More... Possible? [Re: MonkeyKnifeFight]
    #14424430 - 05/09/11 12:36 PM (12 years, 8 months ago)

If you could get free bulk material, I can imagine it being a profitable hobby, if not an actual job.


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You make it all possible. Doesn't it feel good?


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OfflineFalseMaria
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Re: Small Scale Mushroom Farm as Extra Income or More... Possible? [Re: Doc_T]
    #14424503 - 05/09/11 12:49 PM (12 years, 8 months ago)

I was actually thinking of starting to do it as a full-time job eventually, if the profit potential was there. I am getting sick of my current career in IT, and would like to do a 180, and go do something completely different.

In the meantime it would be done part-time. At this point I am more interested in my skill development and business plan development, than making a killer profit.

I figure if I take a year or two to perfect methods, and make a plan, then perhaps I can jump on the commercial market in 2013/14

Re: Bulk Substrates

I do have a source for free sawdust, and am compiling a list of where to get other free waste product for substrate use.


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InvisibleDoc_T
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Re: Small Scale Mushroom Farm as Extra Income or More... Possible? [Re: FalseMaria] * 1
    #14424535 - 05/09/11 12:59 PM (12 years, 8 months ago)

Farming anything is a sketchy way to earn a living.
Awesome lifestyle, except for the constant threat of poverty.


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You make it all possible. Doesn't it feel good?


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OfflineFalseMaria
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Re: Small Scale Mushroom Farm as Extra Income or More... Possible? [Re: Doc_T]
    #14424587 - 05/09/11 01:11 PM (12 years, 8 months ago)

Yeah, I know farming is "Teh Suck" generally, but I thought something more specialized, such as mushrooms would fetch a higher price than green beans let's say. Especially anything exotic like Shiitake, Oyster, etc.

And perhaps as fuel becomes ever more expensive, people might start relying more and more heavily on local producers.

It's definitely the lifestyle that appeals to me way more than what I do now. Something concrete, and attached to nature, as opposed to something high tech, abstract, and not tactile.

Ah well, I will see how far I can go hobby-wise, and see what the potential is from there.


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Invisiblesolarity
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Re: Small Scale Mushroom Farm as Extra Income or More... Possible? [Re: FalseMaria]
    #14425145 - 05/09/11 03:18 PM (12 years, 8 months ago)

To help with the numbers check the "shitload" link in my sig. v


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Commercial exotics farmer for 8 years - now sold up!


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Offlinecurry
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Re: Small Scale Mushroom Farm as Extra Income or More... Possible? [Re: solarity]
    #14427763 - 05/10/11 12:42 AM (12 years, 8 months ago)

The great thing about selling exotic mushrooms is that there's no competition!  Go to just about any farmers market or health food store and it's only you.

I'm also looking into making some money on the side selling medicinal mushrooms.  I make up about two 25 pound blocks a day (wet weight), and so eventually I'll be harvesting the equivalent of two 25 pound blocks a day.  I'm starting to harvest a decent amount now, but I use them for our family or give them to friends (kings, blue oyster, and shitake).  I'm in the process of growing black poplar, nameko, reishi, and lions mane as well.  I'm waiting to get larger quantities to take them to the farmers market, which is miles away.  I'll let you know how I do in a few months... good luck


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OfflineFalseMaria
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Re: Small Scale Mushroom Farm as Extra Income or More... Possible? [Re: curry]
    #14428743 - 05/10/11 08:22 AM (12 years, 8 months ago)

I think solarity has convinced me to just remain a "Serious Hobbyist", hehe. I think you should rename your tek to "A Fuck-Ton", as opposed to "A Shitload"... More accurate, lol


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OfflineHumility
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Re: Small Scale Mushroom Farm as Extra Income or More... Possible? [Re: Doc_T]
    #14430756 - 05/10/11 04:47 PM (12 years, 8 months ago)

Quote:

Doc_T said:
Farming anything is a sketchy way to earn a living.
Awesome lifestyle, except for the constant threat of poverty.





This is just ridiculous.

Farming is the oldest industry in the world and it's the backbone of the modern world.

It's all about what you farm and how much of it.  You need to determine what your end goals are so you can figure out what your business is going to have to look like to meet the needs of your living situation.

Markets are everywhere and there's always an opportunity to sell for a penny cheaper than the next guy if you're clever.


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InvisibleDaft Punk
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Re: Small Scale Mushroom Farm as Extra Income or More... Possible? [Re: Humility]
    #14435287 - 05/11/11 02:54 PM (12 years, 8 months ago)

yeah but selling for a penny cheaper means you make less money... but besides that i agree with Doc_T. There is a lot of variability, which means if one thing goes wrong and you lose even a little of your crop you go from making money to losing a lot of money.

agriculture is the backbone of civilization, but that doesnt mean it is pleasant. if you can get into something very exotic then there is a huge profit to be made, but that doesn't mean it is guaranteed or easy.


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OfflineRogerRabbitM
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Re: Small Scale Mushroom Farm as Extra Income or More... Possible? [Re: Daft Punk]
    #14438778 - 05/12/11 06:05 AM (12 years, 8 months ago)

Maria, have you seen the pictures on my site for Mountain Mushroom Farm?

What you need a shitton of is hard work and dedication, coupled with a refusal to get tired or quit.  We've spent the last two and a half years on construction and are now getting up to full production.

We just did the second farmers market of the season yesterday and sold out the sixty pounds we took within an hour and a half.  We now supply 4 supermarkets, and sell online.  I can only keep my 'add to cart' button active for a day or two at a time because we sell out so fast.  With the high cost of fuel, it's cheaper for us to ship/mail our mushrooms to the grocery stores than to deliver them.

Ours is a two person mom-and-pop mushroom farm.  The Mrs and I both realize we couldn't make a living doing it alone.  Two people can get far more done in a day than twice what one person can do. We're almost to the point of needing to hire help, but have been avoiding it.

Read the organic standard before you begin construction so you'll know how to set things up.  Many large grocery store chains won't buy from you without a million dollar liability insurance policy(which you and I can't get), but they will stock your mushrooms if you've been inspected and certified organic.

The Mrs and I are both calmer and healthier than we have been for many years.  When I worked as an engineer at Microsoft, I made twice as much money, but we're easily twice as rich now.
RR


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semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat

"I've never had a failed experiment.  I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work."
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OfflineSwampTromper
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Re: Small Scale Mushroom Farm as Extra Income or More... Possible? [Re: RogerRabbit]
    #14444531 - 05/13/11 09:48 AM (12 years, 8 months ago)

Roger, give me an idea of the kind of hours you work on your farm. Mush mush mush from dawn til dark? Days or partial days off? It would be beneficial for all the day dreamers to know just whats involved at least on your farm.


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