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Offlinechobumms
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Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income?
    #9867063 - 02/25/09 11:41 PM (15 years, 1 month ago)

I'm trying to get as good as possible at different species to find my niche, as far as what mushrooms:

1. return the most dollar per lb. as far as profit
2. are best for the area (volvariella volvacea needs cold temps and rice straw= neither are in San Antonio)
3. Are acceptable for community (Hispanics don't eat alot of Lion's Mane)

I really want to get into growing commercially, even if I have to relocate. Does anyone relate to this? Or even do it for their base income? I'm thinking of growing and selling gourmets and medicinals at the flea market. Even this would fulfill my need to just do something with my experience.


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My "Faster Germination For Popcorn Substrate" TEK
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InvisibleLokelYokel
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: chobumms]
    #9867194 - 02/26/09 12:01 AM (15 years, 1 month ago)

Have you tried the restaurants in SA?  Maybe shoot some shrooms up to
that restaurant they have in that Space Needle thingy.  I'm sure there are restaurants around the Quarry and the Dominion that would love to get their grubby mitts on some locally grown mushrooms.


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ReUse! RePurpose! ReCycle!  "Mom says use it again!"

Edited by LokelYokel (02/26/09 12:08 AM)

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OfflineRogerRabbitM
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: LokelYokel]
    #9868294 - 02/26/09 08:44 AM (15 years, 1 month ago)

I'm in the process of setting up a commercial mushroom farm right now.

The economic stimulus package just passed by Congress is intended to fund exactly these sorts of projects, so this is the perfect time to get in and obtain funding.

You'll need to grow warm weather mushrooms in your area, or do what I'm planning, and that's to build underground grow areas, with solar cells above to power LED light banks inside.  If you write a proposal, cater it to 'green energy' and efficiency, which is why I'm going underground with the grow rooms.  Find out if the state of Texas has also lost its paper recycling facilities, and if so, this is the perfect time.  You can grow oyster and shiitake on waste paper easily. 

As for market acceptance, set up a booth at your county or state fair, showing your projects, and have a cooking demonstration where you pick fresh mushrooms and cook them up on the spot, giving everyone a small piece on a toothpick.
RR


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OfflinePitcherCrab
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: RogerRabbit]
    #9868361 - 02/26/09 09:08 AM (15 years, 1 month ago)

That sounds great RR! I think there should be recycling mushroom farms like what you are setting up in every city. Every time I've used newspaper in the past its been a mess, how do you plan to process the paper so you can grow on it large scale? For that matter do you recommend a way of processing it for a small scale operation? In my experience the ink gets everywhere and paper goes anaerobic very easily.

chobumms, I have some friends that started growing oysters on straw and selling them to local restaurants and super markets. They have the corner on local mushroom production and pull in upwards of $10,000 per year out of a garage sized space. They grow out of PVC tubes with holes cut in them. I've been considering doing something similar but with 5 gallon buckets. That way there wouldn't be a lot of plastic waste from the mushroom production.


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“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” - Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear


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InvisibleLokelYokel
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: PitcherCrab]
    #9869030 - 02/26/09 11:40 AM (15 years, 1 month ago)

I grow my oysters in 5gal buckets.  It is nice because they stack on each other and are easy to move around.  I do line the buckets with regular kitchen trash bags and poke just a small hole in the bags where ever there is a hole in the bucket.  I feel that the bag helps the bucket maintain its moisture content, keeps out nasties, and makes it nice for picking.  The cluster pop right off without tearing out any of the substrate.  Once I establish a steady rotation, I think I can get a couple hundred lbs of oysters/ month.  I have enough restaurant contacts that I could move double that each month.  I'm hoping by the end of the year to be at least paying my mortgage every month with the mushrooms.

RR,  that gov grant would be a hugh deal for you.  Best of luck!  I hope you secure it.  Please keep us posted


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ReUse! RePurpose! ReCycle!  "Mom says use it again!"

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Offlinechobumms
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: RogerRabbit]
    #9870488 - 02/26/09 03:36 PM (15 years, 1 month ago)

Quote:

RogerRabbit said:

As luck would have it, this year they're having a 'recycling competition' at the fair in April.  I plan to win it.  The local TV stations will be covering this, so hopefully they'll feed it to the networks and we can get some national coverage.
RR




This is so cool. I hope the fact that I live in an apartment right now doesn't hurt my chances of getting at least a small grant. A grant is a great idea! 5 million is out of my ballpark :sad:, but even $1000 would be great too! Does anyone have any detailed ideas on where to apply for such a grant? I know google, will bring up results for grant, but just wondering if there is anything specific I should know of when applying for one. I guess I sound lost at the same time though, lol.

Quote:

chobumms, I have some friends that started growing oysters on straw and selling them to local restaurants and super markets. They have the corner on local mushroom production and pull in upwards of $10,000 per year out of a garage sized space. They grow out of PVC tubes with holes cut in them. I've been considering doing something similar but with 5 gallon buckets. That way there wouldn't be a lot of plastic waste from the mushroom production.




I wish I had straw in San Antonio, nowhere is it to be found. I even had to drive an hour to get sawdust pellets though I'm sure there's a mill closer than that. I have a very hard time fluffing up my bulk so to say because of the limited resources. And I'm in a city so to say!


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My "Faster Germination For Popcorn Substrate" TEK
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OfflineRogerRabbitM
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: chobumms]
    #9870813 - 02/26/09 04:33 PM (15 years, 1 month ago)

I'm sure you can get straw in SA.  Look at feed stores.  Texas is a big wheat producer, and straw is the bottom part of the stalks left over after they cut the grains off.  You can also use other agricultural wastes, such as cotton seed hulls, which I know you can get by the truckload in TX.

See if your county has an agricultural agent.
RR


--------------------
Download Let's Grow Mushrooms



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"I've never had a failed experiment.  I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work."
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InvisibleLokelYokel
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: RogerRabbit]
    #9870876 - 02/26/09 04:43 PM (15 years, 1 month ago)

There is straw to be had in central Texas.  They grow wheat around Fredricksburg.  That is where I got my first batch of straw 5 or so years back.  I actually located it through someone who built straw bale houses.  I know that S.A is not as hippy as Austin, but it may just be an angle for you to work. 

A couple of years back I drove to Kansas and brought back 100 bales of organic wheat straw.(still have 50 left)  They ended up costing me about $7.00/bale once I figured in my expenses, not counting my time. That is about $3.00/bale more than local conventionally grown wheat straw.  I don't think I would do that again as the chef's I have been dealing with don't really care if it organic as long as they are beautiful and tasty.  Maybe If I were growing a couple thousand lbs a month and selling wholesale it would be worth it to get organically certified, but small scale I don't think it is worth the effort and expense to do so.

I want to start trying out several different types of landscape waste. Banana leaves, palm fronds, some of those ornamental grass that go dormant in the winter, the list goes on and on.  My thinking is if you try some of these things some of them will work.  If you never try them, they will never work, guaranteed.  Good luck!


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ReUse! RePurpose! ReCycle!  "Mom says use it again!"

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Offlinechobumms
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: RogerRabbit]
    #9872698 - 02/26/09 08:54 PM (15 years, 1 month ago)

Quote:

RogerRabbit said:
I'm sure you can get straw in SA.  Look at feed stores.  Texas is a big wheat producer, and straw is the bottom part of the stalks left over after they cut the grains off.  You can also use other agricultural wastes, such as cotton seed hulls, which I know you can get by the truckload in TX.

See if your county has an agricultural agent.  In my state, we have conservation districts and their monthly board meetings are open to the public.  I got the ball rolling by printing out some of my pictures of mushrooms on phone books and newspapers, and also a few of waixingrens pictures, and took them to a meeting unannounced.  At the end of the board meeting the chairman asked if there was any other public business before closing, and that's when I stood up and gave my first talk, while passing the pictures around to the board members.  After that, the ball just kept rolling because every public official knows lots of other public officials, so good ideas spread fast.  Best of luck to you.
RR




Very good! I can't wait to call about this. Trust me, I'm not being lazy. I have looked and looked and looked, and I have never heard of an agricultural agent. I will look for this person and see what information they have that can benefit this cause. I am very aware of the non-degradables I throw away and want to do something to offset it.

Fredericksburg is semi- close to San Antonio, I will be willing to make that journey for the straw. And RR, thank you for your experience. I can't wait to check this out.

Thanks Yokel, I think organics are only worth investigating on a larger scale, too.


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My "Faster Germination For Popcorn Substrate" TEK
http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/8428361#8428361

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Invisiblepoboy
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: chobumms]
    #9872814 - 02/26/09 09:11 PM (15 years, 1 month ago)

volvariella volvacea is a warm weather mushroom Colonization/Fruiting Temperatures: 75-95F/80-90F


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Offlinechobumms
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: poboy]
    #9874646 - 02/27/09 06:10 AM (15 years, 1 month ago)

Quote:

poboy said:
volvariella volvacea is a warm weather mushroom Colonization/Fruiting Temperatures: 75-95F/80-90F




Thank you for correcting that! I'm happy to be wrong in this situation. I read through google that a drop below 70 degrees Fahrenheit severely limits yields. I think I want to get this culture now. It sounds like a tasty mushroom.


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My "Faster Germination For Popcorn Substrate" TEK
http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/8428361#8428361

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Offlineb3jamboree
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: chobumms]
    #9875398 - 02/27/09 09:26 AM (15 years, 1 month ago)

My wife and I live off the profits of our mushroom farm. It's a VERY modest living right now, but I can see by summer when more farmer's markets start we will be living more comfortably.

We started out very small growing oysters to bring to farmer's markets with other produce from a farm we worked on. They were a huge hit and eventually we got some family investment to expand.

Right now we sell to 5 stores, 2 restuarants and one farmer's market. We are in talks with a large distributor. Demand is huge and it looks like we can grow as much as we want.

We grow blue, elm, and king oysters. Shiitake, enoki and miatake right now. More in the summer when the weather warms. Actually the most profitable are the oysters. They cost less to produce and although they don't command the high price Shiitake or enoki do, we make more because we produce more.

My advice to anyone trying to start a mushroom farm is start small and let it grow naturally. Don't try to run before you walk. And also, stay out of Michigan ;->

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OfflineParesthesia
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: b3jamboree]
    #9878084 - 02/27/09 03:21 PM (15 years, 1 month ago)

San Antonio, huh?  Straw really shouldn't be a problem up there.  Down here in Houston straw is damned near impossible to get!

If you're looking for resources on marketing your products, check out:

Design~Build~Live.  Some information on straw bale construction, but they can probably hook you into local suppliers.  I'd be a little worried about growing oyster mushrooms in a straw bale house, though. :grin:
Local Harvest.  There is good information here on farmer's markets, CSAs, co-ops, etc.
Slow Food USA.  It looks as if you've got a local chapter, but the only contact is an email address.

If I think of anything else I'll toss it up here.  Visit some of those markets and talk to the farmers!  Cultivating relationships with them can get you good information and contacts for materials, markets, etc.


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"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

- T. S. Eliot

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InvisibleLokelYokel
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: Paresthesia]
    #9879493 - 02/27/09 06:22 PM (15 years, 1 month ago)

Straw is not damn near impossible to find in central or the gulf coast of TX.  I guarantee that a 1-3 hr drive from either Houston or SA will result in a amount of wheat straw that would be damn near impossible to plow through in a lifetime.  Granted it takes some planning.  Wheat farmers don't always bale their straw, most times they work it back into the field.  That is unless they can sell it.  You have to find a farmer, find out when they harvest and bale, and make some arrangements.  I put one post in the farm and garden section of Craigslist inquiring about straw and had half a dozen people respond.  By the way now is the time you should start contacting farmers.  They may not have straw now but will soon.

It is out there, you just get to take a day to explore a little bit more of this wonderful world we live in to get it.  Who knows maybe you'll see some mushrooms on the way.  Damn near impossible?  Hardly!


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OfflineParesthesia
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: LokelYokel]
    #9879715 - 02/27/09 06:48 PM (15 years, 1 month ago)

I posted something on Craigslist asking about straw, and I got zero responses!  If you know where I should go, hook me up!


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"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

- T. S. Eliot

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InvisibleLokelYokel
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: Paresthesia]
    #9879799 - 02/27/09 07:00 PM (15 years, 1 month ago)

Try a post in Austin Craigslist,  The responses I got were mostly from Taylor which is a little northeast of Austin.  That is probably the better part of 3hrs for you depending where you are in Houston(seems like it can take an hour to get from one part of Houston to another.  Another idea I had is that Montery mushrooms in Madisonville uses tons of wheat straw in their agaricus operation, maybe you could contact them and possibly buy some from them.  They might not want to eff with it but it is a least worth a google search and an email.  Madisonville isn't much more that an hr from H-town.  One more thought, if you do get in contact with a farmer ask him if he knows any other farmers who may be closer to you.


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Offlinechobumms
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: LokelYokel]
    #9880856 - 02/27/09 09:40 PM (15 years, 1 month ago)

I'll let you know what I run  into paresthesia, and thank you jamboree! that is a real cool story and exactly what I wanted to hear. Maybe when somebody hooks me up with a volvariella volvacea culture I'll try it out. I just have to hook up some trades first.


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My "Faster Germination For Popcorn Substrate" TEK
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OfflineRogerRabbitM
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: chobumms]
    #9881056 - 02/27/09 10:14 PM (15 years, 1 month ago)

Straw should be at ANY feed store, even in the city.  I used to buy mine about 1/4 mile from the center of downtown Seattle.  Just look in the phone book under farm/feed supply and call them up.  If you have to drive more than a few miles from your house, I'd be very surprised.
RR


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"I've never had a failed experiment.  I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work."
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InvisibleLokelYokel
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: RogerRabbit]
    #9881374 - 02/27/09 10:55 PM (15 years, 1 month ago)

The feed stores in Austin had no wheat straw.  That is the first places I tried and was kind of surprised they did not have it.  You do what you have to do and if that means driving an hour or so, "Whoomp! There it is!"  People take alot more drastic measures to pursue their hobbies, let alone potential livelihoods.  Beside, I find it quite fun to seek things out and eat at the hole in the wall gems of diners in the hayseed towns I find stuff.  I do love me some greasy spoon chicken fried steak w/mashies!


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Offlinechobumms
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Re: Does anyone here, or anyone here in the past, grow commercially for decent income? [Re: RogerRabbit]
    #9882173 - 02/28/09 03:11 AM (15 years, 1 month ago)

Quote:

RogerRabbit said:
Straw should be at ANY feed store, even in the city.  I used to buy mine about 1/4 mile from the center of downtown Seattle.  Just look in the phone book under farm/feed supply and call them up.  If you have to drive more than a few miles from your house, I'd be very surprised.
RR




I only know of one feed store around here. I will look more up this week because it seems I haven't looked hard enough. I will drive far if I have to. But I won't if I don't have to!

I think warm weather mushrooms would be best because paying for cooling the air would only be another expense in the overhead. As soon as I get a home I will turn my small projects into their larger versions.


--------------------
[/url]
My "Faster Germination For Popcorn Substrate" TEK
http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/8428361#8428361

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