Mushroom farming has become WAY too crowded... in my bedroom! I have my whole grow in my bedroom at the foot of my bed...

@FreshfromtheFarmFungi

5 ай бұрын

I have been there 😂

Great vidio Gary, I agree with you. I grow and sell gourmet mushrooms in Georgia (Noble Fungi), and still I think we need more mycologist farmers. Mushroom farming is not just a way to make money or a fad. It's also a paradigm shift in the way we the people think about community support, and how we see our place in that community. That would also include homesteaders, hand makers , and the like. Its nothing new. Its more of a organic way of looking back to the past and remembering what worked for our kin could work for us.

Yeh, you're 100% correct. I think that original comment was made by someone growing magic mushrooms and just frustrated with everyone else that is doing it. Considering what you've done for the gourmet growing community and content you've provided I thought it was quite inappropriate and facetious. This is your job and why shouldn't you be pursuing additional revenue streams etc. If they don't like it, they don't have to participate. Like pretty much anything. There are a lot of people on youtube just regurgitating the same processes and content but are good at editing. You actually know what you're talking about. 👍👍

Thanks for the videos!

im so glad you saw that comment + wanted to reply to it so soon; the mush market is BOOMING + will only continue to grow over the next 5-10 years! a rising tide can raise all ships!

Thanks Gary...great perspectives and good to hear your take on things. Here in Utah, there is not a grower I am aware of that has excess inventory. And while some might grumble about price competition once in a while, they would grumble regardless of the coopetition in the market. Appreciate ya, congrats on the new facility (a long way from your basement), and keep up the great work!

There is a limited commercial market, but as a hobby there is plenty of room. For example, my father has a freezer full of walleye. He does not save any money doing it, but fishing is his hobby.

@FreshfromtheFarmFungi

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for this insight- I strongly believe that people should do what they are interested in to contribute to society - the idea of “hobbies” is a symptom of people doing things they don’t like to make money to have a few hours a week to do things they enjoy. This is a mistake of our education system and culture. People are very complex though I just don’t see the logic in these arguments. If he went to markets and sold those fish Im sure he would get satisfaction and also make money.

@macrosense

5 ай бұрын

I agree that many people could probably make a small profit or supplemental income growing mushrooms, but I doubt many could earn a full livelihood.

@FreshfromtheFarmFungi

5 ай бұрын

@@macrosensethis could be said about most things but if someone is passionate and resilient then they will succeed. Bottom line. I hope the best for everyone and truly believe everyone has a gift to offer and should be rewarded for it 🍄❤️

@detritic

5 ай бұрын

​@@FreshfromtheFarmFungi It's a fair point, but beyond education and culture, some people don't have the time, physical space, mental bandwidth, or desire to make hobbies into their job. For me personally, I make a great living doing something I don't really care for, and my hobbies are specifically for escapism. I also can't take a 5 year pay cut to get competitive . You mentioned pizza, I recall killing myself at a pizza place for 6 months for crap money before I got my current job, getting trained through prep, dishwashing, cooking, etc towards being a manager. In retrospect, the work was rewarding in of itself because it was hard, and I'm sure I could open a pizza place with the experience I had. But I also remember I didn't even want to look at a pizza for 2 years after I left.

I couldn't agree more! There's currently far more demand for domestic mushrooms than supply. For instance, the vast majority of "medicinal" mushrooms used in US-produced products are imported from China, Siberia, etc. Why? Because there's no solid, consistent domestic supply. Find your niche and make it work. And Gary hits the nail on the head when it comes to how we view ourselves and our "competitors". Healthy competition is great, but so is collaboration. As mushroom growers, we need to work TOGETHER to not only raise the bar, but to lift up the entire community. What's your bottleneck? There's a good chance that it's not the same as the farm next door (and vice versa), opening the door for mutually beneficial collaborations. Like mycelium, we need to make new connections and foster space for those connections to grow and mature. It's a big world out there, and there's a place for all of us.

Thank you for this Gary

@FreshfromtheFarmFungi

5 ай бұрын

thanks for watching and following along! 🍄❤️

So true, As the street philosopher Q once said "We split the profit with the people, we be all lit Top ten, not ten, b****, we all in" Just started here in Maryland not to far back. Any Mushie farms want to collab hit me up!

I am in Pensacola Florida area. When I wanted to start my farm, I reached out to the local mushroom farm to let them know our plans etc. and they were very short with me, also any questions I may have had they said they would charge. So I got the impression working together is not their thing. But I think it’s beneficial to work together. What if I am short 20lbs for an order and want to buy from them or vice versa. Too each their own.

@FreshfromtheFarmFungi

5 ай бұрын

find your tribe and grow together 🙏🏻🍄❤️

@jolosolo11

5 ай бұрын

I’m about to start growing in ft Walton beach. If you’re still growing we should exchange contact info.

Thanks a lot for all what you did gave us as knowledge. Thank you God bless you

@FreshfromtheFarmFungi

5 ай бұрын

🍄❤️

Gary, you rule.

People don't want to have to compete & want something to blame when they miss their goals ---- competition is good for a market. 100 small farms > 1 huge corporate farm....

@FreshfromtheFarmFungi

5 ай бұрын

💯

Great video, and great analogy. And now I'm craving Bocce pizza from Buffalo

@FreshfromtheFarmFungi

5 ай бұрын

Yes! I love blasedell pizza, John and Mary’s CF subs, and Duffs wings 💯

Whachoo talkin about brother. Ham, mushroom and jalapeno pizza is the only way to go 😜

so, I've started growing some grain spawn, grow bags, and monotubs. The $ potential is attractive. I'm trying to isolate some mycelium cultures. Is there a Discord where I could post pix after the petri dishes incubate?

… ✍️ “Pizza”

I was considering getting into mushroom farming I have space in my garage as well as a family member said I could use their garage as well but the two garages don't have windows for ventilation can i still grow mushrooms from these garage spaces? any advice on that?

@FreshfromtheFarmFungi

3 ай бұрын

you need ventilation- maybe try making a temporary wall where the garage door is and venting out there. then you can see how you like it and move to a better place once it’s established.

Hey Gary this is amazing and I can take constructive criticism, and accountability on lookin into myself, thanks for the reminder. I am sorry I made you feel a certain way, that wasn't my intention. And you made a whole new video on my comment I was not expecting that and am more appreciative on your response instead of ignoring or deleting my commet. I do like your old videos on growing but still doesn't explain making 100,000k farm from 0 in 2024 and what time frame would that be maybe just stick to how to grow videos or what to do when you got into a bad spot with your grow? Bills start adding up when expanding a grow and equipment was expensive. My intention was to express some problems on the west coast where restaurants and grocery stores have been monopolized with contracts from big money people with big warehouses going up and pushing out the little guy to only be able to go to farmers markets to make only a few hundred a month. Unfortunately I have not grown mushroom for months now and just wanted to be a mushroom farmer for a living. But selling mushrooms isn't working out for me right now + no retirement plan lol. You are right about a lot. But making a brand and marketing is something completely different nowadays then just growing mushrooms and selling them to stores chefs/restaurants. It seems like most people nowadays don't want to work with you but only want to take or have an attitude of what you can you do for me. Maybe just where I am LA and Las Vegas IDK its a competition instead of working with other mushroom farmers like it sounds like in Colorado. Sorry also i know it sounds like I'm just complaining and trying to put people down also not my intention either. On a positive note I will check out that book and definitely made me want a pizza now :)

@FreshfromtheFarmFungi

5 ай бұрын

this is the beauty of the internet. So many perspectives can come together in order to try to figure out the truth which is probably somewhere in the middle of it all.

Detroit Pizza, Redstone.

Tell them to row their own boat.

I don’t think the mushroom market is saturated yet, but the pizza market is a very bad comparison to the mushroom market. Fresh mushrooms are commodities not easily differentiated except by quality and strain (I suppose a case could be made for branding/marketing too), pizza varies so so widely (crust, toppings, baking parameters, quality, branding, etc). Value added products do offer slightly more opportunity to differentiate.

@FreshfromtheFarmFungi

5 ай бұрын

that may be true right now in most areas but I believe in the next coming decades there will be more and more variation between strains, different species being cultivated and people will push the envelope just like pizza 🙏🏻🍄❤️