Florida Fungi Farm Chronicles: Volume 7

I don’t know how else to say it. We’re back.

 

It took a few more months than expected but better late than never! It has been quite the journey and we are pleased to be able to share it with you all. This has been the biggest undertaking of our lives and it will be an ongoing one. We have learned so many things in the process and are grateful for it all, and we’ve got tons of news for y’all since we last blogged – without further ado…

 

Welcome baby Ruby to the farm! This is the one cause for our delays that we smile about every day. Our little mushroom was born in January and has been a constant source of joy and dirty diapers. Infinite praise goes out to mama bear who does such a good job taking care of little Ruby. We hope she likes mushrooms!

 

 

As some of you know, we suspended operations around this time last year to expand the business. It has been a veritable gauntlet of tribulations to reach this point and thankfully we won’t likely have to do it again soon. There is a saying that goes “You don’t know what you don’t know.” This was, unfortunately, a theme of our expansion. While we had plenty of obstacles to overcome, we managed to keep putting one foot in front of the other. For everything that went right along this process, there were three things that went wrong and it was a moral challenge to keep pushing forward. During this journey we found out a lot about ourselves and have grown from it. They say adversity breeds strength and here we are, stronger than ever!

I halted operations last year with the goal of transitioning to a property where I could both have a family and the business. Fun Fact: In order to be zoned for agricultural use in Pinellas county, you must have a minimum of 2 acres. At the time of our search, there were two such parcels for sale. If you guessed they cost 5-10 million dollars you’d be accurate. While we wanted to remain in Pinellas county where we started the business, there were simply no suitable locations within our price range. Although it is not initially where we set out to be, we could not be more satisfied with where we ended up. It took nearly 3 months of scouring real estate listings, visiting properties, and expanding the search in order to land a winner. It was love at first sight. The property seemed tailor made for our needs and we are happy to call Brooksville, Florida the new headquarters of Florida Fungi Farm. Brooksville is a charming area with hills and forests that make me feel right at home. A bonus is the fungal diversity on our property and the surrounding region.

 

Once the place was locked in, it hit me. I presented myself with no small feat to accomplish. The to-do list was mesmerizingly long and daunting and there were times where I was paralyzed by the sheer amount of work to be done. However, knowing what needed to be done was only part of the parcel. Knowing how to do it… well that had to be learned on the job. Before beginning my career as a mycologist and cultivator, my professional background was academia. I was handy with tools but lacked proper experience using them. No longer is that true. In this endeavor I was compelled to learn the skill sets of planning, framing, wiring, plumbing, insulating, drywalling, mudding, and painting. I feel like I already wore many hats as a business owner, and by the time I was done with it all I could have opened a hat shop. Shout out to all the people behind the youtube videos that showed me what I needed to be shown in order to complete the various jobs at hand.

 

 

I began with a bare pole barn. It was recently erected by the previous owners who intended to keep the property indefinitely, but due to life events decided to move to West Virginia. Fortunately it already had power and some spigots outside. The early days of the transformation were the most brutal as it was dark and hot. We got the keys on June 1 and those days it was about 120° in the barn by 10:30 am. The very first major job we had done was to have the entire interior spray foamed, which insulated the building well from the summer swelter and brought it down to a much more tolerable environment. It was still hot with no AC yet, but boy did that foam make a difference.

 

 

The foam was an excellent solution for the solid walls and ceiling, but what about those big roll doors? Those would simply radiate heat inward if left unchecked, so I devised a solution using my new framing skills:

 

 

Fitting foam panels into this wood frame was delightfully easy compared to all the other frustrations I encountered in this journey.

 

Now that the building could be worked in without fear of heat stroke, I began framing the lab space.

 

 

Once the frames were secure it was time to shed light on the situation and prepare for the electrical needs of the laboratory.

 

 

With proper lighting and power I was now able to work more efficiently and things really started snowballing at this point. The laboratory stays a constant 68 degrees and so we wanted to further save on energy costs with batt insulation in the walls and ceiling.

 

Once all the insulation was installed it came time for everyone’s (least) favorite part of construction… Drywall.

 

The one part of this process I wish I outsourced was the tape and mud job for the walls. Alas, we live and learn. I have a newfound respect and appreciation for the work it takes to create a seamless drywall finish. My result was anything but seamless, yet for a first timer I think it came out pretty good.

 

 

Now in the home stretch, we just needed to install the AC and coat the floors.

 

 

With the floor coated and the room cooled, we had finished everything we needed to begin moving in. Here we put the last piece of the puzzle, our bag shaker, in place. The experience of renovating a barn into a mycology lab and cultivation space was not an easy one. It took nearly one year of planning and doing to pull it off. While I would not want to do it again anytime soon, it was an incredibly valuable experience which I won’t soon forget.

 

 

There are many corners I could have cut along the way to get up and running quicker, but cutting corners is antithesis to what we here at Florida Fungi Farm are all about. We strive to deliver only premium products and we need a proper facility to do so. For example, notice the microscope station in the beginning of the above image. We sample every batch of culture we make to ensure the integrity of the products leaving our lab. From syringes to spawn, we want you to know we maintain rigorous controls and spare no expense. Our products and guarantees are the best in the business. Look no further.

Whether you are dipping your toes into the world of fungi or mycology, or you are an established and experienced grower, Florida Fungi Farm has something to offer you. Reach out to us today with any questions you may have, our email is info@floridafungi.farm. We’d love to connect with you. Thank you all again for your support during our expansion and as always, keep smiling!