Practical mushroom education

Mushrooms made simple

We’re a working mushroom farm in Virginia’s Middle Peninsula, with roughly 1,500 inoculated logs and a growing collection of practical guides. We share what we’re growing, how we grow it, and what we’re learning along the way.

Start here Explore the guides

A pair of hands holding a fresh cluster of oyster mushrooms over a wooden harvest crate

A few places to start.

Mushroom Growing Terms, Explained Simply

A plain-language walkthrough of mycelium, spawn, substrate, colonization, fruiting, flushes, and contamination — the vocabulary that makes every other growing guide easier to follow.

Read the article

How Mushrooms Grow: From Spores to Mycelium to Fruiting Bodies

Follow the mushroom life cycle from spores and hyphae to mycelium, primordia, and fruiting bodies, with a clear explanation of what growers cultivate.

Read the article

Choose a Growing Method

Bucket grows, log culture, and tubs — three small-scale methods compared by time, difficulty, and species, with a first-grow supplies checklist and troubleshooting notes.

Compare the methods

Labeled tubs and jars of colonizing mycelium on metal shelving

From the farm

What we’re growing and learning.

Alongside our log yard, we work with different substrates and growing methods at a small scale, including bucket and indoor cultivation. We use those observations to improve our process and share the lessons that are useful to other growers.

Browse growing guides

From the kitchen

What we’re growing toward.

We currently make mushroom seasonings and freeze-dried mushrooms in small batches while refining recipes, packaging, and production. We’re also developing ideas for beginner grow kits. Nothing is available for sale yet, but Field Notes subscribers will be the first to know when the shop opens.

Mushroom seasonings

Savory blends built around deep mushroom flavor, made in small batches and refined in our own kitchen.

Freeze-dried mushrooms

Freeze-drying preserves mushrooms remarkably well. We’re refining a small-batch process for our own harvests and future products.

Beginner grow kits

We’re developing ideas for a straightforward oyster mushroom kit designed to make a first grow approachable and rewarding.

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The Field Notes letter

Seasonal notes from the farm, useful growing ideas, and one thing worth trying in your own grow. No noise, unsubscribe anytime—and you’ll be first to know when the shop opens.