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Appendix

Here is a brief history of my mushroom experiences. When I was a young boy growing up in the Sierra Nevada of California I was introduced to morels, they grew on our family property and throughout the forest in yards, logging roads, trails and other peculiar places.   My uncle who was also our neighbor would go on the hunt every spring.  This imprinted on me and I off and on hunted morels for the next decade until I anticipated them every spring.  I remember one time at a young age my brother had eaten some unidentified mushrooms from our lawn and he had his stomach pumped, it was a good learning experience for us both.  I was open to learning about new mushrooms to pick but didn’t get introduced to more mushrooms until I was about 22 years old. I added oyster mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, butter boletes, and manzanitae boletes in the late 90’s.  I took a mushroom field course several times at Columbia Community College when I went there.  I was introduced to mushroom biology and became an amateur mycologist.  When I transferred to UC Davis I jumped on the opportunity to take mushroom cultivation.  I brushed up on mushroom biology and learned several different mushroom cultivation techniques.  We grew multiple different types of mushrooms using several different techniques.  I soon realized that wild harvesting and cultivating mushrooms were to be part of my livelihood.  When I graduated school I was exited that I would be able to dedicate more time to wild mushroom harvests and the marketing of them.  I did my best to coordinate my other obligations so that I could have free time during the wild harvests.  I sold them fresh to local restaurants and individuals but was not able to sell my bounty.  More recently I was introduced to Far West Fungi, the San Francisco Mushroom Store.  They actually had the capacity to purchase and sell just about everything I could bring them.  Now I could look for as many as I could find and get paid well for it. 

As part of my own direct marketing of mushrooms I have researched and experimented with several different recipes for each mushroom.  I even print out some of my favorite recipes to give to my CSA and farmer's market clientele.  I have purchased many mushroom cookbooks to educate myself on their use.  One day after a delivery of fresh wild mushrooms to Far West Fungi I was looking at the mushroom cookbooks they had, Ian Garrone who is one of the owners of Far West Fungi had asked me to write a mushroom cookbook after he saw me searching through what he offered for sale.  He claimed that there wasn’t a good one out there; many of the good ones that have been created are no longer in print because their publishers are out of business.  I had already been thinking about writing a mushroom cookbook so the encouraging words were well received.  This output packet is the first step toward creating such a cookbook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

 

Cookbooks-

 

Czarnecki, Jack. A Cook’s Book of Mushrooms: With 100 Recipes for Common and Uncommon Varieties. New York: Artisan 1995.

 

Farges, Amy.  The Mushroom Lover’s Mushroom Cookbook and Primer.  New York: Workman Publishing 2000.

 

Gillingham, Karen and Helene Siegel.  The Totally Mushroom Cookbook.  Berkeley:  Celestial Arts 1994.

 

Nims, Cynthia.  Wild Mushrooms,  Portland, OR:  WestWinds Press 2004.

 

Viverito, Vince and Marjorie Young.  From Duff to Dinner.  Los Gatos: Seasonal Feasts 1998.

 

 

 

 

Ecology/ Wildlife books-

Arora, David.  All That the Rain Promises and More.  Berkeley:  10 Speed Press 1991.

 

Arora, David.  Mushrooms Demystified.  Berkeley: 10 Speed Press 1979, 1986.

 

Barnes, Donald Z., et al. Forest Ecology 4th Edition. New York:  John Wiley & Sons. 1980, 1998.

 

Kuo, Michael. Morels.

Personal Communication-

 

Garrone, Ian.  Co-owner Far West Fungi

 

Hofstra, Thomas. Professor: Columbia College, Forestry and Natural Resources.

 

 

 

Support and or collaborators

 

Ian Garrone- Far West Fungi- Foreword

Katie Gleason- editing help

Local Chefs- Tony Fabbro, Jason llll, Chris llll, Chip Roberts, Bob lllkj, Janine Hubel

Mushroom enthusiasts- Zach Wallace, Aaron Cringle, Jason Smith, Josh Bridges, Eric Taylor

Mushrooms in Medicine- Mayo, Jakob Jaggy

Family- Royce “Rocky” Bridges (Dad), Karen Kallen (Mom), Josh Bridges (Brother) Crystal Bridges (Sister), Mike Lien (Uncle and mushroom enthusiast). 

 

 

Mushroom Business Plan

Mushroom Business Plan- Mushroom Business Plan Including wild harvested and cultivated mushrooms Executive Summary Mission Statement- To provide wild and cultivated mushrooms, fresh and dried. And to also promote mushrooms as a healthy food source. Business Start Date- March 10, 2011 Name of founder- Gabriel Bridges coordinates cultivation efforts and foraging teams. He also promotes mushrooms as healthy food source through cooking workshops and selling at local farmers markets. He has plans to write a mushroom cookbook soon. Number of Employees- Can range from anywhere between 1 and 10 depending on the time of year. Location of the Business- 1195 Love Creek Road Avery, CA 95224 Description of facilities- Currently there are only outdoor mushroom cultivation facilities and drying facilities for wild mushrooms. Summary of Company Growth- Have been a subcontractor for Far West Fungi, selling them wild mushrooms for two years. Several hundred logs have been inoculated with several different types of mushrooms to determine the most suitable mushroom for the location. Summary of Future Plans- Increase the capacity for outdoor mushroom cultivation, create an indoor mushroom cultivation chamber, work out logistics through health department for selling product from “unapproved source”, organize picking teams to harvest the wild crops. Promote mushrooms through cooking demonstrations, a mushroom cookbook, and selling to local restaurants. What led me here?- Many years of wild harvesting mushrooms has brought me expertise in locating large quantities of wild mushrooms. My love for wild harvested mushrooms eventually brought me to cultivate them myself. Market Analysis Industry Description and Outlook Identifying the target market- Fresh mushrooms and dried mushrooms will be sold locally at farmer’s markets, to CSA members, local restaurants, and retail outlets. An internet business may need to be established to increase the market. - Target market is mushroom afficianados, health buffs, and foodies. Cooking recommendations and health attributes should be provided to customers. Seasonality of fresh mushrooms is an important factor that customers should consider and customers anticipation of mushroom seasons is important. - Size of the target market is unknown. We live in a fungophobic society so the culinary attributes of mushrooms need to be taught to customers. Promoting the eating of mushrooms for health benefits and culinary uses will help to increase the size of the market - I will have a fairly easy time gaining market share as there are no local producers of gourmet mushrooms. I am emerging as a local expert in wild foraging and cultivating mushrooms. - Fresh mushrooms will be sold at a flat rate. Price will vary depending on the customer. Dried mushrooms will be sold at a discounted rate for bulk purchases. Price will vary depending on customer. Competitive Analysis- There are no local mushroom producers. There is a competitive element to the harvesting of wild mushrooms. Whoever gets there first gets the mushroom, whether it be wild animals, bugs or other mushroom pickers. Company Description- The company will cultivate gourmet mushrooms using several techniques. Outdoor mushroom cultivation and indoor mushroom cultivation will be practiced. Mushroom cultivation will be accomplished through a variety of local resources including: hardwood logs, hardwood sawdust, and spent grain from a local brewery. Seasonal mushroom foraging will include coordinated effort of teams to pick and sell wild mushrooms. Mushroom cooking will be promoted through cookbooks and cooking demonstrations. This company looks to provide gourmet mushrooms that are produced locally for those that need them. I would like to fill the need of providing consumers with varieties that aren’t available locally. Primary success factors include my knowledge of growing mushrooms and wild foraging for them. My involvement in the mushroom industry has given me insiders understanding of the industry. My continued attempts at mushroom cultivation have given me further insight to be efficient and achieve new techniques. Organization and Management- This business will be owned and operated by myself, Gabriel Bridges. I will however hire subcontractors for wild harvesting and I will hire labor necessary for cultivation. I will have to coordinate with pickers on harvest sites and dates. I will only hire a small amount of subcontractors and will work with them on improving their skills in locating marketable harvests. I will be developing a team of mushroom pickers that will collectively sell their mushrooms. We will aim to provide a consistent harvest of seasonal and dried wild mushrooms. The cultivation aspect will help to insure a yield of fresh mushrooms year round. This business will eventually become a LLC of it’s own. As of now it will continue as a subsidiary of the business that I already own and operate. Management Profile- -Name- Gabriel Bridges -Position- owner/ manager -Primary responsibilities and authority- Oversees marketing of mushrooms, coordinates forage teams, and manages cultivation projects. -Education- B.S. in Permaculture, UC DAVIS. Mushroom cultivation course, Self taught. -Unique experience and skills- Several years of refining knowledge of local wild mushroom flushes -Prior employment - student -Special skills- -Past track record -Industry recognition -Community involvement- Sits in on local community college mushroom class to offer his knowledge; Mushroom cooking workshops -Number of years with the company- since inception. Marketing and Sales Management Overall Marketing Strategy - Cultivated mushrooms and some wild mushrooms will be sold with the same marketing strategy that I use for my vegetable production. Mushrooms will be sold at farmer’s markets, through my CSA, to local restaurants and other purveyors of high quality food products. Restaurants and food purveyors get a discounted rate usually, although it depends on the type of mushroom. -The growth strategy will be to increase production of cultivated mushrooms as my market increases. As production and consistency increases I will incorporate more farmer’s markets to increase direct marketing sales. Possible future ventures include opening a mushroom specialty store. I anticipate increasing my role as a broker for the local mushroom harvest, I will collaborate with experienced pickers and train a select few individuals who are highly motivated and are particularly inspired by mushrooms. -Channels of distribution will be to farmer’s markets, CSA members, local restaurants and purveyors of fine foods. -Communication strategy will include several strategies for reaching different customers. An internet presence will be offered that offers nutritional information and recipes. Face to face customers will receive recipes and cooking tips. I will be collaborating on a mushroom cookbook that will educate readers about nutritional aspects of mushrooms and the culinary qualities of each mushroom. This book aims to not only promote my own business but the mushroom industry in general. Overall Sales Strategy Product Line -Fresh and dried cultivated mushrooms including gourmet and exotic varieties. Fresh and dried wild mushrooms, locally harvested. I can also offer subcontracting to pick wild mushrooms for other mushroom retailers.
Updated on 20 August 2013, 17:56; 1882 page visits from 28 February 2012 to 31 October 2025