Wrapping up Quarter 1
Well we’re here, 4 months after we bought a mushroom farm. What can I say besides the old cliche saying that it was a wild roller coaster ride. Well it was, between selling out at our first farmers market to getting scammed by an AC man, this quarter was stressful yet magical.
Let me begin; we initially had planned to sell 500 pounds of mushrooms to a connect from the man, lets say his name was Mick, who sold us the equipment (foolish of us to actually believe Mick). So there we were, not only working but learning along the way of how to cultivate this insane amount of mushrooms. The days were long and extremely repetitive. I was doubting how sustainable this would be for me. Two months later and the time came to show the connect our mushrooms. We were so giddy the day before the meeting getting everything ready and rehearsing what we were going to tell him. It was 10pm when we received a call from Mick saying that nothing would come out of this meeting even if we drove the 2 hours to go meet the connect but to feel welcome to do so anyways. The smiles that were there vanished as quick as the air stood still. No more than 5 minutes did we decide to use our energy to wallow and then Julio said “Let me call the local Farmers Market to see if we can go as a vendor (I don’t know if you know this but the typical life span of a mushroom after it has been harvested is about a week), our 500 pounds of mushroom bags were ready to be put to fruit, the mushroom time ticking clock had begun, and we needed to find a way to not let them go to waste. I started to plan sample runs to restaurants as Julio applied to as many Farmers Markets as he could find.
Our local FM was the first to accept us and we began to prepare. Our first Saturday attending we arrived a few minutes late, there were already shoppers walking around while we were setting up our tent. As soon as a woman saw us setting up she came to inquire. She was our first sale, no table set up, a tent half opened and a ton of boxes on the ground BUT with our first sale; a sale of 1/2 lb Blue Oysters that we grew from the start, our babies you could say. We didn’t get to fully set up that day due to the continuous shopper flow. 2 hours in and we were fully sold out! An array of feelings flooded us that day from excitement to ambition to flat out joy.
If there is one thing about Julio and I is that we are ambitious, possibly foolishly so, but there is this line in a Billy Joel song that goes “don't you know that only fools are satisfied?” and that always reassures us of our crazy dreams. Within a month of our first Farmers Market we had added 5 more! We learned along the way and successfully built a brand while creating a business, all of this while Julio kept his 9-5 job.
Everything was going smoothly until we hit our hottest month. Hottest month Northern Virginia has had in some time in fact, and we needed to cool the place down and FAST! We got in contact with a man, let’s call him Jarrin, who worked with HVAC systems for industrial warehouses and he came to take a look. Jarrin came in and immediately told us how he used to work for the company that Julio still works at and that its not a place for smart people (foolish of us to trust this man after that comment). He invoiced us for all this work he was going to complete as well as an A/C unit. And you guessed it he did not complete anything nor did we ever see him again. Deciding again that we would not use our energy to wallow and pity ourselves we found our way around this problem just like the last. (Still looking to sell a half decent portable A/C unit that didn’t work for our set up if anyone is interested).
It’s been a few days after Quarter 1 wrapped up and not only were all of our Farmers Markets a success but our name has expanded like wild fire that we are actively being sought after. We have gained amazing relationships with our regulars, a few chefs, and with a whole new community. Quarter 1 was far from easy and I can confidently say that I never have been this stressed before BUT I am also the happiest I’ve ever been and am lucky to be living this life. Thank you to all who read all the way through and to those whom have just skimmed it (would be me too). Have a beautiful day and enjoy this beautiful life that we only get one of.
With Mush Love,
