Adam’s Mushrooms Has a Farm

Adam DeLeo, a Key Peninsula native, marked the culmination of a dream in August. More than a decade after founding Adam’s Mushrooms, he is growing his own.

DeLeo, the middle of three children, moved to the Key Peninsula with his family when he was 3. He attended a small Waldorf-inspired school through the seventh grade. He graduated from Peninsula High in 2003, spent summers working on a cannery tender, and attended the University of Washington and Western Washington University.

College was not a good fit. He returned home, got a loan to buy a boat, and headed to southeast Alaska with a small fleet from Gig Harbor to try his hand at gillnetting. “It was a successful season, but after I made the loan payment, there was no money left, and I was still a kid back at home, DeLeo said. “It was not a happy time.”

The internet led him to Findhorn, an intentional community in Scotland that offered retreats. Members of the community worked in the hotel or the gardens for small stipends.

He attended and came home determined to sell his boat and return to Scotland. His stay at Findhorn spanned over two years.

He met Astrid, a Danish native who would become his wife. She first came to Findhorn with her family in the late 1990s and returned to work in the gardens.

Paul Stamets, author of several books, including a guide to growing mushrooms at home and “Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World,” came to talk.

“I got goosebumps,” DeLeo said. “It struck a chord in me.” He bought books and a mushroom grow kit and wrote home to say all he wanted for Christmas was a pressure cooker so he could sterilize material for growing mushrooms. Findhorn gave him permission to use the kitchen to grow mushrooms.

DeLeo knew what he wanted to be: a mushroom farmer. His work visa was set to expire, and Astrid, too, was ready for a change.

He moved back to the Key Peninsula, fished for the summer, and applied for internships to learn more about mushroom cultivation. Astrid joined him, and they spent a year in Carson City, Nevada, at Aloha Medicinal, a company focused on growing fungi for the supplemental market. “It was really an advanced course in spawn making, but we had access to so many people in the field,” DeLeo said.

The couple returned, married, and lived in the mother-in-law apartment at his parents’ house. “We had a pipe dream about mushrooms but not a clear roadmap,” he said. He did have advice from the owner of Aloha Medicinal, which got them started. “You don’t need a mushroom farm; you need cash flow,” he said.

Adam’s mother had sent them an article about Green Mountain Mushroom Farm, located on the Key Peninsula. They worked on sales for the company, harvested wild mushrooms, and got to know other farmers, chefs, and farmers markets in the Tacoma and Gig Harbor areas. They built a small grow house.

Astrid named their business. “Adam’s Mushrooms – simple and easy to remember,” she said. In 2013, they sold mushrooms at their first farmers market. (See “Foraging for Wild Mushrooms Evolves Into Growing Business,” November 2015.)

They added a few products as people asked for them, including dried mushrooms and tinctures. The business grew, and the family expanded with the birth of their first daughter. “There is no way we could have done this without Adam’s parents,” Astrid said. “The mother-in-law apartment became a storage space. We took over their house and lives with children and mushrooms.”

In 2017, Adam’s father found a lot for sale not far from the family home. They bought the land, built a house, and moved in at the end of 2019. Business was stable, and they had an employee.

Then the pandemic hit. Overnight, restaurants and farmers markets closed. “We scrambled,” Adam said. “We pivoted to fish sales, added huckleberries and jam, took online orders, and arranged pick-ups.” Their second daughter was born.

Adam realized he did not want to depend on other farmers to supply his customers. When a lot in Key Center came on the market that was zoned commercial and the right size for a mushroom farm, he was ready to realize the dream of establishing his own farm.

“It was a leap of faith,” Adam said. “You can’t say no when doors open in the direction you are going.” He and Astrid refinanced their house and took out a USDA loan. He got advice from many other mushroom farmers, but designed the farm himself.

They broke ground in January 2023 and harvested the first mushrooms in August.

Adam’s goal is to grow the mushrooms that he once purchased from others. They are now growing 10 kinds of mushrooms, some experimental and others in full production. He recently reached a landmark when he sold his own mushrooms to one of his suppliers.

Growing mushrooms starts with filling bags with a mix of alder sawdust and nutrient material. The bags are sterilized and cooled, then inoculated with a pure culture of mycelium, or spawn. They are monitored in the incubation room until the mycelia have grown enough to support mushroom growth, are moved to the growing room, and the bags are slit to expose the mycelia to air, moisture, and light. A computer monitors the temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels. Mushrooms are ready to harvest three to 12 weeks after inoculation, depending on the type.

The company will continue to work with other farmers and foragers – some mushrooms, including chanterelles, lobster, morels, and hedgehog, can’t be cultivated.

“Mushrooms themselves are all networked, and mushroom growers and pickers need to be networked as well,” Adam said. “It’s more important to have a good product than to do it all yourself. Everyone has different mushrooms. We want to put something out that puts a smile on faces.”

For more information, go to adamsmushrooms.com or the Adam’s Mushrooms Facebook page.