Growing gourmet oyster mushrooms is a great way to make an extra income or even go full time. Growing mushrooms for profit is certainly not a get-rich-quick scheme. You probably won’t be able to afford that mansion in Hawaii you’ve had your eye on, but you can make a nice income. Gourmet oyster mushrooms, a type of exotic mushroom, are growing in popularity. Last year alone, over a million and a half pounds of exotic mushrooms were consumed, and that number is not expected to slow down anytime soon. Plus, growing gourmet oyster mushrooms is fairly easy. They can be fully grown in about six weeks.
Best of all, you don’t need a full-time commitment to be a successful mushroom grower. If you have a few hours a week to spare, you could be a success before long. So let’s do some math. Gourmet oyster mushrooms are currently selling for about $6 a pound wholesale and $12 a pound retail. If you’d like to make $600 a week, that means you’ll need to grow about 100 pounds of mushrooms a week. How large of a growing area will you need to do that? The answer is about 200 to 250 square feet. If you have an area that’s about 15 feet by 15 feet, then you have enough space to make several hundred dollars a week. It can be indoors or outside, as long as you can control the temperature, humidity and light.
Where do you sell your gourmet oyster mushrooms? There are several places that can bring you top dollar. How about trying the local farmers’ market? Large crowds frequent these events, and are eager to buy (and pay full retail prices) from local growers. That could be you. Set up a booth or stand and get ready to sell your mushrooms. Spots fill up fast, so if that happens, consider asking another grower if you can share a stand with them.
Ever been to a nice restaurant and enjoyed the delicious mushrooms they had? These restaurants have to get their mushrooms from somewhere, so why not you? Visit some local restaurants and find out if they might be interested in your exotic mushrooms. Hand out free samples to chefs, and there’s a good chance they will buy your mushrooms on a regular basis.
Many grocers carry exotic mushrooms. In particular, upscale grocery stores can be counted on to have a nice supply of exotic mushrooms, and these stores are frequented by people who are willing to spend good money to get them. Like restaurants, visit a few and see if they might be interested in your gourmet oyster mushrooms. Plus, they might even allow you to put on demonstrations at their store. This is a great way to drum up attention for your mushroom-growing business. Just sauté them in an electric skillet with butter and hand them out to customers.
You can earn extra cash by growing gourmet oyster mushrooms. It doesn’t require a lot of time or a lot of space in your backyard or basement. Before long you could be making the type of extra money you’ve always wanted, all from growing oyster mushrooms for profit. To learn more, read Growing Gourmet Mushrooms For Profit.