Falling for Fungi

Falling for Fungi

It all began with passion and desire—a passion for growing mushrooms and a desire to be home with their kids. Linda Bonomo Myers and her husband, Kiefer, both had a fascination with mushrooms and started experimenting with growing them at home. The more they learned, the more they wanted to know. They found a supportive online community of mushroom growers who welcomed them and encouraged their interest.

Before they knew it, they had a small but professional enterprise growing mushrooms on their property, just north of Covington. “We started with a tiny grow tent Linda gave me for Christmas,” says Kiefer. “It only grew one mushroom but that was enough. We were hooked!” They began expanding their setup to include a lab with a sterilizer, a sonic humidifier and professional filtration. They moved a shipping container onto their property and built it into a fruiting room where temperature, humidity, CO2, and lighting are all carefully controlled as the mushrooms grow.

Myers Family Mushrooms began selling blue and pink oyster, lion’s mane, black pearl, king trumpet and other mushrooms, as well as mushroom tinctures, at the Abita Springs Art and Farmer’s Market on Sundays and the Gretna Farmer’s Market on Saturday and signed up a couple of restaurants and a wholesaler. Linda stepped into the role of The Mushroom Lady, the face of the company, while Kiefer stayed home and involved the kids in as many aspects of the business as he could. They proved to be quick studies, and it became a family business in every sense of the word.

“Our dream was to be home with the kids and this business has allowed us to do that,” says Linda. “We see a lot of the same customers each week, and they tell us our mushrooms and tinctures are helping regulate their blood pressure and mood and making them feel better in other ways. That’s a great feeling. We’ll probably never get wealthy selling mushrooms but spending our days together as a family is a different kind of ‘rich’.”

“People contact me now asking advice about starting their own mushroom business or just growing them for themselves,” Kiefer says. “It’s one of my favorite things to do, to help others get started.” The entrepreneurial spirit has awakened in the oldest Myers child, Amelia, too. The sixth grader spent her Christmas money this year on a tent, rack, grow light, seed trays, and seeds to start her own sprout and microgreen business she plans to run with her little sister, Voli—a business they’ll call Sprout Sisters.