Mark and Julie Downs Are Finding Success in the Mushroom Growing Business
Writer / Melissa Gibson
Photographer / Ron Wise
As more restaurants turn to organic and locally grown meat and produce, Mark and Julie Downs have mushroom production covered, but their future as gourmet mushroom farmers came as a surprise even to them.
“My niece, Peyton Downs, is staying with us and she has an agricultural background,” Mark says. “We have 15 acres and I asked her what she thought we should do with it. She suggested a mushroom farm and it really wasn’t anything we’d ever thought about, so we started doing some research.”
That research led the Downs to Farm Box Foods, a Colorado-based company that upcycles used refrigerator shipping containers and divides each container into three different rooms – lab, inoculation and fruiting – for mushroom production.
With this design, the Downs are able to grow mushrooms in a climate-controlled, computerized unit. They can control humidity, lighting and fresh air exchange, which eliminates the need for additional chemicals in the cultivating process. The system also allows the Downs to produce mushrooms year-round.
The process is a quick one.
The Downs just completed their second harvest. Not only have friends and family raved over the quality of the mushrooms, but restaurant leaders are also expressing interest in using the mushrooms with their specialty dishes.
“The restaurants have been a big draw,” Julie says. “They love the local, fresh and better taste. They are also better for you, and just not the same as what you’ll purchase at the grocery store.”
Angry Donkey, a local pub in Michigantown, has already begun serving blue oyster mushrooms on their salmon-mousse-stuffed halibut.
Cobblestone in Zionsville will begin serving the Downs’ specialty mushrooms soon.
“Every reaction we’ve received has been outstanding,” Julie says. “It’s exciting and humbling at the same time, and now we want to provide what we said we’ll provide.”
The couple is currently growing blue oyster and lion’s mane mushrooms. They plan to add shiitake mushrooms to the cycle soon.
“Each harvest produces about 100 pounds and we’re able to produce about 200 pounds per week – more if we need to,” Mark says. “For the volume and speed of growth, the quality is incredible.”
To put 100 pounds in perspective, the typical container sold at a grocery store is four to six ounces.
Mark recently retired from 40 years of construction remodeling, and Julie is still working at an orthodontist’s office. They believe the newly formed farm to be their future retirement goal.
“This isn’t something you see every day,” Julie says. “It’s unique and our area of the world is growing so fast. People are really interested in farm-to-table foods. It’s exciting to bring something like this to our city and to know the health benefits that go with it.”
While the majority of the Downs Farm harvest will be focused on restaurant needs, they’re also working on some individual sales of one or two pounds.
Visit the Downs Farm 2023 Facebook page for more information, or email downs_farm@yahoo.com.
Comments 1
What a pleasure it was to meet you both at the Sunurban Show yesterday and how you were so open to share everything about your mushroom farming then to find out we were almost neighbors was delighful. . Best of luck in this wholesome endover. Hope I can come visit and see the actial growing process.