The Forest Farmacy

10/12/2026

We wrote recently about saving seeds and finding local folk to swap seeds with.

You know what you rarely see at a seed swap? Spores.

I think that's because many more people grow plants than mushrooms. And we don't have the culture around mushroom growing we do around plants. We'd like to change that.

Just as our plant crops have been shaped over countless generations of humans tending, selecting and breeding plants, fungi too respond to human participation.

People in fungi-loving cultures learn where the family patches are and how to keep them healthy and abundant. When people select the strongest, largest or most delicious specimens in the forest then carry them home they become part of the fungi's spore dispersal strategy. With every step the mushroom hunters are potentially spreading spores around.

Chris doubled the size of one of our lobster patches in a few years by cutting the stem butts where he harvested the mushroom then retuning them to the soil, under the leaf litter, a few feet away. He did it consistently every time he harvested and now we have more lobsters than we can eat each year - the insects, rodents, turtles and other forest dwellers get to eat their fill too.

Mushroom cultivation gets very interesting when you learn to work with spores. Chris likes to take spore prints from mushrooms he finds in our woods, or close by, let them grow into mycelium on petri plates then select the mycelium that looks the strongest to make into spawn and eventually let fruit into mushrooms. Then we are working with hyper-locally adapted strains that know exactly how to thrive right here.

How he can tell which are strongest by looking at a petri plate is a whole other story!

Part of the vision we hold is that there are mushroom labs across the country, around 200 miles from each other. Each lab is breeding strains of locally adapted mushrooms, selecting for those with great taste, medicinal properties or growth characteristics, then sharing them with other cultivators.

We see these labs becoming culture libraries and nodes in the mycelial network keeping spores alive, vibrant and always abundantly available for anyone who wants to grow.

When I say "lab" this isn't some high-tech thing. We built ours in an old woodshed. We poured a concrete floor (by hand), used some corrugated metal on the ceiling and walls, and put linoleum on the flour. We can keep it clean. We have some basic lab equipment that doesn't cost much. It works just fine.

This is one way we can become partners with fungi. They feed us, we help them expand. We get to be part of their cycle as they get to be part of ours.

A first step? Take a spore print. It's an easy way to get a look at some spores. You can find the instructions on our YouTube.

From there you can gift them to your favorite mushroom geek (!) or learn to grow them out on cardboard which you can then expand into spawn and grow mushrooms.

We cover this in both our online Start Growing Mushrooms course and our day-long, in-person, Backyard Mushrooms (next one is November 7th).

​The Forest Farmacy: A School of Applied Eco-Mycology and Working Mushroom Farm

10/08/2026

Chris has been growing a Cherokee flour corn for many years. He plants it, hoes around it once, then leaves it alone for a few months. The stalks grow over 14 feet tall. Wind doesn't flatten it. Worms don't get in it. And with ears 7 feet up, the deer can't eat it.

By the end of September we have corn for cornmeal, grits and skin-corn (hominy).

It takes very little work to give us a year's supply of staple food - because his ancestors already did all the work.

This corn has been grown in these mountains for over 2,500 years, maybe longer, we don't know. Every year, his people, have tended the corn, then selected the kernels to keep for seed - the ones that did the best, that are plump and perfect, the ones that weathered the storms and droughts.

Those ones are saved, stored away safely for the winter, shared with family and community. Treasured for their live-giving power. They are honored.

Then the next spring these treasured ones, some of them, not all, are placed back into the fertile soil that knows them so well. They great each other in recognition and begin their dance of soil to food to seed.

It's a long-standing relationship between the land, the plant and the people. Like any good, nourishing, long-term relationship it rests on a foundation of trust. We trust the corn will come each year. And in turn Chris takes care of the corn, doing his best to ensure it's flourishing.

That care currently involves planting it a few weeks after other farmers in this valley plant their GMO corn so that this traditional crop, so treasured for generations, is not contaminated, is not altered by an intention that is not for the benefit of all.

And it does just fine, it grows just the same. We can rely on it no matter what's going on around us.

What seeds are you growing? What is their lineage?

If we want to produce reliable food for each other, working with plants that know what to do in these mountains is essential. Seeds adapted to your own valley or hillside will require less work and produce more food.

All the big commercial seed varieties you can buy in this country are owned by 4 companies. They are not adapted to anywhere specific - they might work in your garden or field, they might not. That's not a relationship you can lean into when times get hard.

Save seed from the plants that do well.

Swap seeds with local growers.

Treasure them like gold nuggets.

And all this is true of mushroom spores. Some strains are from here and do really well no matter how dry it gets. We taught a class on sterile lab techniques this weekend, learning to grow mycelium from wild harvested mushrooms is a way to "save seed" in the realm of fungi.

Find a local seed swap. If you are in the Asheville, NC area please come join us at the Bountiful Cities seed swap on October 20th: https://givebutter.com/wnc-seed-swap-2026​

If you are in another part of the country, go searching for local events or organize your own.

A library of seeds you know you can trust may turn out to be the best investment you can make.

10/03/2026

We are sure you are feeling the pinch at the pump too. Gas prices across the US are averaging $4.46 a gallon, over $6 in California. That's 25% over this time last year.

But it's diesel costs that have us really concerned, $6.43 average and over $8 in California. That's double what is was last year.

If you are driving a tractor, combine harvester or other large farm equipment that needs 200 gallons a day, that's a huge hit, right in the middle of harvest season. And the trucks that move the food around the country are doing no better.

The Mississippi River is at record lows, removing that method of transportation and putting increased pressure on truckers. Many small farms and trucking companies can't make it make sense right now. The profit margin has been swallowed by diesel costs.

Will they plant again in the spring?

Food prices are already increasing and will continue to rise over the next few months. Some analysts claim a 50% increase in diesel prices translates to a 23% increase in food costs over the coming months. And if fuel costs are still high next spring farmers may choose not to plant, plant less or look for more local sales outlets.

We're not telling you this to generate more fear, we've got enough of that.

Our intention is to draw your attention to what's happening so we can all be more prepared.

This national food system we've gotten so used to only exists because of cheap fuel. We all know it's not the best way to distribute our food, but it's convenient and familiar.

The two solutions we see are:

1. Grow as much of your own food as you can and trade for the rest and

2. Buy from local aggregators.

We understand if you've never grown your own food that feels overwhelming. All of our ancestors, no matter where they lived, grew food and shared it with the community. We can do the same. Grow what you can, you'll have more than you need of something - potatoes, tomatoes, squash - then trade the excess with neighbors who are growing things you don't have. It's a fabulous way to build community and share the bounty of the land.

If you feel excited about growing your own mushrooms - which provide 35-40% protein by dry weight - you are welcome to join us in-person on the farm Saturday October 10th for Backyard Mushrooms a day of low-tech. hands-on cultivation.

Look for local CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) that combine food from various local farmers for you to buy. This will often give you access to a range of meat, dairy, eggs, vegetables, mushrooms and herbs all year long. And your dollars go to supporting your neighbors to farm, so when the trucks are getting here (again) you know where to turn.

We grow a lot of our own food and are part of a CSA run by TRACTOR Farms and Foods here in Western NC. They buy fresh food from local farmers - including our mushrooms - bring it to their warehouse in Spruce Pine then send it out weekly in bags to families all over the region.

And the best part is as a member you can customize your bag each week - you go online and choose what you want and they deliver it to a drop off point close by.

If you are in WNC and want to give it a try you can sign up here: https://tractorfoodandfarms.csaware.com/store/​

If you use this code they will give you 15% off: 7U2QTXK

If you live somewhere else start looking, you may be surprised by what opportunities to engage with local, community-led agriculture are right where you live.

In gratitude for the abundance of the land,

08/01/2026

07/30/2026

A small scale mushroom farm business can begin with a few fruiting blocks, a shaded stack of inoculated logs, or a humble grow room in a barn. But if you want it to last, the real work is larger than producing beautiful mushrooms.

You are learning to farm in relationship with the forest, your customers, your body, and the living systems that make each harvest possible.

Mushrooms offer a rare doorway into livelihood-building because they can grow in small spaces, transform agricultural byproducts, and reach market quickly. Still, they are not effortless income.

Gourmet and medicinal cultivation asks for clean processes, careful observation, reliable climate control, and an honest market plan.

The most resilient farm is not necessarily the one producing the most pounds. It is the one whose scale, species, sales channels, and stewardship practices fit the land and the life of the grower.

👉👉 Keep Reading: https://www.theforestfarmacy.com/blog/building-a-small-scale-mushroom-farm-business-that-gives-back

07/30/2026

Sign Up Today: https://www.theforestfarmacy.com/event/september-mushroom-growing-for-beginners-on-the-farm/6172/

07/28/2026

For thousands of years, fungi have been recognized not only as food, but as medicine. Ancient herbalists in China brewed Reishi teas to calm the spirit and strengthen immunity. Siberian peoples carried Chaga on long journeys for vitality and resilience.

Today, scientific studies are confirming what Indigenous and ancestral traditions long knew: mushrooms carry compounds that modulate immunity, reduce inflammation, support energy, and help restore balance in the body.

👉👉 Keep Reading: https://www.theforestfarmacy.com/blog/from-medicine-to-movement-mushrooms-for-healing-and-regeneration/

07/25/2026

In this three-show series, Emiliano Lemus interviews Christopher and Katherine Parker about their book The Mycelial Healer, as well as their work in wild co-tending, and deep roots in Indigenous healing and ecology.

Listen to hear about growing mushrooms at home, incorporating mycelia into your recipes, and fun mushroom science — then deepen into the traditional and spiritual science of moving in right relationship with the land, fungi, plants, and animals.

Episode #1: https://kpfa.org/episode/planting-medicine-february-17-2026/
Episode #2: https://kpfa.org/episode/planting-medicine-february-24-2026/
Episode #3: https://kpfa.org/episode/planting-medicine-march-3-2026/

07/22/2026

Have you ever felt that growing mushrooms is more than a hobby—that it’s a way to work with the forest instead of against it? In this guide, you’ll learn how to cultivate gourmet and medicinal varieties with a reverent, step-by-step approach, from creating the right conditions to building reliable yields. It also speaks to the heart of stewardship: fungi as teachers in regeneration, soil health, and local healing. If you’re ready to turn curiosity into real skills—and grow a purpose-led livelihood that doesn’t feed the industrial machine—you’ll want this one in your hands.

https://www.theforestfarmacy.com

07/15/2026

🚨 LAST CALL!! 🚨

Start Your Regenerative Mushroom Farm LIVE webinar is tonight!

Whether you're curious about regenerative agriculture or are an experienced grower, we invite you to embark on a journey that will empower you to cultivate mushrooms sustainably, regenerate your land, and build a thriving business rooted in ecological stewardship.

We have been growing mushrooms for 35 years, commercially for the last 15. We have made many mistakes, failed a lot, and find great satisfaction in helping other growers get to a profitable growing system in a fraction of the time.

During this 90-minute engaging workshop, you’ll discover the fundamentals of mushroom cultivation, including:

🍄 Why mushrooms fit into diversified farms and new income streams
🍄 Low-tech, low-cost growing methods that create feedback loops early
🍄 How to avoid the pitfalls that cause most people to stall
🍄 Practical ways to think about yield, pricing, and local demand
🍄 A clear look at building a system that can support livelihood
🍄 And so much more!

👉👉 Grab Your Seat: https://www.theforestfarmacy.com/en/live-webinar-start-your-regenerative-mushroom-farm