If you know me, you know I love to talk about side hustles on occasion. I have a profitable one and am always looking to expand. Upon researching garden-related side hustles, I found some of interest. The one I found the most intriguing dealt with mushrooms. If you’re looking into starting a rather simple to set up and profitable business, learn about this mushroom side hustle I want to try out.
Growing Mushrooms
You can grow mushrooms many different ways. If you’re going for a high-tech experience, you’re going to need a sterile lab. If you are not trying to spend a fortune, then a dry space in your house will do the trick. We are thinking about the basement or garage area since we do not use it to store our cars. Before growing, you will need a light source for later in the process, something to spray water onto your mushrooms at the fruiting stage, and a place to store them. When it comes to growing them, you can start from a grow kit like this. If you are more adventurous, you can purchase liquid cultures or make your own.
Later down the line, you can look into spore prints and growing the bacteria using agar plates. Once you decide what form you would like to start with, you will need a growing medium to colonize your spores and cultures. You can check out some of these pre-made mixes. After the bags are fully colonized, it’s time to induce light and humidity to the process to get a fresh flush.
Types of Mushrooms and Profitability
There are all kinds of mushrooms that you can cultivate right at home. If you are looking to make a business from this, skip the garden variety options you find at every grocery store. We are looking at Lion’s Mane, Oyster Mushrooms, Reishi, and beefsteak mushrooms, among others. Depending on the variety you sell and where you sell them, you can fetch top dollar for your crop.
How To Market Yourself
Profitability is all about where you sell your product. From my research, I learned of several viable options. To start, we are going to try to set up at our local farmers’ market and sell through the marketplace online. We can generate a buzz about our products and see what other vendors our offering in the realm of mushrooms. Later, we want to create a relationship with at least two restaurants, vegan preferred or local chefs. I found that servicing restaurants or chefs consistently is the most profitable way to scale up your profitability.
Im looking forward to trying this mushroom side hustle, are you?
Read More
Should Everyone Have A Side Gig?
Is Newspaper Delivery Still a Good Side Hustle?
Shatel Huntley has a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Georgia State University. In her spare time, she works with special needs adults and travels the world. Her interests include traveling to off the beaten path destinations, shopping, couponing, and saving.