- \n
- Cordyceps<\/li>\n
- Enoki<\/li>\n
- Beech<\/li>\n
- King trumpet<\/li>\n
- Chestnut<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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Blue oyster mushrooms are one of the many types Mushroom Street Farms offers. (Nicole Lopez | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\nThe Gwartneys\u2019 farm is operated through an intricate system to successfully grow mushrooms, from planting the spores to full cultivation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mushroom Street Farms also sells growing kits and teas, caffeine products, tinctures and supplements made with ingredients from the Gwartneys\u2019 mushrooms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Contact information:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Location: <\/strong>8001 Valcasi Drive, Suite 101, Arlington<\/p>\n
Phone: <\/strong>214-945-0506<\/p>\n
Email: <\/strong>info@mushroom.st<\/a><\/p>\n
Website: <\/strong>Mushroom Street Farms<\/a><\/p>\n
Facebook: <\/strong>Mushroom Street Farms<\/a><\/p>\n
Instagram: <\/strong>@mushroomst.farms<\/a><\/p>\n
TikTok: <\/strong>@mushroom.st<\/a><\/p>\n
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n
Nicole Lopez: <\/strong>What made you pursue the mushroom farming business?<\/p>\n
Warren Gwartney: <\/strong>I\u2019ve been in software development for 25 years. I\u2019ve always had a little moonlighting business but went back and got a job inside of the corporate rounds. But I\u2019ve always had that entrepreneurial bug to do something.<\/p>\n
When I started growing mushrooms, it seemed like there was a lot of room in the market. There are some other mushroom growers. But we just felt like we could do it more.<\/p>\n
We still have a web development business that\u2019s also very fundamental to our business. It basically helped fund the startup of Mushroom Street Farms.<\/p>\n
Mushrooms are gaining in popularity and curiosity, not only for what you can do with it as a food but what it can do for you health wise. I\u2019ve always loved that part of mushrooms, too. I\u2019ve always been into supplements. The more I researched, the more I was intrigued.<\/p>\n
Lopez: <\/strong>You sell a variety of mushrooms. Does the growing process vary by each type?<\/p>\n
Gwartney: <\/strong>They typically do well at the same temperatures. A little cooler than room temperature is better. Pests and fungus gnats don\u2019t like cooler temperatures, so it helps keep that kind of stuff away, including mold.<\/p>\n
As a farm, we want the highest success rate possible. That\u2019s why we sterilize our compost with clean air and sterile technique. In nature, it\u2019s a numbers game. A mushroom sprouts, it puts out billions of spores. Maybe those spores never reproduce. Especially somewhere like Texas, the conditions aren\u2019t as great. We\u2019re doing this commercially, so we need it to be as successful as possible.<\/p>\n
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Pictured are enoki and chestnut mushrooms at Mushroom Street Farms in Arlington. (Nicole Lopez | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\nLopez:<\/strong> What do your other products consist of?<\/p>\n
Gwartney: <\/strong>If we don\u2019t sell our mushrooms, we dehydrate them. We use that to make seasonings and barbecue rubs. We have a product where the powder is like Kraft macaroni and cheese. You can buy dehydrated mushrooms, and we also make mushroom jerkies. We have a lineup of tinctures and capsules. We also do coffee and tea blends with different herbs and mushrooms added to them. We\u2019re striving to be the everything mushroom farm.<\/p>\n
Lopez: <\/strong>You provide wellness products made out of your mushrooms. What are the health benefits that come from mushrooms?<\/p>\n
Gwartney: <\/strong>The biggest interest is in the lion\u2019s mane mushroom<\/a>. It\u2019s a neuroregenerative, meaning it has nerve growth factor compounds that help your nervous system grow new connections. You can\u2019t replace neurons, but you can make new connections and strengthen pathways so they can help improve your memory over time. They\u2019re being studied for potentially helping treat Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/a>. Even in short-term use, people generally will feel like a little less brain fog. That\u2019s what we hear from customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cordyceps is amazing because it helps cells make more energy. It\u2019s good for energy unlike stimulants. Stimulants trick our brains into thinking we have energy, and that\u2019s why you get a crash. Cordyceps helps your cells respirate and put out more energy. Athletes have turned to it, because it\u2019s good for endurance. It also has another compound called Alpha GPC<\/a> in it that just helps with neuro transmission. It\u2019s become our most popular performer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Chinese medicine, reishi is called the mushroom of immortality. It\u2019s been in use for over a thousand years. It\u2019s used for its anti-cancer benefits<\/a>. Its \u201cimmortality\u201d comes from its metabolic health benefits, which is really the root of all disease \u2014 it starts in the gut. It\u2019s amazing, people want to come up and talk to us about their problems and their issues and the things that they\u2019re dealing with. It\u2019s been fun to be some help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lopez:<\/strong> What do local mushroom farms offer that customers can\u2019t easily find in big-box grocery stores?<\/p>\n
Gwartney: <\/strong>Mushrooms, just like all kinds of food, go through this crazy distribution system to get to grocery stores, which results in fuel costs, a lot of labor. An advantage that small farms like ours have is that they just do better when going straight from the farm to the consumer or maybe even two steps. For example, we just started selling into a small distributor, so now you have our mushrooms delivered to your doorstep.<\/p>\n
We get to have a business-customer relationship.<\/p>\n
Lopez: <\/strong>You also have a mushroom boutique in Dallas. Where else can people find your mushrooms?<\/p>\n
Gwartney:<\/strong> You can find us at the Dallas Farmers Market. We\u2019ve also gone to Canton. We\u2019ve done markets in Mansfield and Frisco. I would like to open a second micro farm somewhere to get closer to another group of consumers. We have extra space to distribute to Dallas restaurants or communities, if need be.<\/p>\n
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Mushroom Street Farms is based in south Arlington. (Nicole Lopez | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\nNicole Lopez is the environment reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n
Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n
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