CAPE CORAL, Fla. — You won’t find any seeds or soil at Mo' Shrooms off Pine Island Road in Cape Coral.
But just like your traditional farm, this plot of land is growing some tasty treats with an urban twist.
“I’ve got about 15 different types of mushrooms that i am trying to grow, from lions mane, bears head, comb tooth,” said owner, Mike Osmulski.
It’s called urban farming and Osmulski has it down to a science.
“We are taking an oat seed that has a mushroom Mycelium growing on it and then we are taking that grain seed and putting it in a bag of sawdust and soy or sawdust and straw and they love that, that Mycelium eats rotten and decaying wood,” he said.
The bags are then placed in one of two highly controlled tents where the mushrooms are allowed to grow out of the bag.
Osmulski says it’s not as complicated as it looks, and says the most complex part of the entire process was cooperating with the zoning restrictions from the city of cape coral.
“They didn’t really want me to do this, in this warehouse. they wanted me to do it in an agricultural part of the cape which doesn't really exist anymore and as you can tell, I dont grow in dirt,” said Osmulski.
By October 2021 Osmulski had his family of fungi ready to start growing.
He says the entire process of growing mushrooms from start to finish takes just under two months.
Osmulski says the goal is to produce 100 pounds of mushrooms a week.
“If we did a little bit more of this, we wouldn’t have to buy our produce from other foreign countries. Like a lot of the mushrooms that you buy in the store, they are planted in China or in some foreign country and put in a shipping container,” he said.
Growing your own business can be tricky when it comes to matching competitors' prices.
Osmulski says the price tag for his mushrooms is about $1 more than what you would find at the grocery store.
Already, local businesses say the product is worth the price.
“Neverminds Awesome Bar & Eatery, they have been one of my first customers, they have been taking pounds every week,” said Osmulski.
For Osmulski, that’s what it's all about.
“That’s the best part of it like you can keep it in your community you don't have to take it outside. I’m not even trying to go outside of the cape to provide my mushrooms,” he said.
To connect with Mo' Shrooms click here or call (239) 984-8026.
