If you went to the Union Station Farmers Market in the 2016 season, you saw an adorable couple running a stand stocked with gorgeous gourmet mushrooms. That's Liz and Michael Nail and they are Mile High Fungi. Liz and Michael are "both passionate about fungus." They're pioneering the locally grown gourmet mushroom business here in the Mile High City. Not only that, they've already embarked on their next major effort, building what will become a full permaculture homestead.

Liz and Michael both hail from the Pacific Northwest and studied sustainable agriculture and environmental science, earning degrees from Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. Together, they spent many days foraging for wild mushrooms in the Pacific Northwest.

Let me quote from their website; "For us, mushrooms just make sense. They blend our desire to provide healthy, local produce with finding creative solutions to harnessing the city's organic waste stream. In this time of environmental instability, we strive to produce using the most sustainable methods available, including solar and LED technology. By partnering with local businesses we're able to utilize resources from our community for our community. These amazing arborists, agriculturalists, wood workers, brewers and many more help us live the dream of sustainable mushroom farming."

– LINKS & RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE –

• Mile High Fungi website
• Mile High Fungi on Instagram and Facebook
• Union Station Farmers Market
• Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farm CSA and Sprout City Farms CSA
• Colorado Cottage Foods Act of 2012 on Colorado Farm To Market website and on the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment website
• Denver Sustainable Food Policy Council (SFPC)
• (My interview with Brian Coppom about Union Station Farmers Market)
• Colorado Small Business Development Center Network (CSBDC) (financial understanding)
• Colorado Department of Agriculture (regulatory understanding)
• Fooducopia Local and Organic Restaurant

 

– THANKS FOR LISTENING –

This episode (#29) comes from Mile High Locavorist.