It started with curiosity.
What began as an experiment has become a passion for growing exceptional mushrooms and sharing them with our community.
We fell down the mushroom rabbit hole.
We became fascinated by mushrooms after watching documentaries like Fantastic Fungi and discovering just how much more there was to the world of fungi than the familiar white button mushroom.
We knew mushrooms were nutritious, but some of us never enjoyed eating them. Then we started discovering the incredible variety of mushrooms available—different shapes, textures, colors, and flavors. Lion's Mane could be meaty and savory. Oyster mushrooms could be delicate, earthy, or even have surprisingly rich flavors reminiscent of bacon or ham.
We couldn't find the varieties we wanted locally, so we decided to try growing them ourselves.
We bought some grain spawn.
We had absolutely no idea what we were doing.
It did not go particularly well.
But it was enough to get us hooked.
Learn. Experiment. Try again.
Since that first grow, we've spent roughly two and a half years experimenting with different species, substrates, growing techniques, environmental conditions, and processes.
We've consumed an almost unreasonable amount of documentaries, books, online courses, grow logs, research, and advice from other cultivators.
And we've discovered something along the way:
There is no shortage of information about growing mushrooms. There is also no shortage of conflicting information.
What works beautifully for one grower doesn't necessarily work for another. Different varieties respond differently. Different substrates behave differently. Even small changes in a growing environment can produce surprisingly different results.
So we started treating the process less like following a recipe and more like an engineering problem.
Grown with Precision.
Change
Make one thoughtful change to the process or growing environment.
Observe
Watch what happens and pay attention to the details.
Measure
Use results and repeatable observations to separate signal from noise.
Learn
Keep what works, discard what doesn't, and make the next grow better.
Engineering meets cultivation.
We brought an engineering mindset, design-of-experiments thinking, and program management discipline to something that initially started as a hobby.
Over time, we've been able to turn a lot of trial and error into repeatable processes that work for us.
We're still learning—we don't pretend otherwise—but each harvest teaches us something new, and each iteration gets a little better.
Fresh, local, and worth cooking.
Cloud City Mushrooms grew out of curiosity, experimentation, and a genuine love of great food.
Today, we're focused on a small selection of gourmet mushrooms that we can grow exceptionally well, starting with Lion's Mane and seasonal oyster varieties.
Our goal is simple: grow beautiful, flavorful mushrooms locally and share them with our community.
Fresh food doesn't have to travel across the country to reach your plate. We believe locally grown specialty mushrooms can be delicious, sustainable, and accessible—and we're excited to help make them a little more common in Portland-area kitchens.
Come see what we're growing.
Explore our current varieties, find inspiration for the kitchen, or get in touch about bringing Cloud City Mushrooms to your business.
Explore Our Mushrooms