We've had our first full week of inoculations and have about 200 logs done. Yikes! Last year our employee was on his second season with us and had already done inoculations the year before, so there wasn't much learning or training to do. Sadly, he moved on (for more education!) so we have a new employee who is learning all the ropes. Hopefully he and Jeremy will get up to speed soon because we need to be doing closer to 400 logs a week to get done at a reasonable time. Wish us luck - and good speed!
Inoculations are a bit all-consuming right now, so not much else is going on at the farm. The new fruiting chamber is at a standstill. Most everything has thawed, but there are still piles of snow on the north (shady) side of everything! We are definitely in mud season here.
We are looking to the very near future and seeing just how much there is to do. Normally we wouldn't hire more production workers till late May or June, but we probably have enough work for another person right now. If you or someone you know might be interested in working on a mushroom farm, please reach out to us! There are more details on our website. The job is pretty intense, but it's pretty rewarding when all the mushrooms start popping up.
While we're talking about jobs, there are two other positions we're looking for as well.
First, we need someone to run our farmers market booth at Mill City Farmers Market from May through October. We're open to hiring two different people who trade off - as committing every single Saturday for the summer can feel a bit much. Details on our website, and please reach out soon if you're interested - May will be here before you know it!
Second, we're looking for a "picker/packer." Funny name - super important job! This person helps do all the packing and packaging of mushrooms every week - prepping for the farmers market, CSA deliveries, orders for grocery stores, etc. They also help with picking mushrooms. Generally this person doesn't have to help with any production work (moving logs, etc) unless we're in a bind. As usual, details are on our website, and we'd love to hear from folks who are interested in this position.
The on-farm jobs also come with free housing (including utilities and internet) and mushrooms! =)