Cherry Tree House Mushrooms.
It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue (well, unless you’re us and you’ve been saying it for 9 years). We’ve heard, and answered to, a lot of variations over the years:
Cherry Treehouse Mushrooms
Cherry Tree Mushrooms
Cherry Mushrooms
Treehouse Mushrooms
Besides being long and a bit unwieldy, the name hasn’t really matched us well for years. We chose the name when we started growing mushrooms at our house in Minneapolis, which we called the cherry tree house. Full story here. As difficult as the name is, it has been more difficult to think of a new name. We’ve had numerous conversations over the years that usually devolve into silliness or fizzle out as we realize we just can’t come up with something we like better. A recent conversation went something like this:
Jeremy: Okay, let’s take this back to the beginning. We’re starting a farm! Isn’t this exciting? What are we going to call it? Something with “mushroom farm” in it.
Aimee: Why?
Jeremy: Because we grow mushrooms.
Aimee: Why?
Jeremy: Because…I like mushrooms.
Aimee: Why?
Jeremy: Ha, ha! I hate that question.
Aimee: This is the best conversation ever!
Jeremy: We did mushrooms because goats weren’t legal in the city when I started the farm!
Aimee: [silence, accompanied by the look you sometimes give your partner when you’re a bit exasperated…you know, “the look.”]
We went on thinking about how else we could define the farm. Does the name need the word “farm” in it? Should we use a word that would show our location, like “Clayton Mushrooms Incorporated,” or something with Blackbrook? Apparently that’s the name of a creek nearby…but of course there is also already a Blackbrook farm! Well, our farm is in Polk County. Nope – we will not have the word “Polk” in our farm name! We need something evocative, something that feels woodsy. I guess it should have “farm” and “mushrooms.” (I know what you’re thinking: “why?”)
We searched blogs and sites online with various lists of “easy steps for naming your farm” which weren’t really easy and didn’t really help us pick a name. I liked the idea of picking a name that was funny.
Jeremy: Our name can’t be funny.
Aimee: Because you have no sense of humor?
Jeremy: You got it.
I am happy to say our marriage survived this conversation…but we haven’t quite come up with a name. At one point Jeremy was sure we had come up with THE new name. But a few days later, we were both feeling lukewarm about it. I said to Jeremy, “Of course this new name doesn’t roll off the tongue and sound great. It’s not the name we’ve gone by for 9 years. It’s going to be be weird and hard to get used to a new name!”
But the time really has come to re-name. We’d like to ask you, our supporters and fans, to let us know what you think. Here are some of our ideas. Let us know in the comments, or drop us a line, or comment on Facebook: which name(s) do you like the best?
Cherry Tree Organics
Heartwood Mushroom Farm
Heartwood Mushrooms
Northwoods Mushroom Farm
Northwoods Mushrooms
Woodland Mushroom Farm
Woodland Mushrooms
Cherry Tree House Mushrooms (for anyone who feels they can’t handle the change – it’s okay to say so!)
