PORT ANGELES, Wash. — There's a farm on the Olympic Peninsula that grows something usually found in forests — mushrooms. David Rogers, owner and cultivator at Maddie’s Mushrooms, says he grows gourmet mushrooms for restaurants and home cooks all over the North Olympic Peninsula.
“Seems like there was kind of a void for gourmet mushrooms in this area and we thought we'd start filling that void,” Rogers said.
As for the name?
“We named it Maddie’s Mushrooms after our daughter Madison,” he said.
Daughter Maddie is just a toddler but she already is an expert helper around the farm, carefully handling the shitake, lion's mane, and oyster mushrooms that thrive here in Rogers' indoor growing system.
Dave, wife Shana, and Maddie go foraging together as well — in fact it’s one of Maddie’s favorite things to do. Her parents make sure she does it safely.
“From an early age we've taken her out with us and we've taught her how important it is to have mom or dad check mushrooms first," Rogers said. "She gets really excited when she finds mushrooms outside."
The Northwest is such a mushroom hotspot, Rogers is launching the first-ever Fungi Festival in Port Angeles, where experts will teach about everything from foraging, to micro-remediation (using fungi to clean up pollution and toxins), to using psilocybin mushrooms in healthcare.
"We're trying to provide a community space for people to come and learn about all things mycology — the cultivation, remediation, even topics like micro-dosing, psilocybin I think it's an important topic that people are interested in and excited to learn about,” Rogers said. “I think there's a lot of really exciting things that can do our world a lot of good happening with the world of mycology.”
David Rogers is a mushroom farmer on a mission — to help everyone have as much fun with fungi as his daughter does.
The inaugural Port Angeles Fungi Festival takes place Saturday Oct. 15, 2022. Tickets are sold out, but there will be free fungal festivities in the area, from mushroom specials in local restaurants to fresh mushrooms at the Port Angeles Farmers Market.
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