Possum Bottom Farms

Who are you guys? John is an Electrical Engineer who grew up on a family farm northeast Georgia. He has been growing his own organic produce for over 45 years. Susan is a former Sales Professional and Merchandiser hailing from New Martinsville, West Virginia, where she developed a love of nature as a child. Both have had life-long passions for agriculture, nature and healthy eating. Susan and John are both licensed pilots, avid kayakers, and Susan is very involved in the Chattanooga cycling community.

Possum Bottom Farm began in March of 2002 with the purchase of the 70 acre farm property from Art and Betty Matthews. Art, a retired Eastern Airlines Captain, and Betty, a retired Eastern Airlines Flight Attendant decided the upkeep of the property was becoming too much for them to handle as they entered their retirement years. The Matthews were ready to sell in early 2001. At the time Susan and I were looking for a piece of property where we could grow our own food, fly airplanes, raise Labradors and live a simple, more relaxed country life. We purchased the farm in March of 2001 and by 2008 we had added raised beds, the first greenhouse, a chicken coop, fruit trees, berry bushes and grape vines. By 2010 we were growing most of our own produce, eggs, and fruit. Susan and I really wanted to leave the corporate rat race behind and take our farming passion to the next level, but we needed a unique crop.

An old friend and former business partner began growing mushrooms for restaurants and farmers markets in the Charleston, SC, area in 2013. It immediately sparked our interest. As we watched him expand his mushroom operation and seeing his success (and failures) we began studying mushroom cultivation in earnest in early 2014. We read everything we could find about mushrooms and how to grow them. We watched dozens of Youtube videos. After some trial and mostly errors, we quickly discovered there are a lot of myths floating around about mushroom cultivation. So, we went to study under experts by attending numerous seminars and workshops, along with internship on Whitemarsh Farm in Wadmalaw, SC. The learning curve was steep. In the beginning the failures were numerous. It became very apparent why there aren’t more people farming mushrooms. It’s hard. Really, really hard, but we like a challenge!

Today, Possum Bottom Farms is recognized as the largest privately owned gourmet mushroom farm in Tennessee. We cultivate over forty species of fungi including 19 strains of shiitake, 11 strains of oyster, along with multiple strains of chestnut, maitake, mukitake, stropharia, lion’s mane, and the medicinal varieties reishi, cordyceps, and turkey tail. We grow our own seed spawn right here on the farm from commercial grade cultures maintained in our onsite lab, ensuring absolute quality control of our products. All of our mushrooms are farmed. We do not buy nor do we offer wild foraged mushrooms. Because we grow in climate controlled conditions our harvests are consistent and predictable. This means your mushrooms come to you from the farmer's own (gloved) hands just hours after harvest, not days or weeks like grocery store mushrooms. Possum Bottom Farms offers the freshest gourmet mushrooms available in Chattanooga and Nashville, bar none, and when it comes to gourmet mushrooms there simply is no substitute for fresh!

In February 2019 we wrapped up a significant expansion of our operation. We now produce around 500 lbs of farm fresh gourmet mushrooms every week, year round. Didn't see your favorite? Ask! We may have it in our library and we'd be happy to grow it for you! Many other culinary species not listed above are available and can be grown to order upon request. In addition to our fresh mushrooms we also offer fresh ground shiitake, oyster, golden oyster, chestnut and lions mane mushroom powder. Our mushroom powders are made from any excess mushrooms we grow that aren't sold within 18 hours of harvest. There's only one ingredient in our mushroom powder: MUSHROOMS! No salt, no fillers and no preservatives! Here's the process: We air dry fresh mushrooms at room temp to preserve the nutrition and flavor. Then, we grind, sift, bottle and seal the powder for freshness. Loaded with naturally occurring glutamic acid, or glutamate, our powders are just the thing to tempt your taste buds and send your umami into overdrive! Use as a flavor-packed/nutrition-packed gluten-free sauce/stew thickener, as a meat rub, with eggs, on popcorn, with rice or noodles, soups, casseroles, stir fry, or any time you want mushroom flavor, but not necessarily mushroom texture. If you’d like to try your hand at growing mushrooms at home we offer oyster mushroom home fruiting kits, along with pre-inoculated shiitake, oyster, mukitake and maitake logs and totems that can be used to create or enhance “edible landscaping”.

Are you organic? Yes! While we are not certified organic, our processes are 100% organic from start to finish. Mushrooms will have it no other way! We call our process “full circle farming”. Here’s how it works: We take locally obtained agricultural and wood waste products, such as logs, sawdust, wood chips, soybean hulls, and wheat straw, introduce the appropriate fungi, and grow delicious, nutritious gourmet mushrooms. After the mushrooms have been harvested we introduce Vermiculture (worms) to complete the decomposition of the substrate material into rich, worm casting filled compost that is then used in our raised beds, greenhouses and high tunnels to grow premium produce, thus completing the circle. Nothing is wasted, ever.

Our mushrooms can be enjoyed in Chattanooga at Niedlov’s Breadworks cafe. Our fresh mushrooms, dried mushrooms, mushroom powders, pre-inoculated logs and home fruiting kits are available year round every Saturday morning at the Franklin Farmers Market at The Factory in Franklin, TN, 9:00am-12:00pm (winter hours). Our mushrooms and other products can also be purchased seasonally at the Murfreesboro Saturday Market on the Square in beautiful downtown Murfreesboro every Saturday morning May 21st, 2022 through October 29th, 2022. Look for us under the green tent at both markets.

Always organic, always locally grown, always dee-licious, Possum Bottom Farms is your #1 source for farm fresh gourmet mushrooms! 'Cause you really can taste the difference fresh makes!