Mark Winfield drove a school bus for 40 years. He built up quite the reputation too. Other than a minor fender-bender, his career was accident-free. He greeted the kids each day with a smile and kept his cool when the students got noisy on his bus. When he retired he was looking forward to being able to relax more. Still, he wanted to make some money in his retirement, but he wanted to do it on his own time. He had spent decades working for someone else. It was time to work for himself. After dinner one night (he had particularly loved the tasty mushrooms he had eaten), he was walking in his backyard trying to think of what he could do. And then he saw his barn and got an idea: grow mushrooms for profit.Mark did his research. He learned that growing mushrooms for a profit was a great way to make a nice income. It certainly wouldn't turn him into a millionaire, but he could make a good amount of money in his retirement, plus do it on his own terms. He learned that exotic mushrooms are particularly popular. Over two million pounds of exotic mushrooms were grown in the United States just last year. Mark loved the taste of delicious mushrooms, and he knew he wasn't alone. Growing mushrooms for profit seemed like the perfect fit.He decided his barn would be the growing area for his mushrooms. He was able to measure off a growing area that was around 500 square feet, which could produce about 12,000 pounds of mushrooms a year. Taking into account that oyster mushrooms were selling for $6 a pound, that meant he could make $72,000 a year.Mark knew that the first key to his success was being able to control the temperature, light and humidity of the growing area. So he enclosed a "grow room, lining it with plastic and insulation. The second key was keeping the growing area clean. He wiped down all surfaces with rubbing alcohol. He sprayed the air with a 10% bleach solution. He also stopped any drafts by using weather-stripping and caulk. And finally, he was sure to wash his hands thoroughly before handling any substances.After about six weeks, the first yield of oyster mushrooms was ready to be harvested. That's one of the beauties of oyster mushrooms-they can grow in just a few weeks. Mark knew that he needed to try to sell his mushrooms when they were at their freshest. The ones he wasn't able to sell, he dried to sell later.Mark took samples of his oyster mushrooms to various local restaurants and let their chefs try a few. He sold a large amount in no time. Then he tried grocery stores. He had called ahead and learned which ones might be looking to buy his exotic mushrooms. And finally, he set up a table at his local farmers' market and was able to sell a lot of mushrooms that way too. But the best thing was that he was visited by a few of his former students. They recognized Mark with his baseball cap and big grin. He recognized them too. They happily bought mushrooms. Mark was able to see his new passion meet up with the work he had done for the last 45 years, and that felt really great.
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