Hi friends! Glad you found us here, in the vast world wide web. My name is Mary, and next to me is Micah, and at our feet are the kids (Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, and Ziggy Stardust). Our little band of creatures came together a couple of years ago and we have all been inseparable since. One of those things. Over the last year or so we have talked and talked about starting our own business, escaping the rent trap, and living a life all of our own making.
Well, we stopped talking about doing it and decided to just jump in.
How do you escape the rent trap when don’t have a lot of money in Portland, and when you have 3 dogs and a cat? You think creatively… alternative housing options.
So. We moved into a tent.
This is our 13×20 Alaskan style wall tent (plus a 6ft porch – booya!) We moved into our tent in mid-February, during the wettest and worst winter for Portland. Which, honestly, was great. Get the worst of it out of the way and now we get to enjoy the Summer here.
Here is a shot of it all put together – 
Not too shabby! It is our soft-walled studio apartment. Through deciding on this kind of lifestyle, we have eliminated our rent bill, have a small electric bill, and just do trade work for our little spot on our friends hobby farm. (I need to say, none of this would have been possible without our dear friends who live on this land in a house. They have been a true blessing while we navigate this bizarre venture.)
Two months ago, I quit my job and decided to focus full time on Cicero’s Garden. We are aiming to be at the Molalla farmers market in July to start selling our first fruiting mushrooms. Yay!
As for where we are growing our little baby mushrooms.. we began construction of a greenhouse a few weeks ago. We still have another room to build, here is a picture of our under construction fruiting chamber.
Not much yet, but soon this will be filled with fruiting bags ready for the market.
On this blog, I will share mushroom news and science, benefits, recipes, and any personal goings-on here at the Garden. I hope you subscribe, check out our website, and get excited as we are about mycology! #nerds.
Godspeed,
Mary & Co.
P.S. To learn more about tent living, visit my blog http://www.darlingdenver.wordpress.com
The Foray 