"You should give up whatever job you have and just quit. Just stop now, and devote the rest of your life to mushrooms." - Gary Lincoff
At the end of the month, I will leave my current position at Manitou Point Preserve to focus the entirety of my attention and energy to mushrooms. We (Ciara and I) are going to relocate to Cape Cod for the immediate future while we see through this venture.
The Plan
We have an ~18 month plan. Over the next year and change, I will pour myself into Mushroom Monday and start to flesh out all the ideas I’ve had kicking around in my head since the inception. This includes more mushroom people stories like last week, independent research (mushroom surveys in unique areas), and continued weekly mushroom emails.
I already have some events and walks scheduled for next year, one in particular at Wave Hill Gardens on 4/25, and will hope to attend as many mushroom forays as feasible. I want to generate as much content, (in-person, through the written word, and eventually through video) as possible.
In Spring 2026 we plan to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. I want to document the mushrooms we see along the trail and compile them into a book. The book will also include narrative from the trail and hopefully the end result is something like Mushroom Monday meets Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods.
How Will I Make Money?
Every single person has asked me, and it’s a great question. The Substack, to this point, is my “product”. It will be the most reliable stream of income I have once I leave the preserve at the end of the month. That said, I will continue to do private mushroom walks, events, workshops, and in a similar vein, ecological landscaping.
As I said in the video, I don’t want to paywall anything. The whole point of this venture is to educate people (including myself) about mushrooms and inspire a connection with the natural world. If people can’t access the information, they can’t learn about mushrooms.
I’m going to rely on paid subscriptions almost like donations and the content will be available whether you are a paid subscriber or not (but hey, if you do pay we’re designing t-shirts right now to send to you). The irony of using email and video to try and inspire a connection with the natural world is not lost on me, so I’m going to continue to do my usual, free pop-up walks when I’m back in the NYC area (and hopefully expand them to Cape Cod as I get established up there). I will update my events page as things come in.
What Would You Like to See?
I get asked all the time, “Is my (insert brand) mushroom coffee actually good?” Truthfully, I don’t know. But I’d love to find out. Understanding the quality of mushroom products online and in shelves is something I’d like to explore, and of course, share with everyone. If you have any particular interests, or know of any cool mushroom people I should talk to, I’m all ears. I want to curate this to be as useful and engaging as possible.
Thank You
Thank you for reading and watching. I’m excited and optimistic about the future of Mushroom Monday. I look forward to learning and growing together.
Full moon tonight,
Aubrey