Forgedale Fungi

Forgedale Fungi is a specialty mushroom farm operating out of Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, with a listed presence at 598 Penn Ave in West Reading. The farm cultivates gourmet mushroom varieties for chefs, farmers market customers, and home cooks throughout Berks County and the surrounding region, and produces a small line of dual-extracted mushroom tinctures. Founded in July 2022, the operation combines indoor cultivation with seasonal wild foraging, offering a rotating selection of fresh mushrooms that changes with the growing calendar and the Pennsylvania woods.

Background and Founding

The farm was started in July 2022 by Adam, a graduate of Penn State's Agribusiness Management program. Before launching Forgedale Fungi, he worked at FNC Farms in Philadelphia, Root Mass Farm, and Oley Valley Mushrooms, accumulating experience across both vegetable agriculture and commercial mushroom production. That background informs the way the farm is run: cultivation decisions are grounded in practical growing experience, and the business maintains direct relationships with the chefs and market customers who buy from it.

Fleetwood sits in northeastern Berks County, placing the farm within reach of Reading, Kutztown, Allentown, and the broader Lehigh Valley, as well as within driving distance of the Philadelphia restaurant scene. The region has a long history of mushroom production, with Pennsylvania accounting for a substantial share of the national crop, though most of that volume is conventional white button and crimini mushrooms. Forgedale Fungi occupies a different niche, focusing on specialty and gourmet varieties that are harder to source fresh and locally.

Cultivated Varieties

The farm grows a core rotation of six cultivated species year round:

• Blue/Grey Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus), a fast-growing cluster mushroom with a mild, savory flavor and tender texture
• Shiitake (Lentinula edodes), known for its meaty cap and pronounced umami character
• Lion's Mane, also called Pom Pom (Hericium erinaceus), a white, shaggy mushroom often compared to crab or lobster meat when cooked
• Pioppino (Agrocybe aegerita), a slender brown-capped mushroom popular in Italian cooking
• Chestnut (Pholiota adiposa), which holds a firm, crunchy texture through cooking
• Enoki (Flammulina filiformis), the thin, long-stemmed variety used in soups, hot pots, and raw preparations

All cultivated mushrooms are grown using certified organic inputs. The grow environment is maintained through a cleaning protocol that includes soap, water, and pressure washing, with HEPA-filtered air in the grow room to limit contamination from competing molds and bacteria. Contamination control is one of the central challenges in indoor mushroom cultivation, since substrate blocks are nutrient-rich and vulnerable to colonization by unwanted organisms, so the attention paid to sanitation has a direct effect on yield and shelf life.

One distinguishing practice at Forgedale Fungi is the use of UV exposure to mimic natural sunlight. Mushrooms contain ergosterol, which converts to vitamin D2 when exposed to ultraviolet light. Commercially grown mushrooms raised entirely in dark indoor conditions typically contain very little vitamin D, so the deliberate UV treatment raises the nutritional value of the finished product. This is a documented technique in mushroom science but is not universally applied in small-scale production.

Seasonal Foraged Mushrooms

Alongside cultivated production, the farm offers wild harvested mushrooms during their natural fruiting windows. These are available in limited quantities and only when conditions in the woods cooperate:

• Chanterelle, typically July through August
• Chicken of the Woods, typically September through October
• Hen of the Woods, also known as Maitake, typically September through October

Foraged mushrooms are weather dependent, and availability can shift year to year depending on rainfall and temperature. Customers interested in these varieties generally do best by checking in with the farm at market or watching for seasonal announcements rather than assuming a fixed schedule.

Mushroom Tinctures

Forgedale Fungi produces a line of dual-extracted mushroom tinctures in partnership with MMM Labs in Central Pennsylvania. Dual extraction uses both water and alcohol as solvents, because the two pull different compounds from fungal material. Water-based extraction captures polysaccharides, antioxidants, amino acids, and fungal melanin, while alcohol extraction pulls triterpenoids, lignins, and sterols. Using only one solvent leaves a portion of the mushroom's compounds behind.

The production process involves fully evaporating the solvents to produce a dried concentrate, then reintroducing measured amounts of water and alcohol. The result is a uniform, shelf stable product with consistent dosing from bottle to bottle, which is difficult to achieve with less controlled extraction methods. Each tincture is finished with a small amount of Pennsylvania maple syrup for flavor.

The current tincture lineup includes:

• Lion's Mane Tincture
• Reishi Tincture
• Cordyceps and Lion's Mane Tincture, a blended dual extract

Tinctures are made from mushrooms grown by the farm and are available at every market the farm attends and by local pickup.

How to Buy

Forgedale Fungi sells through several channels:

• Farmers markets, where fresh mushrooms and the complete tincture line are available in person
• Local pickup for customers near the Fleetwood farm
• Wholesale supply to restaurants and chefs seeking specialty mushrooms

The wholesale side is a significant part of the business. Specialty mushrooms are highly perishable, and restaurants working with distributors often receive product that has already spent days in transit. A local grower harvesting to order shortens that window considerably, which matters for varieties like enoki and oyster that degrade quickly.

Practical Notes

Fresh mushroom availability varies by week depending on which substrate blocks are fruiting, so the exact mix at any given market will differ. Customers with a particular variety in mind may want to inquire ahead. Foraged items are seasonal and sell out quickly. Tinctures, being shelf stable, are consistently stocked.

The farm does not list a phone number publicly. Having launched in 2022, Forgedale Fungi remains a young operation, and its catalog of varieties and products continues to develop as the farm grows.