40-acre mushroom farm 🍄 in western Wisconsin, 80 min from St Paul

Wisconsin

Jeremy and Aimee McAdams - in our fruiting house!

Shiitake on logs - after soaking to induce concentrated fruiting.

8 reviews • Updated 8 months ago

We are located on 40 acres in western Wisconsin, 80 minutes from Minneapolis and St Paul. The farm’s primary focus is certified-organic shiitake and other mushrooms which we grow on about 6,000 logs. In recent years we've also expanded into year-round indoor production on blocks (growing media in plastic bags) and sometimes in outdoor mushroom beds. We sell our mushrooms regionally through farmers market, veggie CSAs, an online shop, and to grocery stores, and restaurants. Log inoculations take place generally from February through May. Picking mushrooms and moving logs for force-fruiting, daily tasks, start as soon as the weather warms up and last through mid-November. Other farm projects may include working on a big garden, splitting firewood, tree maintenance, tending the asparagus patch, working on trails, and upkeep on buildings. Our farm has sloping fields of wild flowers and herbs and lots of trees - including a very old apple tree. There is also a lake on the corner of the property complete with a beaver dam. We are regularly visited by swans, sand hill cranes, geese, rabbits, woodchucks, and other wild critters. Animals on the farm currently are two lovable cats named Spore and Gus (short for fungus!) and a small flock of chickens. The farm is run by Jeremy & Aimee McAdams and there are usually 2-3 full time employees. There are often volunteers, interns, or visitors to the farm, especially in the summer. Farm work starts around 8am each day and generally wraps up around 4pm. The work has to get done whether it is hot or cold or rainy, so we’re looking for folks who are willing and able to work in all kinds of weather. The work can sometimes be repetitious and hard – we have an ongoing joke about our “FarmFit” exercise program – so it helps to be prepared for that and to come with a good sense of humor. We’re looking for wwoofers who are interested in working with us for at least a couple of weeks and for at least 20 hours a week. Unfortunately we aren't prepared to consider non-US wwoofers due to the communication and visa challenges. Friendly pets are welcome, especially indoor animals or animals comfortable on a leash. We have a cabin with two private rooms, close to the main house - which has a bathroom and kitchen that everyone shares. Wi-fi is also available. We do our best to feed interns, but we also offer plenty of staples - such as dried beans, rice, fresh veggies, prepared foods, and of course mushrooms - if your dietary restrictions or preferences indicate that you'd like something different! Please note that you may need to secure some of your own food things if you have very particular tastes or requirements. Our farm is on the outskirts of the village of Clayton - which boasts a fabulous plant nursery and a few bars. Five miles northeast is Turtle Lake and 7 miles southwest is Clear Lake – both of which have a couple restaurants and grocery stores. Amery is 20 minutes away and has lots of restaurants, grocery stores, and a library. Amery is a hub of sustainable farms and you might enjoy taking time to visit and help out at some of the other local farms as well. If you’d like a chance to learn more about mushroom farming and cultivation, this may be the experience you’re looking for. Let us know if you’re interested! Organic methods: We don't use pesticides or chemicals for anything, and we sustainably harvest the wood we use to grow mushrooms. Certifications: MOSA (organic) Current projects: This year we hope to build new supports for logs in our shade structure; these will make it much easier to pick from and access mushroom logs! We haven't grown mushrooms in mushroom beds for a few years, and we really hope to do that again; this would enable us to grow almond or wine cap (or both!) mushrooms again. Internet access available

Learning opportunities

Pig farming

Wild foraging

Host type

Production farm

Certified organic

16.2 Hectares | 40 Acres

Accommodation

2 WWOOFers

Bedroom

Camper / RV

Children not accepted

Pets accepted

Meals

Omnivore

Vegetarian

Length of stay

3-4 weeks

Over a month

Jeremy

Member since 2016

Languages spoken: English

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Response rate: 100% Response time: typically within 1 day

MapLibre | Protomaps | © OpenStreetMap

Wisconsin

Reviews

Julianne

United States • January 2026

This was an excellent first WWOOFing experience! Jeremy and Aimee are gifted hosts. They are welcoming, kind, and hospitable, making sure I had everything I needed. They are great cooks and Aimee is a baking whiz! We ate most meals together and had some very engaging conversations. Their cats, Spore and Gus, are also good company. (especially Gus... shhhh 😽) I stayed in the "milk house". A cozy little cabin near the main house. I was very comfortable and warm. The work is simple but enjoyable. I helped with organizing the new inoculation building, doing some of the heavier lifting while Jeremy was healing from his injury, packaging, picking mushrooms, block maintenance, drying/ powdering mushrooms, and general cleaning tasks. Their employee (Yvonne) is funny, kind, and a great teacher I also got a chance to work a farmer's market. One of my favorite experiences, so much fun! If you visit during the winter months you may join Jeremy to do some logging once or twice a week. This is challenging, physical work but once you get a hang of it it's a good workout. Don't rush, use proper form, and you're golden! Exploring Wisconsin on days off is fun. I recommend Acme Junk Co, the Ice Age trail, and Fiddlehead Kitchen. As an ex-mushroom farmer, it made me so happy to immerse myself in this world again and see different perspectives and methods. Jeremy is a wealth of knowledge; I learned so much about so many different things. Highly recommend ⭐️

Dallas

United States • March 2025

First I will start off by saying that I loved hanging out with spore and gus and my cat vino really loved hanging out with them too. All very well behaved kitties. We are plant based (no dairy) and Aimee baked us vegan sweets the first few times we bought ingredients for it and then she also ended up buying vegan butter to make more stuff for us! Her pumpkin chocolate cake is so good. We also loved working with Yvonne (the older woman who works for them) she is so funny and kind. She made every day out in the barn a little brighter. Our room was nice. You have to walk from the house to the cabin and can be a little scary at night if you dont have a flashlight but I saw lots of owls which was cool. Also in the first 2 nights I walked off the front porch of cabin and landed in snow! Theres no railing/lights so make sure you have one when going out at night! Our favorite part was picking mushrooms. We were there in the winter so josh did a few days out in the woods logging. He said it was hard, fun work and enjoyed spending time with Jeremy out there. Our only complaints is that food is a touchy subject. Make sure you have your own money saved up to buy extra snacks, drinks, and meals you need. They have some staples and will get some things you put on a list for them but we were also told they wouldn’t get things because it was too expensive, even though we only asked for like 7 or 8 things. Overall if was great just make sure You have money saved up to take care of yourself.

Riley

United States • October 2024

I had a great time during my stay at Jeremy & Amy's mushroom farm! I helped out with a variety of different tasks, including drying mushrooms, harvesting mushrooms, cleaning totes, unloading shipments, weeding the log-grown areas, setting up a new layer of tarp & gravel in the high tunnel, helping at the farmers market, and even making mushroom butter. I really enjoyed seeing all the different tasks that go into running the farm, like tagging along for CSA deliveries too. Jeremy & Amy were great hosts who always had yummy food available (especially Amy's awesome baked goods!) and fun conversation to share. I also enjoyed meeting and working with Yvonne, another awesome employee on the farm. As a LGBT solo traveler I felt very safe here and appreciated Jeremy & Amy taking me on local outings in the area, like to a potluck event and a cool farm to table type restaurant and bar. I'd highly recommend visiting this farm to anyone interested in WWOOF and mushrooms!

Jordan

United States • July 2024

I had a great time working and staying at the mushroom farm. I learned a lot about growing mushrooms and organic farming. I learned a variety of tasks. Jeremy was great at explaining how to do something and why it’s important. It was nice to finish a work day with one of Amy’s tasty baked treats.

Blake

United States • June 2024

It was an ideal experience to work and stay here! Aimee and Jeremy were incredible hosts that were very welcoming, easy to work with, and to learn from. I learned about different mushroom log stacking, harvesting, drying, watering, packaging techniques during my stay there. I was looking to observe how a medium to large scale mushroom farm worked, day to day. As they are both very educated, they can teach folks much about mushroom farming but they are quick witted on any topic that crossed the kitchen table when we ate together. If you are looking for a steady, but not back breaking, farming pace on a lovely farm specific to mushrooms, I recommend this farm!

Guy

United States • August 2022

My two weeks on the mushroom farm was an experience that I will cherish forever. Jeremy and his crew of Alec, Jake, Michael, Brit, and Andrew were friendly and professional. I learned a lot about growing shiitake mushrooms on logs and the ins and outs of a indoor mushroom fruiting chamber, where we grew a variety of mushrooms such as lions mane, blue and golden oysters, chestnuts, and poplar. Jeremy and Aimee treated me like family and the accommodations in the milk house were comfortable with the sounds of crickets to fall asleep to and roosters to wake up to. Jeremy is a enthusiastic visionary and his passion for growing mushrooms and expanding his business is inspiring. I would highly recommend anyone interested in the art of mushroom growing to come volunteer at Northwood Mushroom Farm. Also the surrounding area is beautiful with endless fields of corn and soy and local bars and restaurants where everyone is welcoming.