Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Frederick.
Hi Michael, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Lone Star Mushrooms is a family affair, run by three brothers—Ben, John, and Michael—who turned a simple idea into a thriving business. Originally from Pennsylvania and now proud Texans, the brothers combine their unique strengths to grow gourmet mushrooms that are as delicious as they are nutritious. What started as a garage project has blossomed into a 6,000-square-foot farm producing over 2,000 pounds of mushrooms weekly.
The journey began in 2019 when Michael, the youngest brother, had a chance conversation at a farmers market. Initially pitching hydroponic lettuce to the market manager, he was told, “We have plenty of lettuce, but you should grow mushrooms.” Despite not liking mushrooms at the time, the clear demand intrigued him. That curiosity led to their first market, where they sold $125 worth of mushrooms grown in their dining room—and sparked a passion that grew from a hobby to a full-scale operation.
Expanding from the dining room to the garage in 2019 and in 2020 into a 1200 sq ft warehouse. A year later they added a second unit doubling their sq footage. Finally, after a long endeavor, they purchased 7 acres outside of Conroe to build their own 6,000 sq ft facility in 2025.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been anything but a smooth road. Sometimes you have to be like Forest Gump, just too stupid to know how to quit. We faced so many challenges from how to grow the mushrooms, lead a team, run a business, and satisfy customers. Knowing absolutely nothing about how to grow mushrooms has been the biggest challenge. When we started there were very few farms growing oyster mushrooms, lions mane, and king trumpets. The ones that were, were figuring it out along the way like we were. So duplicating what was working was a challenge as there wasn’t anyone to do such. Things started of really well, then we made the big move into a warehouse in January of 2020. We all know what happened the following month and we lost 90% of our sales in 2 weeks. Then they closed the farmers market and we lost all of our sales but 1 customer. Surviving that hurdle due to amazing people in this city and great collaboration with other farmers. Slowly we grew as the year went on.
From there we encountered orange mold, also know as noraspora mold. We were producing about 800 mushroom blocks a week and due to this aggressive mold we were throwing out 600 or more a week. Some weeks were better than others. We tried so many things to fix the issue. In the end, thanks to the help of another mushroom farmer who experienced the same issue, a little paint saved the day. Hard to believe but our wood shelving in our inoculation room had the mold growing inside of it contaminated the mushroom blocks. Almost a year later to the day it came back. During that time I was so confused as we haven’t changed anything that got rid of it the first time. After almost 2 months and sleepless nights I had a call with my brother to discuss an exit option as is did not make sense to continue. During that phone call, we had a lightbulb moment and sure enough it cured the problem. It’s hard to believe a year from almost quitting we were getting approved for a loan for our new farm. That in itself created a lot of growing pains, designing a new farm, acquiring a loan, orchestrating contractors, and over coming obstacles that the new build presented. Relying on your crew to run the old farm while you build the new one, contending with the Houston’s heat in an over crowded farm, we were essentially running off a cliff if the new farm wasn’t built in time. In April of 2025 the concrete was poured. By June 1st we were making new mushroom blocks at the new farm and by the end of the month we were operating completely out of the new facility just in time before the summer heat killed all our inventory at the old farm as our ac units weren’t made to handle the volume we were tempting to do.
Here we are, looking back, we all overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in 5 years
We’ve been impressed with Lone Star Mushrooms, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Lone Star Mushrooms is a family-owned Texas mushroom farm and supplement manufacturer known for both our premium fresh mushrooms and our high-potency extracts. We grow over 2,000 pounds of fresh mushrooms every week, supplying all H-E-B stores with oyster mushrooms and being one of only two farms in Texas supplying Lion’s Mane at scale. We also proudly serve dozens of local restaurants with chef-grade mushrooms harvested daily.
On the supplement side, we produce farm-to-bottle mushroom extracts made only from fruiting bodies we grow ourselves. Our extracts are third-party tested and consistently measure far higher in active compounds than leading brands. Because we control every step—from substrate to extraction—our customers know exactly where their supplements come from.
What sets us apart is traceability, potency, and hands-on farming. In a market dominated by imported powders, we grow everything right here in Texas so people can trust what’s in the bottle or on their plate. We’re most proud that every product we make can be traced directly back to our farm and the care that goes into it.
For readers, the big takeaway is simple: if you want truly fresh mushrooms and genuinely potent extracts, Lone Star Mushrooms is one of the few farms in America doing both at a high level—and doing it locally, transparently, and with pride.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I like how willing people are to help one another. I saw such great heart during covid of people wanting to ensure we succeed and encourage us to do so. It was a beautiful act by so many and for a family that wasn’t from here, we were treated as though we were.
Least: Who can argue that traffic isn’t a nightmare. And the people on the roads must be driving through because the kind people I meet in person are not the rude crazy drivers I encounter on the road
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lonestarmushrooms.com
- Instagram: Lone Star Mushrooms
- Facebook: Lone Star Mushrooms
Image Credits
there are more on our instagram and a bunch on a google drive file. you might find better than I did
