This is the goal: to grow and sell beautiful, healthy, gourmet mushrooms in order to support my family. This is Pleurotus Osteatus, an Oyster mushroom growing in Anvil Farms grow room in June, 2019.
I need help.
I need help. Badly. The good news, it is short term help — a means to get back on my feet is almost but not quite happening. This is explained in detail below.
But as things stand, I cannot buy groceries, purchase gas, pay the electric bill, the gas bill, auto payment, and so on and so forth. My 82 year old parents cannot help me further. I have nowhere else to turn, so I am here.
I know the Power of Community
Over the past 15 years as a Daily Kos member, it has been my privilege to contribute to, participate in, and and in one case, help co-lead various fundraisers. One of the most worthwhile things I have have ever participated in was the Daily Kos fundraiser to purchase a new house for the women’s shelter, Pretty Bird Woman House on the Standing Rock Reservation after arson destroyed their old house. In turn, Kossacks helped when neighbors moved out abandoning their 90lb dog with no food or water, trapped in a backyard at the same time my ptsd rescue Luna chomped my girlfriends pet cat (Blue is now at Animal Angels dog sanctuary and Keiko has since passed away due to a mass in her small intestine). Kossacks even helped fundraise a custom wheelchair for my friend Anne who misplaced her lower right leg in the 1970s (it was deformed at birth and finally needed surgical amputation). Daily Kos is a unique place where we say the most horrible things to each other in primaries — and turn right around and help each other when we are in need.
If you want to skip the long tale -you can help here
If you like mushroom gear, a dear friend created this fundraiser with t-shirts, mugs, bags and even stickers.
My Venmo is @Andy-Ternay and you will recognize the bearded face.
Paypal is paypal.me/AndyTernay.
I am asking people to send money to me personally, rather than the business because the use of these funds will be both to take care of personal bills: mortgage, groceries, car and business: liability insurance, health insurance, worker’s comp insurance, etc.
Documentation including business plan, medical records (address blanked out), receipts and so forth available on request. If this dairy does NOT comply with any new rules on fundraising on Daily Kos please let me know and I will remove it and/or edit it to comply.
I will try to answer any and all questions but mid afternoon I am going to get my daughter. My ex and I meet in a town that is a three hour round trip for me and I won’t be able to answer during that time.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ANY ASSISTANCE. IT IS APPRECIATED.
The new business and the disaster
It’s a bit of a story with entwined threads.
This past January, I started a new small business — a gourmet mushroom farm called Anvil Farms. The goal was to establish a way to support my family in an environmentally friendly business. I also wanted to move away from the corporate world, where I felt my political activism was constrained, to self-employment, which would give me more freedom to act without fear of employment consequence.
The work load from the start was fierce; I hired Lori, a gifted salesperson, to help us launch. Here we are in early June, launching the business:
Mary Ann, Lori and I
Everything was positive. We had chefs wanting to switch to us for their mushrooms immediately. They were stunned at the size, shape and color of the mushrooms we had on offer. And my mushrooms were delicious; I know because I eat ‘em too.
Snow oyster mushrooms with Lori pointing. Gives you an idea of what was growing in early June.
Baby shiitake in June
Chestnut mushrooms in June
The first Oyster mushroom to fruit in our grow room!
Lion’s Mane mushroom in our grow room in June.
On the evening of June 22nd, that all changed. My girlfriend and I were in my little Honda Fit at a stoplight, making a left hand turn. The light changed, I pulled slightly into the intersection and waited for two pedestrians to cross, and then proceeded forward. The truck was moving so fast, I did not even see it. The street the truck was flying down is a 30mph zone, but he struck us with enough force to shift my car across almost four lanes into oncoming traffic.
On the scene I appeared to be fine; my girlfriend was NOT fine. No visible injuries, but in agony. I rode in the ambulance with her to the hospital. Nobody examined me; I was rational, coherent and shook up, but other than a scraped hand and missing glasses, I was okay. Mary Ann was suffering. I also felt that one of us had to be able to “take care of business” — paperwork, call insurance, speak with doctors, arrange a ride home from the hospital …
Mary Ann had no injuries visible via CT scan, so she got muscle relaxants and opioids — which she hates with a passion. She is incredibly smart, and anything that clouds her mind, she resents — she is on permanent disability related to damage from a closed head injury in 1987 — and fears losing her mental faculties. But the pain persisted.
I worked. Twelve, fourteen hours a day, trying to get the business going. But things were going wrong. I sometimes could not do simple tasks because I could not understand how to do them. Problem solving became more and more difficult for me. Headaches came and went. I had weak spells. I was so worried about Mary Ann, and starting to feel desperation about income. I shoved it aside and kept going.
Then two pivotal events happened:
- I had a critical meeting scheduled with a banker about a small business loan. I had set THREE reminders on my phone. I didn’t miss the meeting — I just showed up an hour late, convinced 100% that I was on time.
- Later, my daughter interrupted me. I exploded, screaming at her, throwing items around the house, completely irrational and angry, and when I calmed down, I was terrified by my behavior. It made no sense. What my daughter had done was nothing, nothing at all. My rage was completely out of proportion — and devastating to my daughter who has never seen that behavior from me before. It reminded me of my alcoholic rages before I got sober.
I became unable to work, spending most of July and August in bed. My one employee, Lori, worked like hell to keep the business going, but she does not have the mycological knowledge I do, and we could not keep the mushrooms growing without my guidance.
My suicidal depression, which had abated greatly after getting Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, had returned in full force. My girlfriend had to remove all dangerous items from me at one point, she was so frightened. And she has worked in a suicide prevention house — she’s seen this sort of thing before, and it does not scare her easily. My psychologist wanted to place me in a hospital for my safety. But I persuaded her not to do so.
Because my COBRA had run out.
Let’s step back and look at my medical situation for a moment.
Overview of my medical situation:
I am a 50 year old former alcoholic and smoker who has been sober and tobacco free for almost 19 years. Since age 13, I have struggled with suicidal depression. I’ve been on a laundry list of anti-depressants over the decades. At some point, I had a psychiatrist put me on lithium on the theory that I was secretly very mildly bipolar. Long story short, this treatment permanently damaged my thyroid. I also suffer from severe sleep apnea — without a CPAP to help me breathe, I stop breathing for 10 seconds or more 123 times in a single hour. That means that fully 1/3rd of the time I am asleep, I cannot breathe — unless I have a CPAP helping me breathe.
Be honest: does the nasal pillow make my face look fat?
I also have type-2 diabetes which I keep controlled with metformin and diet. One of the things that excited me about mushroom farming is that it involved a LOT of physical activity. I knew that would help me tremendously with keeping my AH1 below 6.0. I have always done so until this damn accident happened. Now I am at 6.1.
Finally, I had carpal tunnel surgery in June on my dominant, left hand. I knew I could not afford my portion of the surgery, but the neurologist told me if I delayed it, I ran the risk of permanent damage. This surgery has really made my work life easier, but my financial life harder.
The point of this is: I have to have good medical insurance. I cannot go with a $7,500 deductible plan or a $3,500 deductible plan. That amounts to not being insured, for me. I go for the premium plan because:
- Premium plans willingly cover all of my medications
- Within two months, my deductible is met and
- In four months, my out of pocket is met
If I don’t have medical insurance, I will die slowly as I will be unable to address all these conditions — or quickly if I commit suicide, which is looking more and more attractive each day.
Mary Ann’s medical situation:
She is sooo happy to be back in the hospital yet again. You can see the joy in her face.
As I mentioned, Mary Ann is on permanent disability (that might change if Trump has his way with disability administrative rules in January) and thus, she is covered by Medicare — thank all the gods if there are any. I mentioned her closed head injury from 1987. Here is what has happened since the truck destroyed our car:
6/22/19
Car accident – taken to Methodist Richardson ER abdominal pain
CT scan, bloodwork, urinalysis
Prescribed Toradol (ketorolac) … no pain relief
6/28/19
Return to Methodist Richardson ER abdominal pain
Chest x-ray
Prescribed Tylenol-3, nitrofurantoin, ondanseton
STOPS TYLENOL-3 DUE TO NO PAIN RELIEF, INCREASED FATIGUE AND DISORIENTATION AND CONFLICTS WITH MAINTENANCE MEDICATIONS
7/12/19
Medical City ER abdominal pain
CT scan, bloodwork, urinalysis
Prescribed Gabapentin & Neurontin
Pain slowly decreases but never fully leaves
Mary Ann notices new, distinctly different abdominal pain suddenly in lower abdomen, describes as similar to severe menstrual cramps starting 8/18/19
9/10/12
Visit to GP in early September, sees PA, describes pain and how ibuprofen, even 1000mg every two hours, which usually somewhat relieves her menstrual cramps, does not reduce it
Sonogram prescribed
9/12/19
Medical City ER, pain at 8 out of 10
Morphine drip hardly dulls pain
CT Scan, urinalysis, bloodwork, Internal/External sonogram
Diagnosed with Pelvic Hernia and ovarian lump
9/16/19
Saw hernia specialist – informed this hernia was tiny and probably dated to childhood and could not be causing the pain
9/23/19
Saw gynecologist who said lump on ovary appeared normal and likely was not causing the pain
9/24/19
Saw GP, pain at a 6 out of 10
He theorized thoracic spine referred pain
Gave shot of steroids and oral steroids
No pain relief … slight alertness relief
10/5/19
Medical City ER with increased pain, 8 out of 10
Performed urinalysis and bloodwork
COULD NOT ACCESS MRI BECAUSE IT WAS WEEKEND
10/7/19
Envision Imagining, performance of MRI of thoracic and lumbar spine ordered by GP
10/8/19
returned to GP who noted irregularities in images of lumbar spine
Prescribed gabapentin and methocarbomal – which increased disorientation and reduced alertness further with no pain reduction
10/17/19
Mammogram done — what a 50th birthday present! Results normal
10/23/19, approximately
GP stated pain management was next step
Per UTSW appointment setting department: next pain management available appointment was in February, 2020; next available gastrointestinal appointment was in December, 2019; next available gynecological appointment was in early November, 2019
Priority was to find the source of the pain and fix/eradicate it as soon as possible
So Mary Ann set appointment with new, different gynecologist
11/6/2019
Saw new gynecologist, pain at a 6
Turned over all records and test results
PAP smear and pelvic exam performed — these came back normal
11/8/2019
Dramatic pain increase, an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10
Saw regular UTSW neurologist and sleep doctor who increased Gabapentin dose from 100mg 3x per day to 400 mg 3x per day, strongly recommended patient go immediately to UTSW ER and supplied orders for pelvic and abdominal MRI to be performed at ER
11/8/2019, continued
Mary Ann went directly to UTSW ER as directed
ER stated MRIs were only for stroke patients, performed blood and urine tests and internal and external sonograms before discharging patient
11/12/19
New gynecologist directed patient to get blood test for CA 125 (cancer marker) due to complex cyst on right ovary seen in sonogram from ER on 11/8/19
Result was negative (a good thing)
Pain still intense and persistent, averaging a 6 out of 10
11/14/19
Pelvic and abdominal MRI ordered by GP referencing sleep doctor’s orders, performed by Envision Imaging Dallas
11/20/19
Patient received MRI results for pelvis and abdomen
Results indicate five areas of interest:
- Lesion or hemangioma on spleen
- Cyst on left kidney
- Hepatic steatosis without focal liver mass – fatty liver
- Cyst on left ovary
- Larger cyst on right ovary, looks septated
11/25/19
Gynecologist says next step is to repeat sonograms in 8 to 12 weeks to see if ovarian cysts have resolved
11/26/19
Mary Ann makes appointment with gastroenterologist at UTSW for December 19, 2019 to address the first three items of interest noted in abdominal MRI and to make sure they are not causing the pain
Pain management doctor referred by GP contacted and appointment set for December 2, 2019
Current status: pain slightly reduced, presumably by increased dose of Gabapentin, from a 6 to a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10; pain spikes up to a 7 during menstruation and unexpectedly for one or two days at a time and returns to a 6 or 5 after
12/2/19
Saw pain management specialist who scheduled a superior hypogastric plexus block that Thursday; pain at a 6 out of 10
Pain management doctor stated he hoped for a 50% pain reduction as an indication we are on right path; however, results could range from no reduction at all to 100% reduction for months or years
12/5/19
Mary Ann undergoes superior hypogastric plexus block with steroids and a ketamine drip during procedure
12/8/19
50% pain reduction achieved, a 3 out of 10; brain fog and disorientation continue
12/13
Follow up with sleep doctor in the morning
Pain starts increasing in the afternoon
12/15
Pain has returned to a 7 or 8 out of 10, up from a 3
12/19
Saw Gastroenterologist; Dr. does not think that spleen lesion or kidney cysts have jack to do with pain, and stated liver is not a concern based on bloodwork results across time … waiting for sonogram in January to see if ovarian cysts have resolved
Returning to my situation:
I learned that via my business, I was eligible for pretty damn good health insurance with a catch: the business must have at least two employees to qualify. I had briefly considered laying off Lori as money grew tighter and tighter, but it just did not make long-term sense; she is an incredibly hard worker. Anvil Farms would not exist without her working when I could not. Additionally, Lori stayed with the dogs countless evenings and came in on weekends to check on them while I was with Mary Ann in the ER. And now, Lori also became the key to getting good insurance via Blue Cross Blue Shield. With the remnants of my 401K and money loaned from my parents, I signed us up for September, got into UT Southwestern’s concussion clinic in October and BAM! I am diagnosed with a concussion.
The concussion specialist wrote a prescription for an MRI of my head, and assigned me 10 sessions of speech therapy. That last confused me, as I was speaking fine. It turns out, they actually do cognitive retraining during these sessions. I am also to rest, not read electronic devices except the Kindle with Paperwhite whenever possible, and generally allow my brain to recover.
At my December 9th follow up, the concussion specialist was concerned that I had not shown the improvement he expected. As a result, I will undergo a complete battery of neuropsychological testing in March (the first available appointment — remember how under our free market system patients don’t have to wait for care, unlike those godforsaken socialized medicine countries?).
Financial Overview of Anvil Farms
In launching Anvil Farms, my gourmet mushroom farm, I did a lot of research:
- Is this type of business viable?
- Will the market in the Dallas area support it?
- Can I afford to set it up either on my own, or with minimal loan debt?
- Can the business scale, and if so,
- How quickly can it scale?
So I learned that gourmet and medicinal mushrooms were becoming a much larger market. I already had years of experience growing nitrifying bacteria for aquarium use, so the research and laboratory skills and practices were already mentally in place. Through the Myco Alliance (now the Central Texas Mycological Society), I took several classes and workshops, and grew a few small scale gourmet mushroom batches. Then I reached out to several commercial mushroom growers: Mossy Creek Mushrooms, Earth Angel Mushrooms and Myers Mushrooms.
I came away convinced that this was a viable way to support a middle class living, that it was interesting and intellectually challenging, and there were opportunities for expansion: furniture built from mushroom mycelium, removing oil spills with mushrooms, cleaning up ash after California wildfires, animal friendly natural leather with no plastic, saving honeybees … and the list of possibilities is still growing!
Decision made, I created a business plan, got feedback, and then began to invest my 401K into the business. This was done because I also had ESOP stock holdings of significant value which I thought I could use as collateral, should a loan become necessary.
overview of what i do
To make what I am describing easier to understand, here is a very basic mushroom farming flow-chart:
Anvil Farms is not yet big enough to do the second round of grain bags. We go from one grain bag to ten pasteurized fruiting bags.
The Grow Room
Rather than giving you an endless description, let me show you in mostly pictures what I have done to build this out:
The plan for the Garage grow room — a very expensive mistake is in this plan; you NEVER put the laboratory under the same roof!! It will become impossible to prevent cross contamination with mushroom spores. The budget for this was $20,000; it wound up at $32,000.
My house was built in 1965, so there were some hidden expenses which ambushed me. The electrical panel did not have the empty circuits needed for me to achieve what was needed. So, the electrical panel was replaced, and in so doing I was also required to upgrade the power supply to the house and the meter. But, hey, I’m up to current code — and I have 30 amp power for the pasteurizer.
Next was tearing out the drywall, putting in 2” thick closed cell foam insulation in the attic over the grow room and in walls, installing a Radiant Barrier in the entire attic and insulating the rest of the attic to prevent overloading the second air conditioner, then blocking off the garage door, putting closed cell foam over that, and a wall in front of that. All drywall, including ceiling, is marine-grade mold and moisture resistant due to the need for constant humidity of 75% to 85%.
They did not spray the closed cell foam deep enough the first time. I had them come back and redo the shoddy work. Their revenge, which I did not catch until later, was the second time round they buried all attic electrical and cables in the second layer of foam creating a future nightmare if anything needs work. I should sue, but I cannot afford to do so.
Next up was air conditioning. The grow room MUST be at at least a steady 65ºF 24/7 to keep the mushrooms growing — but must also deal with replenishing air that is constantly exhausted via ventilation. Mushrooms, like humans, breath oxygen and exhale CO2. Without ventilation, they die from lack of oxygen. This is a challenge in Texas, especially in August. I wanted a split system a/c unit. I went through 6 HVAC contractors with all of them saying that what I wanted was impossible — could not be done. I must have another air source pre-cooled. I kept protesting that other guys in Texas are doing this without issues.
Two of the contractors offered to install the split system — but they would NOT honor the warranty. One contractor offered to install a full two ton air-only system and would honor the warranty. That’s what I went with. Still don’t know if I got screwed or not. But I felt I had no choice as time kept ticking by. Contractors smell desperation and they prey on it.
Paint, prep and epoxy floors to make them easier to keep clean and more presentable to show to touring Chefs. God, I hope I never have to do that again. Chasing concrete cracks sucks!!!
Ugly.
Uggggh.
Lookin’ good!!!
The next step is framing out the grow room and the planned laboratory space.
Luna wanted to help. Mary Ann in happier days.
Grow room frame
Lab frame. This was BEFORE I was aware that the lab CANNOT be under the same roof as the grow room with thousands of mushrooms releasing billions of spores — a recipe for massive contamination.
Now, making the shelves for the grow room. I could have used pressure treated lumber, but then I would not be able to apply for organic certification. I turned to a method used for centuries in Japan and Finland to prevent wood rotting: Americans call this Shou Sugi Ban, but I gather the proper Japanese name is Yakisugi (?) — the linked article seems to think Yakisugi is the finished product. We burned the outer surface of the wood to destroy the cellulose but preserve the lignin, hand scraped off the loose charcoal, then oiled and waxed the charred boards by hand.
Freshly charred!
About 1/3 of the boards done.
After a wire brush and a single coat of beeswax/mineral oil.
Sweat equity.
Shelving complete. We used PVC as rails — not happy about it, but could not find an economical alternative which leaves plenty of open space for air circulation with easy cleanability.
Humidification. The grow room is complete.
Incubation Space
The lab was supposed to go in this part of the garage. That changed.
Where the bags of soy hulls/wood pellets and water incubate and mushroom mycelium grows, mostly in complete darkness.
Bagging/Pasteurization Station
I put $15,000 into this area.
I had the yard graded and a decomposed granite bed laid out for the work area. The 4’ high chain link fence got replaced with an 8’ cedar board fence (this was done to prevent neighbor complaints, muffle noise and prevent someone hopping the fence, helping themselves to tools/equipment and going on their merry way). Originally, this expense was considered personal, not business, but Mary Ann has a friend who is a tax attorney, and she advised we take half of this and put it towards the business, and one of the banks we applied to for a loan agreed strongly.
We took a pergola frame and used that as a structure for the work station. We need to be able to work in 100ºF and down to 20ºF (Texas never gets really cold) and in pouring rain.
A slanted roof to avoid rain drainage issues.
I didn’t want to cut the tree, so I just built around it.
The purpose of this area is to make 60 ten pound bags of substrate for mushroom mycelium at a time, to be pasteurized and then inoculated with mushroom mycelium. These biodegradable bags then go into the incubation room and then the grow room, and produce mushrooms.
This home designed bagging station allows us to fill the biodegradable bags with exactly 2.5lbs of organic soy hulls, 2.5lbs of hardwood pellets and 5lbs water. Not pretty; but functional. Obviously, the trash cans were brand new. Galvanized steel is food safe so long as it the food touching it is not acidic. In the lower right corner under the bagger is our activated carbon water filter (disassembled in this photo) for removing chlorine, etc.
The expensive part of this area is the pasteurizer. We use a 150 gallon stainless steel barrel which is insulated with neoprene. I have wrapped that with plastic to provide some protection from UV light. A 30 amp, 6Kw heater regulated by a PID controller keeps the interior of the barrel at a steady 190ºF for 14 hours to pasteurize 600lbs of mushroom substrate at a time. This was $4,500; I did not want to half-ass this. 6Kw is a LOT of power. Steam can hurt the careless. No injuries, no fires was my goal. I still think it was worth every cent.
The heater is the red thing at the base of the barrel.
Starting to load.
Chain hoist does most of the work of lifting.
Expensive, but safety first.
Very proud of this ramshackle creation, and although I already know how to improve it, this iteration will get us on the road.
Laboratory
The laboratory is where it all begins. And it is where I made a VERY expensive mistake.
Mushrooms are weird. In the wild they sprout, produce spores, the spores float through the air, find a friendly place and start to grow. Try to do that at home, and bacteria, mold and rival fungi destroy all of your efforts. If you need clean cultures (which you do), you need a clean space. That means following sterile procedures (never enter lab after being in the grow room and exposed to spores; very recent shower, hair net, beard net, medical mask so you don’t breathe into petri dishes, clean clothing, shoe covers, nitrile gloves, sanitize everything with rubbing alcohol … and so on) and using a HEPA filter which filters airborne particles down to 0.3 microns with 99.99% efficiency.
And yet, you will still get bacterial and fungal contamination.
My plan was for the lab to be in the garage right outside the grow room. When I went to a two-day seminar on growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms by Paul Stamets at Fungi Perfecti, they told me that might work for a year or two … but then, inevitably, there will be contamination from the grow room. Sooner or later, the lab will crash.
Plans had to change FAST. A hydroponic grow tent sprouted where incubation was supposed to be. Presto! Instant lab.
This improvised lab consumed about $8,000.
Pressure sterilizer (reaches 17 psi/254ºF), stir plates, sterile indicator strips and the bible of growing gourmet mushrooms. This is in the kitchen. When the sterilization cycle has completed, the pressure sterilizer gets brought (carefully, before opening) into the lab.
Right where I want it to be for sterilizing grain bags (biodegradable). For cooking agar for petri dishes, you only want 15 psi or you caramelize the agar and get to start over. Yayyy!
Sterile petri dishes filled with hot agar in front of the HEPA filter, cooling down slowly.
Italian oyster mushroom mycelium grown in a petri dish of agar, ready for a mycelial tissue transfer into grain bags.
Lookin’ sexy!
Mycelial tissue transfer in process. The petri dish is a bit overgrown because, as I recover from the concussion, I forget to inspect things, and the mycelium grows for too long.
Growing mycelium.
Mycelium colonizing grain.
The remainder of the investment
Applying for a business loan
Two months before the car accident, we had started to apply for a small business loan. We knew money was low, but we were not overly concerned. I had over $250,000 in collateral in the form of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) from my former employer. Anvil Farms’ business plan, prepared with the help of SCORE, refined with the help of friends and including financial reports prepared by Mary Ann (with a Master’s in Accounting), was rock solid. And we had serious owner cash investment.
BY THE WAY — IF ANYONE WANTS TO SEE THE BUSINESS PLAN PM ME.
We applied at my credit union, at Frost Bank (local Texas chain), at Amegy Bank, BB&T Bank, Comerica Bank and Texas Brand Bank. To say we received a chilly reception from most of these would be an understatement. The reaction varied from an assumption that we wanted money to grow illegal hallucinogenic mushrooms (and a refusal to believe otherwise) to simply hanging up on me. The only exception was Frost Bank; they actually read the whole business plan, gave feedback, assisted revisions, sold us enthusiastically to their underwriters, and then very reluctantly informed us that the underwriters had turned us down.
But Frost Bank then referred us to microlenders! Yea! We went to Lift Fund, People Fund, 4 Kings Capital, Dream Spring, Accion, Kabbage and Opportunity Fund. No dice. I have to say the two women at People Fund were two of the most condescending people I have ever met. Ever.
Undaunted, we turned to private capital. Experience Financial Group worked hard, and could not find us a lender.
Okay, how about agricultural lenders? Yeah … do you want another list, again? No?
I know!! Cannabis capital — they know how to get money from outside the mainstream financial system! Aaaaand … nope.
So here is how it breaks down:
- ESOP plans are NOT acceptable collateral. Because the company is owned by employees, there is no way to accurately value the stock. Also, the rules governing disbursement of stock lock up the stock until June/July of 2020 (that was a nasty surprise!) and dictate that the disbursement is spread over several years in order to protect the company.
- Urban farms and small-scale mushroom growers don’t interest agricultural lenders.
- Cannabis is big money; mushrooms are moderate money. No interest there.
what happened to the last of the 401k?
My car was totalled; I suddenly needed a new, safe, reliable, presentable semi-nice car. I got lucky — I found a used 2018 Honda fit at a Nissan dealership with 538 miles on the odometer. As far as I can tell, the young woman who owned it (she left a lot of stuff identifying her in the glove box — and I destroyed the stuff) drove it home and maybe had it for two days before going to the Nissan dealership and getting another brand new car. My credit rating in June was in the 700s, so I raced to the dealership and got incredible financing, locked in a low interest rate and a monthly payment of less than $350.
Looks brand new …because it pretty much is. For a used price.
All of this was done before I knew I had a concussion, on the assumption that I would be working and delivering mushrooms throughout July. But that did not happen. I still don’t regret it. It was like getting a brand new car with $2,000 off of the sticker price. I even inherited an extended factory warranty!
My medical costs were several thousand before I hit my deductible and out of pocket max. Mary Ann’s medical is largely covered by Medicare so far, but not all.
Crowdfunding is the last option. I have decided on Indie-Go-Go. But I have not had time or energy to put it together, and, with my medical bills … I’m out. Done.
What do I want?
Three months. That’s what I am begging for. A chance to start earning money. A chance to make this dream work.
In June, I will get an ESOP stock disbursement. I just have to get to June. But to do that, I have to get to March.
How You Can Help
If you like mushroom gear, a dear friend created this fundraiser with t-shirts, mugs, bags and even stickers.
My Venmo is @Andy-Ternay and you will recognize the bearded face.
Paypal is paypal.me/AndyTernay.
I am asking people to send money to me personally, rather than the business because the use of these funds will be both to take care of personal bills: mortgage, groceries, car and business: liability insurance, health insurance, worker’s comp insurance, etc.
Introductions and advocacy to people you know personally who might be interested in investing or co-signing; coaching and financial presentation advice is more than welcome as well — as Mary Ann reminds me, an accounting degree is not a finance degree.
Documentation including business plan, medical records (address blanked out), receipts and so forth available on request. If this dairy does NOT comply with any new rules on fundraising on Daily Kos please let me know and I will remove it and/or edit it to comply.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ANY ASSISTANCE. IT IS APPRECIATED.
I will try to answer any and all questions but mid afternoon I am going to get my daughter. My ex and I meet in a town that is a three hour round trip for me and I won’t be able to answer during that time.