By Michelle M. Sharp, Founder and Content Creator of Meet the Minnesota Makers
On a rise in southern Minnesota that Rachel Davis’ ancestors called Poverty Knob, Kalvin, Rachel and their two young children (soon 
to be three in January!) raise a myriad of mushrooms at their ten acre solar- powered farm.
Rachel and Kalvin purchased Rachel’s grandparents farm when they decided to move back to Minnesota. Both originally from LeRoy, a town of approximately 900 people, coming home offered them a community of support to start their own family and a thriving business.
Building Fiddlehead Knob
Kalvin, a trained carpenter, converted the farm’s garage into an insulated production space that houses a full lab, grow room, and incubation space. Their outdoor forest farming space provides fertile growing space for more mushrooms, ferns, and art installations.
Within the main shop is the dark incubation room where the mycelium for the different mushroom strains colonize their substrate 
blocks. The clean room equipped with laminar flow hoods blow out sterile air for a clean inoculation space. The main production area includes the bagging equipment,a stainless steel sink, and commercial refrigeration.
These preparatory areas make the magical grow room possible. Sleek Blue Oysters and puffy Lion’s Mane just begging to be squished balloon from their substrate blocks. Stacked several shelves high, this dense space produces about 200 pounds of food a week, every week.
Going Solar!
In the summer of 2023 Fiddlehead Knob secured a federal grant through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). When combined with a second grant through the American Farmland Trust, the old homestead leapt into the 21st century with a 60 panel solar installation.
“When you cultivate mushrooms inside, in order to have them available year round, it is inherently not sustainable,” explained Kalvin. “You use lots of power. There are all sorts of filters and fans that need to be run in addition to lighting the space.” The economic impact of installing solar changed their farm’s monthly expenses radically. “We used to have $800 electric bills each month. Now we apply those financial resources to grow in other ways. We also feel very proud about the change in the energy use that we require to grow mushrooms that feed our community.”
Growing Their Business with Local Support
Fiddlehead Knob was selected by the Rural Business Innovation Lab, a program of the Community and Economic Development Associates 
(CEDA), as a part of their second cohort in 2024. This program provides complimentary one-on-one consulting to cohort members. The goal is to equip them with the tools they need in order to scale their operation. Helping rural entrepreneurs to thrive strengthens their surrounding communities.
Fiddlehead Knob plans to double their annual production to better meet demand in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. To continue their quest to do this sustainably, they plan to install geothermal heating and cooling at their farmstead. “This is super exciting,” shared Kalvin. “We could keep basically the entire growing space right around the 60-65 degree mark. We wouldn’t have to heat or cool much. That would be a pretty happy temperature for our mushrooms.”
Building a Local Lifestyle
Kalvin and Rachel fell in love with local food, and each other, while attending college at UW-Stevens Point. “There was a great farmers market. We started volunteering at different programs revolving around local food.” After college they moved to the mountains of North Carolina. Kalvin started his first mushroom-growing enterprise on a biodynamic and organic farm there.
After moving back to Minnesota in 2017 they began the work of updating the farm, which had sat empty for a number of years. They became the
fourth generation to steward the farmstead. Their love for foraging spring fiddleheads inspired the farm’s new name. Planting ferns creates an understory that shelters different kinds of logs for growing mushrooms outside. “We have our own walking nature garden area. I keep planting things everywhere to add to our forest farming capacity,” said Kalvin.
Forest farming is all about celebrating the layers within the space. For Fiddlehead Knob that means that the ground is full of rich mulch for the mushrooms. There are ferns above for spring foraging. Shrubs and trees for berries and fruit make up the next layer with shade trees to provide shelter for everything growing below the top canopy.
Both Kalvin and Rachel work full time on the farm, fulfilling a shared dream. “The big idea for our farm was to build this around our family. We 
could have our kids at home, we could homeschool, we’re both here every day,” reflected Kalvin. “We’ve been building our lifestyle around our family and good, local food. It’s been so much fun. We’re so excited to see where it’s going to take us. We’re kind of in awe every day that we made the leap to both do this full time and that our family gets to do it together. It’s been hard sometimes, but building this business around our family is a total joy.”
Kalvin’s personal favorite mushroom that they grow is their chestnut. Gently fried, it adds a delightful crunch on top of a Ramen bowl. “It gives a squid or calamari vibe,” said Kalvin. His favorite to forage is hen of the woods. Kalvin describes it as the chicken leg as opposed to the chicken breast-like flavor found in the colorful chicken of the woods mushroom. “The best way to prepare hen of the woods is deep fried in a beer batter with a side of garlic aioli. It may not be the healthiest, but it’s so good.”
Where to find their mushrooms?
Fiddlehead Knob sells mushrooms, both foraged and cultivated, at the Rochester, MN and Decorah, IA farmers markets weekly. They also supply
local restaurants including Rochester’s Marrow, Bebap, 1928, Bleu Duck, Osage’s Taste, Junipers’ Restaurant in Lanesboro, Pipe Dream Pizza, Simply Nourished, and the Quarry of Mason City.
Not local? Fiddlehead has dried and powdered mushrooms available on their website, including a custom dried forager’s blend. The forager’s 
blend includes a variety of dried mushrooms to use in soups, dips, and crockpot meals. It’s another way for Fiddlehead Knob to minimize waste – any mushrooms that aren’t sold at market are dried in their commercial dehydrator and sold as shelf stable, dehydrated mushrooms.
Visit fiddleheadknob.com for recipes, farmers market schedules, and to place an order.
Follow @fiddleheadknob on Facebook and Instagram for website specials and recipe inspiration.
This feature is sponsored by the Forever Green Initiative at the University of Minnesota. Fiddlehead Knob Farm is one of several innovators in sustainability that Meet the Minnesota Makers and Forever Green celebrate in this maker series.
Forever Green develops and improves winter-hardy annual and perennial crops (including Kernza!) that protect soil and water health. These initiatives provide new economic opportunities for growers, industry and communities across Minnesota. Learn more about Forever Green and their community partners on their website.
Visit meettheminnesotamakers.com or follow @meettheminnesotamakers on Facebook and Instagram to discover the small business owners leading Minnesota on a tasty sustainable path forward. Meet the Minnesota Makers is a news site that connects you to the local food, farms, artists and artisans that make Minnesota thrive.
