Bear Butte Gardens in Sturgis, S.D. hosted a mushroom festival Saturday, October 7, 2023. The festival took place as part of a project funded by a specialty crop block grant that SDSPA received. The project focuses on promoting retailers that sell a variety of specialty crops from local producers.
Throughout the day, visitors were able to learn more about the operation at Bear Butte Gardens and about mushrooms. Guests were able to enjoy live music, a mushroom-themed scavenger hunt, and other kids' activities, including coloring and face painting. Black Hills Mushrooms attended the event and showcased a variety of mushrooms, provided growing kits and information, and performed demonstrations on inoculating logs. Mushrooms and mushroom products were available for sale and for sampling.
There were farm tours to visit the livestock and gardens. A visitor highlight included learning about the livestock guardian dogs. At the end of the night, Bear Butte Gardens hosted a five-course, farm-to-table, mushroom-themed dinner prepared by local chef Taylor Roberts.
Bear Butte Gardens offers a variety of local goods, including meats, produce, cheeses, and dried and canned products in their farm store, hosts a vacation rental, and has a commercial kitchen.
Source (and more pics): sdspecialtyproducers.org