Retired New Canaan Lawyer Turns To Fungi Farming

Pondering what to do after 50 years of practicing law, fourth-generation New Canaan native Richard Stewart turned to YouTube. 

It was 2019, and on the global video-sharing platform, he stumbled upon an unexpected hobby: growing culinary mushrooms.

“I knew I was ready to step away from law, and I needed something new to dive into,” Stewart told NewCanaanite.com on a recent morning. “I found a YouTube video that said you could gut your basement, grow mushrooms for 15 hours, and make $500 a week. That sounded like the perfect retirement plan.”

Stewart continued with a laugh: “Five years later, I’m working 50 hours and losing $500 a week.”

A member of the New Canaan High School class of ’61, Stewart has spent nearly 50 years living in New Canaan and now operates a small mushroom farm in North Salem, N.Y., called Stewart-Watson Farm. A graduate of Beloit College in Wisconsin, Stewart served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam era before earning his law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1972. After 11 years practicing in the courtrooms of West Hartford and Stamford, he returned to New Canaan to open his own firm, where he worked until his recent retirement.

However, Stewart is nearly working full-time again, now as a mushroom farmer. Known locally as “Mr. Mushroom” and decorated with a license plate that reads “MUSHZOOM,” mushrooms have become more than just a hobby to Stewart.

“When he first mentioned the idea of growing mushrooms at his place in North Salem we thought it sounded interesting,” Richard Stewart’s son and Vice President of Walter Stewart’s Market Doug Stewart said. “As this evolved it became clear he was really focused on growing the operation. It’s a great focus for him in retirement and he and his team have built an impressive production.”

Stewart, his fiancée Rebecca Watson, her son Kit Watson, and a couple of others spend countless hours every week cultivating and harvesting the mushrooms. 

Summarizing the process, Stewart said numerous hours of preparation are required before placing the mushrooms in a dark colonizing room for two to three months. The mushrooms then go into a “fruiting chamber” for a week and then pop out ready to be harvested. 

Stewart-Watson Farm harvests mushrooms almost every day for their customers who come on Tuesday through Friday. The farm sells about 150 pounds of mushrooms every week through various channels.

“My fiancée, Rebecca, has taken on the role of Stewart-Watson Farm’s sales rep,” Stewart said. “She’s connected us with customers like the New Canaan Butcher Shop, Locali, local farmers markets, Amazon, and many other stores and restaurants. She’s been incredible.”

Shortly after Stewart started growing the fungi in his basement, Kit Watson also became interested in the mushrooms.

“Around the time of COVID-19, I found this hobby and started working with Richard in his basement to cultivate the mushrooms,” Kit Watson said. “It seemed like a perfect activity outside of my private equity background. It’s hands-on work that allows me to fulfill a nurturing aspect of life.”

With his fiancée and her son on board, the project became a business. The operation expanded to fill Stewart’s entire basement, garage, and barn.

The Stewart-Watson Farm had to think innovatively about its space, leading its principals to buy a storage container for additional room for their mushroom harvesting.

“We had the unit delivered here and then insulated, electrified, and watered it,” Stewart said. “We made it into a mushroom pruning chamber. It worked really well for two years, but then it burned down. That might have been the lowest point of this journey.”

Yet, for the lowest of lows comes the highest of highs. For example, a mushroom risotto dish using their mushrooms was named by the food critic of the Times Union in Albany as the “Best Entree” in all of the Hudson Valley in 2023.

To Stewart, things like this are what make the mushroom harvesting so compelling.

“I practiced law for so long, and I used to go down to the courthouse every week, and you’d open the door to see so much tension and stress,” he said. “Now, when I deliver my mushrooms, the door opens and there’s the chef saying how beautiful the mushrooms are. They say how they love the mushrooms and they love us.”

Kit Watson has developed a similar love for the mushroom business.

“I love it so much and keep coming back because I am truly proud of our product and what we do,” he said. “Recent studies show the health benefits of mushrooms and our entire crew works so hard to cultivate these things that can have such a positive impact.”

In the future, Stewart-Watson Farm plans to expand.

“I have another 1.9 acres of land nearby which I haven’t used in two years,” Stewart said. “I’m going to build a steel barn on that land and move my whole mushroom operation there so it’s even more efficient.” 

Any of the seven mushrooms sold by Stewart-Watson Farm, including Blue Oyster, King Trumpet Oyster, Lion’s Mane, and Maiitake can be purchased here.