Birchwood, Tennessee

Old Cookston Road

Single-origin mushrooms, grown on our own wood in Birchwood, Tennessee.

Gourmet for the kitchen. Functional for the day.

Shop Our Story
Jess Dixon, founder of Old Cookston Road, at the farm in Birchwood, Tennessee.
Jess Dixon — third generation, Birchwood, Tennessee.

Our Story

Third generation, same ground.

Old Cookston Road is named for the road that once ran through our farm. My grandfather bought this land in Birchwood, Tennessee and raised six children on it. It passed to my mother, and I run it now with my parents — the third generation on the same East Tennessee ground, where Grasshopper Creek runs down toward the Tennessee River.

It starts with the land: two ponds, cold springs, a well that has always run clean, deep soil, and slow-grown hardwood. Our mushrooms grow on that hardwood, cut right here — nothing trucked in. For us, single-origin is literal.

— Jess

See what we’re building
“If it didn’t grow on our land, it doesn’t carry our name.”
Jess’s father on the family’s orange tractor at Old Cookston Road.
The orange tractor — still on payroll.

The Work

Some things you don’t outsource. The hardwood is one of them.

My father keeps the fields, the fence lines, and the woodlot. The hardwood our mushrooms grow on comes off this land the slow way — felled, bucked, and stacked by hand, then seasoned until it’s ready. No sourced sawdust, no unknown substrate. The substrate traceability starts here.

It isn’t nostalgia — it’s quality control. The substrate is traceable from our woodlot to your kitchen.

Shop the harvest

Provenance

Grown on hardwood we cut ourselves. That’s what single-origin means here.

The Standard

Grown like a farm. Run like a laboratory.

Heritage gets you good stories. Discipline gets you good mushrooms. We keep both.

01

Controlled environment

Sealed, tiered-cleanliness grow halls hold temperature, humidity, CO₂, and fresh-air exchange to the setpoint — every hour of every flush, year-round.

02

Single-lot traceability

Every harvest carries one lot number from the hardwood it grew on to the box it ships in. Variety, substrate recipe, grow conditions, harvest date — all documented. Ask for the paperwork. We like showing it.

03

Third-party tested

Functional lots are third-party tested for active compounds and for everything that should not be there. Every batch, not a sampling.

Our Operations

What we’re building on the ridge.

A purpose-built, tiered-cleanliness controlled-environment facility: ambient-condition rooftop outdoor beds, food-safe controlled fruiting rooms, and cleanroom-grade suites for the most sensitive work — sealed grow halls, our own substrate line, year-round cold chain. Two concept sketches of what we’re building.

EARTH BERM + WILDFLOWERS CLEAN-ROOM GROW HALLS GLASS OBSERVATION GALLERY FRONT FIELD · BIRCHWOOD OUR OPERATIONS — CONCEPT SKETCH Earth-sheltered, glass-fronted, clean-room mushroom production — observe the grow halls from the gallery. Concept only.
The facility — concept, not final.
INSIDE THE GROW HALLS — CONCEPT MULTI-TIER VERTICAL RACKS FRESH AIR + CLIMATE TO SETPOINT FRUITING BLOCKS ANATOMY OF A BLOCK FRUITING FACE where the mushrooms grow HARDWOOD SAWDUST milled from our own forest BRAN supplement, for yield OUR WELL WATER cold, clean, our own SPAWN grown in our lab Milled and mixed on the farm, sterilized, then inoculated with our own spawn. Concept.
Inside a grow hall — concept, not final.

For Chefs — The Fresh Program

Cookston & Co.

The fresh line, by Old Cookston Road

Cookston & Co. is our fresh program for kitchens that care where their ingredients come from. Harvested to order, chilled within the hour, delivered on your schedule — one farm, one lot, every case documented. No brokers, no mystery supply chain.

Harvest-to-door in 24 hours Standing weekly orders Lot docs with every case
Tractor working the fields at Old Cookston Road.
The same fields, the same family — now feeding restaurant kitchens across East Tennessee.

Pre‑order only — sign up for future updates

Blue Oyster

Velvet caps, deep savor. The workhorse of the fresh sheet.

$16per lb

Lion’s Mane

Sears like scallop, shreds like crab. Plays seafood better than some seafood.

$22per lb

King Oyster

Thick, meaty stems made for coins, planks, and a hard sear.

$20per lb

Shiitake

Grown on our own oak. The umami line item.

$18per lb

Chef’s Weekly Box

A standing mix of the week’s best flushes, packed for service.

$60per box

Wholesale

Put the farm — and the lot number — on your menu.

Tell us about your kitchen and your volume. We’ll send the current fresh sheet, wholesale pricing, and a delivery schedule for your area. Every case ships with its lot card.

  • Chef-direct line to the grower
  • Custom cut and pack specs
  • First call on limited harvests
Pre-Launch — Limited Access

For Chefs — The Reserve Program

Cookston Select

Our invitation-only tier for kitchens that want more than a case of mushrooms. A dedicated lot, a documented flavor profile, and a direct relationship with the farm. Reserve the lot. Compose the flavor. Put the provenance on your menu.

01

Single-Lot Reserve

Your mushrooms come from a dedicated lot assigned at inoculation — variety, substrate recipe, grow chamber, and harvest conditions fully documented. The terroir-style traceability that belongs on your menu. No blended batches, no anonymous supply chain.

02

Substrate Flavor Program

Like soil in viticulture, our substrate formulations shape flavor at the grow level — umami depth, texture, moisture, finish. A proprietary library of reproducible profiles. Custom profiles developed with you, for your kitchen. No other farm offers this.

03

Concierge Relationship

A dedicated account contact who knows your menu, your seasons, and your volume. Early access to seasonal and experimental lots. Farm tastings and biosecure facility visits for you and your team. The story your guests want to hear.

“Know the lot. Tell the story. Put it on the menu.”

Founding Access

Pre-register for Cookston Select.

We are accepting a limited number of founding chef partners for the inaugural season. This is an expression of interest — no payment required. We will be in touch within five business days to discuss your kitchen’s needs, varieties, and a farm visit.

  • First allocation on reserve lots
  • Custom substrate flavor profile developed with you
  • Chef-direct line to the grower
  • Farm tasting and biosecure facility tour

Pre-launch — limited allocation. Invitation-only at launch.

Lion’s Mane — Focus

Signal

Signal, by Old Cookston Road

More signal. Less noise.

Lion’s mane grown in our cleanroom-grade halls, dual-extracted in small lots, and third-party tested before it’s bottled. Heritage provenance, documented potency. For the mornings that have to count.

Subscribe & save 15% — pause or cancel anytime.

Pre‑order only — sign up for future updates

Signal Capsules

Dual-extract lion’s mane in a clean capsule. The daily desk companion.

$3860 ct

Dual-Extract Tincture

Water and alcohol extraction, full spectrum. A dropper under the tongue, then to work.

$342 oz

Focus Coffee

Single-origin coffee, single-origin lion’s mane. The obvious merger.

$2412 oz

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

The System

Same farm. Same standard. Same single lot.

Two functional lines, one farm — grown to one standard, tested every lot.

Cordyceps — Clean Energy

Current

Current, by Old Cookston Road

Steady, moving power.

Cordyceps militaris for output you can feel — no jitter, no crash, no mystery source. Grown in our facility, extracted in small lots, and tested before it ships. Clean energy, clean documentation.

Subscribe & save 15% — pause or cancel anytime.

Pre‑order only — sign up for future updates

Current Capsules

Cordyceps militaris, grown in-house. Steady output, no static.

$3660 ct

Pre-Activity Powder

Stirs into anything. Built for the long climb, the early gym, the second shift.

$4230 srv

Cordyceps Tincture

Fast, clean, portable. Energy that doesn’t ask for sugar.

$342 oz

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Newsletter

From the farm: occasional notes on harvests, lots, and what we’re growing next.