Mushrooms are a great source of nutrition and a wonderful addition to any garden. Garden enthusiasts can easily grow many varieties of mushrooms in a shady spot in their backyards. During this workshop we will demonstrate several easy-to-learn techniques for adding edible mushrooms to diversify your garden experience. You’ll also learn about the live cycle of fungi.
Inoculating Logs with Shiitake Spawn
Log-grown Shiitake mushrooms are very different (way better!) than the sawdust-block-grown mushrooms you can buy at the store. They are more robust in texture and flavor. Shiitake mycelium take over a year to colonize a log so you will need to learn to care for your log as you would any living organism. During the demonstration we will share information about the feeding and care of your logs to ensure a successful outcome. Held in the Institute Workshop, Saturday, June 1, 9:00-10:00 a.m. Cost: $12 (through end of April, $16 in early May) plus $30 materials fee, which covers your inoculated log to bring home.
Inoculating Woodchips with Wine Cap Spawn
Mushrooms help heal our earth and our bodies. Come learn how to add these earthy land stewards to your garden in this hands-on workshop. Attendees will assist in creating a woodchip garden bed with Wine Cap spawn. We will demonstrate creating a mulch bed for growing Wine Cap for that shady area in your garden and as an added bonus will create a log totem to add interest to your shade garden. Bring a pair of garden gloves and your enthusiasm. Held in the Institute Workshop, Saturday, June 1, 10:00-11:00 a.m. Cost: $12 (through end of April, $16 in early May) plus $15 materials fee, which covers your totem to bring home.
Rae West owns and operates Misty Dawn Farm a Shiitake mushroom farm in Stoughton, WI, with his wife Ingrid. Their fascination with mushrooms began about five years ago after they had to do a timber harvest on their property in the Driftless Area of Vernon county. They wanted to do something besides firewood with the waste, which led them to discover an Alice in Wonderland journey into the wonderland that are mushrooms.
The Sustainability Skill Share brings people together to learn practical skills in hands-on classes focused on housing, clothing, and feeding ourselves in a world without fossil fuels. In addition to dozens of classes taking place over two days, we will also have a social aspect: camping, meals, a documentary screening, and perhaps music. This event will happen June 1–2, 2019 in Cooksville, Wisconsin. This will be the pilot year of what we hope will be an annual festival of classes related to sustainability, DIY, hands-on, and individual or community self-sufficiency.