The Art and Science of Working with Fungi: Growing Mushrooms for Food, Medicine and Soil

Mondays, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., March 13, 20 & 27; April 3, 10 & 24

At the Italian Cultural Centre, 3075 Slocan St., Vancouver
Register at www.italianculturalcentre.ca

This workshop series covers the skills needed to grow spawn and mushrooms year round. Core concepts and practical skills are covered in-depth and include the simplest and most reliable low-cost techniques to grow mushrooms and their mycelium at home, in the garden or on the farm without the need of a dedicated lab space. The class will meet weekly for six sessions. Each session will include a lecture and a lab component. Over the duration of the course, each participant will culture and grow their own oyster mushrooms from start to finish, getting hands-on experience with each step of the process. These skills can be applied to grow many other species of mushrooms. Cost is $225 and includes materials, course booklet and two mushroom cultures.

Lecture Topics Include:

Fungal Biology and Ecology
Principles of Working with Fungi
Sourcing Materials
Indoor Fruiting Environments
Mycoremediation Applications
Principles of Mycopermaculture
Off-Grid Adaptations
Scaling Up
Species to Know, Species to Grow
Usage, Storage, and Marketing
Strain Development

Hands-on Lab Skills Include:

Cloning Mushrooms
Innovative Open-air Lab Techniques
Growing Mycelium in Liquid Culture
Grain Spawn Production
Bulk Substrate Preparation and Formulation (Sawdust, Straw, Coffee Grounds etc.)
Container Cropping
Outdoor Installations
Log Culture

Workshop teacher Willoughby Arevalo made friends with fungi at a young age. After studying fungal biology and identification at Humboldt State University, he learned mushroom cultivation experientially by working at a gourmet mushroom farm. As a member of the Radical Mycology Collective, he has taught about seeing and working with fungi across North America. He is a contributing author to the book Radical Mycology by Peter McCoy. He is currently on the Board of Directors of the Vancouver Mycological Society. He grows mushrooms at home and in the garden, subsistence forages and prepares food and medicine from the harvests.

For more information, contact willoughbyarevalo@gmail.com