Learn to cultivate edible mushrooms this spring

February 3, 2012 at 5:32 pm · Filed under listserv msg

ANNOUNCING SPRING 2012 MUSHROOM CLASSES

NEWFIELD, NY — Work With Nature, LLC is pleased to announce a series of
Mushroom classes to be offered March through June in the Northeastern states
of New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.

The classes all focus on different elements of mushroom cultivation and the
link of mushrooms to healthy forests, soils, and people. Host sites for the
eleven classes include Cornell Cooperative Extension offices, permaculture
demonstration sites, and a range of local farms.

Workshops are being supported by the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute
(http://FingerLakesPermaculture.org) and the Northeast Mushroom Growers Network
(http://mushrooms.cals.cornell.edu/).

Mushroom cultivation and wild foraging have become increasingly popular in
recent years as growing interest in the organism has led to a range of
discoveries, from the compounds in shiitake mushrooms that prevent cancer to
the potential for oyster mushrooms to comsume oil from spills to the recent
discovery by a team of Yale students that the fungus Pestalotiopsis
microspora is able to decompose plastic trash. (see website for links)

Recently, work by researchers at Cornell University has demonstrated the economic
potential for farming Shiitake, which are grown on hardwood logs and soaked to force
fruiting. Research has established the most suitable northern hardwood
species for cultivation (Oak, Sugar Maple, Beech, Ironwood), the proper
cultivation methods, and the estimated yields from a well managed operation.
A high value food and medicine crop, shittakes retail at $12 to 16 dollars a
pound if grown outside naturally on logs.

Workshops are facilitated by Steve Gabriel, who has been cultivating and
experimenting with forest grown mushrooms, maple sugaring, and other
agroforestry practices since 2006. Participants will learn several
cultivation methods for multiple species (shiitake, lions mane, oyster, and
stropharia) that are practical on both a home and small commercial scale and
appropriate for all experience levels.

For more full class descriptions and registration info visit
www.workwithnaturedesign.com or call (607) 342-2825. Visitors to the website
can also sign up for a weekly blog with mushroom stories, research, and
recipes.

Dates and locations:

INOCULATION DEMONSTRATIONS
CCE Steuben County, Bath, NY: March 24
SUNY Ulster County, Kingston, NY: April 28
CCE Hamilton County, Piseco, NY: May 19

MUSHROOMS IN PERMACULTURE SYSTEMS
Brooks Bend Farm, Montague, MA: April 21
Three Sisters Farm, Sandy Lake, PA: May 12
Rochester Permaculture Center, Rochester NY: May 13

SMALL SCALE SHIITAKE PRODUCTION
Anderson Farm, Mecklenburg, NY: May 5th & 6th

MUSHROOMS & FOREST MANAGEMENT
Little Farm of Paradise, Hampton NY: May 20
Shannon Brook Farm, Watkins Glen, NY: June 10

MUSHROOMS WILD & CULTIVATED
Shelburne Farms, Shelburne, VT: June 2
Twin Ponds Retreat, Brookfield, VT: June 3

CONTACT:
Steve Gabriel, Work With Nature LLC
www.WorkWithNatureDesign.com
steve
607.342.2825

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3 February, 2012 16:11

February 3, 2012 at 4:11 pm · Filed under listserv msg

What’s happening in food, farming, and cooking around Ithaca? Check out the latest calendar of events, via Ithaca’s Food Web:
http://ithacasfoodweb.blogspot.com/2012/02/upcoming-food-farming-and-cooking.html

Have an event to add? Email me at ithacasfoodweb

What is Ithaca’s Food Web?
At its most basic, Ithaca’s Food Web is a blog that features local news about local food, here in Ithaca, Tompkins County, and the Finger Lakes region. You can read about what’s happening in the local food scene — from growing food to eating it, including all the complicated issues in between. But the site is much more than that. If you think about a food web — a diagram that links living things based on who eats what — it’s really all about those connections. And, if you follow those connections to the extreme, they link us with our neighbors — farmers, activists, chefs, academics, and so on — with people around the globe, with the bugs, rodents, and other living things in the field, and with the air, water, and land we depend on. Ithaca’s Food Web is about paying attention to those connections and learning how changes at one end of the food web ripple through and affect us all. Have something to share? I’d love to hear from you. Just email me at ithacasfoodweb.

Plus, Ithaca’s Food Web is now on Facebook! It’s yet another way to stay connected to local food news.

Thanks, and happy growing, finding, buying, preserving, cooking, and eating!
-Alison
www.alisonfromme.com

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