Truly fresh, pick-your-own mushrooms, what a delicacy! But picking mushrooms in the wild can be unnerving for amateurs. Solution? Grow your own - then you'll be confident about the species. But how, exactly, do you grow mushrooms? They don't reproduce by seeds. They don't even grow in soil. How the heck do you grow them?

WRWA (Windham Regional Woodlands Association) Trustee Matt Stinchfield is an experienced mushroom cultivator, and he will be sharing the secrets to mushroom cultivation in a hands-on workshop on Sunday, June 16, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Matt will provide the spoors and the property seasoned logs of the appropriate species that serve as the nursery and growing medium for the fungi. He'll also provide all the other materials and tools you'll need to create our own inoculated log to bring home and nurture for a future mushroom crop. The process he'll be teaching is "al fresco" cultivation, a natural way to grow mushrooms, similar to nature's own mushroom production in forests, as opposed to indoor commercial mushroom growing that relies on artificially controlled climates and growing mediums.

The cost of the workshop is $30 for WRWA members, which covers the cost of the supplies, and 50 for non-WRWA members, which covers the mushroom costs and also includes a one-year membership in WRWA. Participation will be limited to 12 people (ages 12 and up), so sign up now to get your spot. No dogs, please! Click here to register, or go to pinehillvoices.love/workshops.html and click through the calendar to get to June. Then click on "Forest Cultivation of Mushrooms" listed on June 16. You'll find a lot more information about the workshop on the registration page, such as the fact that participants will "learn and practice several different inoculation schemes; bolts, totems, rafts, and stumps". The workshop will be held outdoors, rain or shine, at 108 Bassett Hill Road in Guilford.

Questions: email Matt at palatejack@gmail.com or call/text 802-258-8748

Event Info

Nov 10, 2024, 4 to 5:30 PM

Nov 10, 2024, 4:30 to 6 PM

Nov 16, 2024, 7 to 11 PM