BRATTLEBORO — On Saturday, June 13, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the Brattleboro Food Co-op (BFC) will hold a workshop on growing mushrooms in the BFC Community Room and at a local farm.
When you think of gardening, do gourmet mushrooms come to mind? How about easy-to-grow mushrooms that taste great, are rich in protein, enhance the health of your plants, aid in water retention, and boost the fertility of your soil?
At the upcoming “Mushrooms in the Garden” workshop, participants will learn low-cost methods of implementing such beneficial fungi in their garden, and go home with the tools to get started immediately.
The second in a series of classes dedicated to culinary and medicinal mushrooms, this interactive workshop will focus on two key species - the Wine Cap Stropharia (Stropharia rugoso-annulata) and Elm Oyster (Hypsizygus ulmarius) - and the many documented benefits they bring to the ecology of a garden.
This workshop, led by Tad Montgomery, will discuss fungi-plant symbiosis, highlighting real-world examples of fungi playing a beneficial role within gardens and farms.
Participants will create their own spawn or “starter culture” on cardboard, gain experience creating mushroom beds at a nearby farm, and learn strategies for proper identification of each species and their common look-alikes.
At the day's end, participants will receive a bundle of resources and instructions for garden-based mushroom cultivation, as well as inoculated spawn to get a mushroom bed started at home.
This class has a sliding scale tuition of $30-60 based on what you can afford. BFC shareholders receive a $5 discount. Additional tuition above and beyond the minimum will help support the organizers in developing future fungus-based projects and workshops in the region.
For more information, contact BFC Shareholder Services at 802-246-2821.