Backyard Mushroom Cultivation

Dive into the magical world of Fungi. They are delicious, nutritious and, they might even save the world! Mushrooms are known for their healing properties both as medicine for humans but also for our planet. They help plants uptake nutrients, clean-up toxic waste, and even compost entire clear cuts as well as a host of other uses. In this class we’ll focus on growing mushrooms, hands-on and homestead-style! We’ll learn which mushrooms can be most easily cultivated at home both indoors and out, the difference between spores and spawn and what materials different mushrooms thrive on. We’ll explore a range of growing substrates such as straw, cardboard, coffee grounds, wood chips and logs. Working with either oyster, shiitake or wine cap mycellium, students will then make starter kits to take home. A $15 materials fee is included with your sliding scale registration. ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR Seth Peterson is a second generation urban farmer and chef who grew up in his Mother's garden, among the chickens and the mulch piles. When he took over his Mother’s East Bay urban organic garden, he explored Permaculture, Holistic Management and Regenerative Agriculture. Since then, he has travelled far and wide to learn the many techniques he practices in his urban garden. As one of the co-founding members of BAAM (Bay Area Applied Mycology), he has been engaged in fungi foraging, cultivation, and myco-remediation in the Bay Area and beyond over the last five years. At home, he is currently growing and eating wine caps, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms, among others.