BF 151: Woodland Mushroom Cultivation

Growing Mushrooms on Logs, Stumps, and Woodchips

Mushrooms are an emerging niche crop with many benefits, including improving farmer stewardship of forested lands and the ability to offer a unique and highly desired product. With a bit of practice, mushrooms can be easily grown in the woods on many products that can be the surplus of healthy forest management.

This course trains new and experienced farmers in the background, techniques, and economics of farm scale woodland mushroom production. Students will learn the basic biology of mushrooms, cultivation techniques for shiitake, oyster, lions mane, and stropharia mushrooms, proper conditions for fruiting, management needs, and harvesting and marketing mushrooms.

Note: In addition to weekly online readings, presentation, and discussion, participants are encouraged to purchase a spawn kit to try mini mushroom experiments at home. Kits are an additional $30 and purchase details and kit contents are listed in the course curriculum.

Target Audience

All levels - This course is for new farmers, or experienced farmers seeking to diversify their operations. It’s also relevant to woodlot owners and backyard gardeners interested in this topic. Growing as a viable economic enterprise will be stressed, though techniques can also be applied at the hobby scale. Mushroom farming is an easy topic for beginners with some experience farming and managing crop systems. Those with knowledge of forestry and chainsaw use may be able to move along more quickly.

Course Objectives

At the completion of this course, you will:

• Be able to describe the basics of mushroom production, harvesting, and marketing
• Connect mushroom cultivation to the management of healthy forests
• Complete a basic marking plan and budget for a mushroom enterprise
• Understand the logistics of management, sales, and legal issues related to mushroom farming

Webinars

The bulk of the course happens on your own time, with discussions, readings, and assignments in Teachable, our virtual classroom. To add to the experience, webinars will be woven into the online interface of the course to allow you to meet on a weekly basis to learn from outside presenters and ask questions to address your farm issues in real time. If you miss one, they are always recorded and posted for later viewing.

Webinar Schedule

Live instruction for the 2021-2022 season has ended, and the next live session will be in January 2023. While we encourage live attendance so you have the opportunity to engage with the presenters and ask questions, all webinars are recorded and posted in our online classroom for students to watch anytime. Once you have enrolled in this course, you will retain access to all materials indefinitely, and can return to participate in the live webinars in future offerings of the course if you wish.