BF 153: Indoor Specialty Mushroom Production
Please note that our solidarity offer for free access to two online courses ended on Friday, March 27, at 12 p.m. EDT and will not be extended.
Enroll in Course
Mushrooms are an emerging niche crop with many benefits and offer a unique and highly desired product. With a bit of practice, oyster, shiitake, lions mane, and other mushrooms can easily be grown in a variety of locations and on many different substrates including straw, coffee grounds, and more.
This course trains new and experienced farmers in the background, techniques, and economics of farm scale indoor commercial production. Students will learn the basic biology of mushrooms, cultivation techniques, proper conditions for fruiting, management needs, and harvesting and marketing mushrooms.
Note: In addition to weekly online readings, presentation, and discussion, we encourage participants to order a spawn kit to try mini mushroom experiments on their tabletop at home. Kits are $30; details on what and where to order are posted in the course.
Target Audience
All levels - The course is for new farmers, or experienced farmers seeking to diversify their operations. Growing mushrooms 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.
Course Objectives
At the completion of this course, you will:
- Know the basics of mushroom production, harvesting, and marketing
- Be able to complete a basic marking plan and budget for a mushroom enterprise
- Know 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.
2021 Webinars
2020 Webinars ran every Tues night from late Feb through early April. If you register now, you will be able to watch those recordings
on
your own time, and/or join in the next round of live webinars beginning
in Feb 2021.
Your Instructor
Steve grew up in the Finger Lakes Region and graduated from Empire State
College with a BS in Environmental Science, an educational path which
incorporated aspects of forestry, ecology, and permaculture. He
co-founded the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute in 2005 and began
working at Cornell in 2009 in the Department of Horticulture, focusing
on permaculture and agroforestry research and education. Along with his
wife Elizabeth, he operates Wellspring Forest Farm in Mecklenburg NY
where they produce shiitake mushrooms, duck eggs, pastured lamb, and
maple syrup. He has co-authored a book called
Farming the Woods with Cornell professor Ken Mudge, published in Fall 2014, and the book Silvopasture: A Guide to Managing Grazing Animals, Forage Crops, and Trees in a Temperate Farm Ecosystem in 2018.
Willie has been growing mushrooms for many years in a variety of methods. He is a co-founder of Fungi Ally, a mushroom farm in Hadley, MA that grows shiitake, oyster, and lions mane mushrooms. The farm also provides spawn and ready-to-fruit kits to commercial mushroom farms. Willie is involved with research, education, and mushroom production. Through study and experience he hopes to continue learning the diverse methods people can improve themselves and the world through allying with fungi.
Course Curriculum
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StartWeek 2: Webinar, Slides, and Resources from Live Session
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StartFUNGI ALLY booklet, "Oyster Mushroom Growing in NE"
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StartPDF Guides on Specialty Mushroom Production
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StartARTICLE: Low Tech Methods from Aloha Medicinals
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StartACTIVITY: Inoculate!
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StartFORUM: Inoculations & Troubleshooting
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StartRESOURCES: Outdoor Cultivation
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StartOptional Resources