SCHEDULE & DETAILS

Pre-Class Social Hour: Friday May 31st
7-9pm
@The Buzz Mill - Austin TX

Come get to know the instructors and your classmates for the weekend.

Day 1: Saturday June 1st
10am - 4pm
@Whole Life Learning Center - Austin TX

Intro to Mycology and Lab Skills

A practical-theoretical class on how to design and operate a small-scale Mycology Lab. Students will learn about mycelium expansion techniques, spore printing, cloning wild mushrooms, fundamentals of liquid culture, and bulk spawn production. A depth of information is presented, but the pace and language used also accommodates people unfamiliar with mushroom growing.

Registration Includes

• Class handout

• Starter culture on choice of: agar, grain or liquid culture

• Liquid culture starter kit

• Grain Spawn starter kit

• Sawdust spawn from HiFi Mycology spent mushroom blocks

Part 1: Classroom
The Fungal Kingdom

• Fungal biology and ecology

• Taxonomical classification of mushrooms

• Mushroom identification

• iNaturalist and citizen science

Introduction to Laboratory Skills

• Mycology Lab design

• Tools and Equipment

• Sterile Techniques

Applied Mycology & Research

• Maintaining a culture library

• Training Fungi for Mycoremediation

• Extracellular enzyme activity 

• Mushroom extracts and tinctures

Part 2: Hands-On Activity

• Making spore prints

• Cloning wild mushrooms

• Mycelium Expansion

• Fundamentals of liquid culture

• Spawn production (agar, grain, sawdust)

Day 2: Sunday June 2nd
10am - 4pm
@Whole Life Learning Center - Austin TX

Mushroom Cultivation and Technology

This course combines theory and skills for growing common edible and medicinal mushrooms and provides the student with a framework to integrate this knowledge into a home, garden, or farm. Topics include the life cycle of fungi, nutritional and medicinal properties of mushrooms, strain development, biotechnology, and an overview of the mushroom industry. This course is ideal for students wishing to gain a fundamental understanding of mushroom cultivation and sustainable food systems.

Registration Includes

• Class handout

• Sawdust spawn

• Oyster mushroom grow kits

Part 1: Classroom

Principles of Mushroom Cultivation

• Overview of the mushroom industry

• Health benefits of mushrooms

• Selection of suitable mushrooms species

• Preparation and treatment of substrate

• Sustainable production of mushroom spawn

• Business and marketing of mushrooms

• Value added products with mushrooms

Indoor Mushroom Cultivation

• Growing requirements for common edible/medicinal species

• Materials and Equipment selection

• Growth Schedule management

• Harvesting, Storing, Packing

Outdoor Mushroom Cultivation

• Log Cultivation

• Mycopermaculture

• Mushroom gardening

Mycoremediation

• Toxic pollutants 101

• Water & Soil remediation

• Ecological restoration

Part 2: Hands-On Activity

Mycelium Expansion Techniques

• Low-cost expansion

• Sterilization & Pasteurization techniques

• From the lab to the farm

• Bulk spawn production

• Spent spawn and soil building potential

More Info

This workshop is designed to be engaging and interactive to make learning about mushroom cultivation easy and fun. Please be prepared to dress appropriately for any weather conditions that we may have for this time of year. We ask that you let us know about any specific requirements ahead of time. 

We have limited space so we ask that you register in advance.

What to Bring

We recommend bringing closed-toe shoes, pants, hat, bug repellent (if needed), personal snacks and a bottle of water. To take home your grow kits and other items please bring a grocery or canvas tote bag. Bring pen and paper for additional notes.

Location & Parking

The workshop will be hosted at the Whole Life Learning Center. There is plenty of parking in the front, please try to avoid street parking if possible. Please arrive 15 min early to enjoy the walk from the parking area to the Educational Dome in the back of the school. For wheelchair access and other accommodation inquiries please contact us before registering for the event.