 |
|
A demonstration at a recent mushroom cultivation
workshop shows how to inoculate small logs with
edible mushroom spawn. (Photo by Kate Halstead,
WSU Extension)
|
EVERETT, Wash. – Edible mushrooms can be a great small-scale crop for anyone with the right techniques and a little patience. Washington State University Extension will hold a workshop about starting a fungi farm 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday, June 1, at the Ed’s Apples farm, 13420 339th Ave SE in Sultan, Wash., just off highway SR 2.
Instructor Jim Gouin is a staff mycologist and consultant with Fungi Perfecti, an Olympia-based company that specializes in supplying home and commercial mushroom growers. He has a forestry background and teaches forest fungi cultivation workshops throughout North America.
The workshop costs $65 per person, which includes handouts, a catered box lunch and 100 shiitake plugs to take home. Space is limited; paid registration must be received by May 30.
Register online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/384618 or download the form at http://bit.ly/11Yrntq and mail with a check. For more registration information, contact Karie Christensen at 425-357-6039 or christensen4@wsu.edu.
Whether in a tiny backyard or on hundreds of acres, growing gourmet mushrooms can be a satisfying and tasty venture. In the Pacific Northwest, there are about a dozen species – including oyster, shiitake and maitake – that can be grown using native tree species. However, ensuring success involves developing an understanding of the process and techniques.
Workshop topics will include the different species that grow well in the region and the different growing media – such as log, stump and sawdust. Demonstrations will show how to prepare and inoculate logs, encourage optimum production and harvest the crop.
For those who wish to produce mushrooms indoors quickly with little equipment, there will be a demonstration on low-tech cultivation and processing of oyster mushrooms using pasteurized wheat straw.
WSU Extension programs and policies are consistent with federal and state laws and regulations on nondiscrimination regarding race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability and sexual orientation. Evidence of non-compliance may be reported through the local extension office.
Persons with a disability requiring special accommodation can request it 21 days before training at 425-338-2400. If accommodation is not requested in advance, availability cannot be guaranteed.