Whether you have a tiny backyard or 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 maiitake, which can be grown using many of our native tree species.
However, ensuring success with this type of backyard farming involves developing a good understanding of the process and knowledge of the techniques involved.
Saturday, June 1, 2013 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Ed's Apples in Sultan, there will be a class about the different types of edible mushrooms that can be grown in the region and how you can start your own fungi farm.
Topics covered will include the different species that grow well in our climate and forests, along with a discussion of several growing media such as log, stump, and sawdust culture. Demonstrations will include how to prepare and inoculate logs, as well as harvest and care procedures to encourage optimum production.
There will also be a demonstration on the low-tech processing and cultivation of oyster mushrooms using pasteurized wheat straw for indoor production. This cultivation method will appeal to those wanting to produce mushrooms in a very short timeframe with minimal equipment. All participants will take home a packet of shiitake plug spawn along with complete instructions to cultivate your own outdoor mushroom logs.
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 with everything needed for success. Jim also has a forestry background and teaches forest fungi cultivation workshops throughout North America.
The class is offered through the WSU Extension.
Ed's Apples is at 13420 339th Ave. S.E. in Sultan, just off U.S. 2.
The cost is $65 per person, which includes the workshop, handouts, a catered box lunch, and 100 shiitake plugs to take home. Space is limited and your paid registration must be received by May 30 to ensure a spot.
Register online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/384618. You can also download the form at snohomish.wsu.edu/ag/workshops/MushroomReg2013.pdf and mail with your check. For registration information, contact Karie Christensen at (425) 357-6039 or email christensen4@wsu.edu.
For more information on the course, contact Andrew Corbin, corbina@wsu.edu, (425) 357-6012.
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