In the past few years there has been a huge surge in interest in fungi and subsequently mushroom cultivation. Much of the innovation in mushroom cultivation techniques has been driven by home “DIY” cultivators, experimenting and sharing their results with the growing hyphal community of fungal enthusiasts. As a small scale practice an increasing number people are enjoying the benefits of growing many of the edible and medicinal species of fungi that are otherwise unavailable on the market place. There have been a few additions to the “white and brown” or portabello mushrooms (all variants of the same species) we find in the supermarket. But the pressures of large scale cultivation and distribution often result in familiar story of a loss of diversity and quality, alongside hidden “external” costs.
Here at Coed Talylan, the question that drives our research into applying mycology to agroecological design is how we can use the recent innovations in mushroom cultivation to support a growing movement of small to medium farming enterprises. With market gardens and CSA’s rising to meet the demand for local and healthy organic food we want to be able offer medium scale solutions to mushroom cultivation as a diversification strategy for these food and farming businesses, rising to meet the challenges of revitalising our food and farming systems under the banner of Food Sovereignty.
We are fortunate to have recently received funding from the Land Workers Alliance, the UK affiliated union to Via Campesina, to develop this initiative.
As part of this support, we would like to offer a subsidised Mushroom Cultivation course for LWA producer members and established OPD holdings.
The full weekend course will be held over the weekend of 16th & 17th October and cost just £25 for LWA producer members and OPD plot holders here in Wales.
If you fit this criteria and would like to reserve your place on the course just follow the link to the booking form below. You can also find out more about the course here: Mushroom Cultivation Course
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