Mushroom Growing Workshops
We regularly host workshops around the Tasman area and other areas around New Zealand. See below for upcoming dates and locations.
Food Resilience With Fungi Workshop
Sat 1st June 2024, 1:30 - 5pm
Riverside Community Centre,
289 Main Rd, Lower Moutere, Tasman
$80 per person
Bookings essential as places are limited, please contact us to register or for any queries regarding the workshop.
Our introductory-level mushroom growing workshop. You will learn how to grow your own mushrooms at home as well as how to continue your own spawn batches so you can continue to produce mushrooms on a homescale at a very low cost.
The workshop is run in two parts. We will begin with a presentation where we describe the ecology of fungi and talk about the home-scale growing method focused on in this workshop, as well as discussing several other methods and uses of fungi. Followed by a short tea break, we will then get our hands busy in the practical part of the workshop, where you will make your own mushroom grow kits and spawn to take home. Afternoon tea will be provided.
Mushrooms are a high-protein food, which are quick to grow on easily available materials (you will have your first harvest within 4 weeks) and as such are a fabulous emergency food and can help stretch your grocery budget. Using the method we will teach, you can grow your own gourmet mushrooms at little cost with basic materials.
Intermediate Level Mushroom Cultivation Workshop
Sat 15th June 2024, 1:30 - 5pm
Riverside Community Centre,
289 Main Rd, Lower Moutere, Tasman
$100 per person
Bookings essential as places are limited, please contact us to register or for any queries regarding the course.
A follow-on workshop for those who have previously attended one of our introductory level food resilience with fungi courses, or who have a proficient level of mushroom cultivating experience and basic knowledge of fungi ecology. Workshop will cover the topics of:
- Mushroom growing on logs (using a native shiitake strain)
- How to clone and store fungi via liquid culture method (Pekepeke-kiore, native lionsmane)
- Preparing your own dowels for log-growing
We will skip a lot of the basic theory (e.g. fungi ecology) which participants would previously have learned already in the food resilience with fungi workshop. Participants will get their own jar containing liquid culture to take home, as well as the inoculated log they have made. Afternoon tea will be provided.
School Workshops
Ngatimoti School Room 5 with teacher Suzanne Tawharu
We host school workshops specially tailored to younger audiences, focusing on sharing about the fascinating kingdom of fungi. Students get the chance to make their own mushroom grow kits to take home and also receive a copy of our book Family of Forest and Fungi.
Please get in touch to learn more about our special school workshop package.
Feedback from teacher Suzanne Tawharu, (Years 7/8, Ngatimoti School):
The akonga (students) enjoyed finding out about fungi and that there were edible native mushrooms. The akonga also loved making their own growing kit to take home and share with their whanau. The book was beautiful with a real te ao Māori perspective.
The akonga learnt about native mushrooms and how they are great solutions to some of our environmental problems that humans have created as well.
The akonga enjoyed learning about fungi, and, once inspired, found interesting facts about how fungi communicate with trees and other fungi.
Thanks to Valetta and Mihau for putting in this mahi and coming into school to teach us about fungi. Tino pai ō mahi.
Fungi are veteran survivors of ecological disruption... They are inventive, flexible, and collaborative. With much of life on Earth threatened by human activity, are there ways we can partner with fungi to help us adapt?
- Merlin Sheldrake, Author of Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
Workshop Enquiries
We will regularly update our upcoming workshops on this page.
We have special rates for schools or charities. If your organisation is interested in hosting one of our workshops, please get in touch to find out more about our packages.
We also have digital gift vouchers available for purchase!
