This two day practical course will provide you with a background in the fascinating world of fungal biology and the core principles and practices that underlie the art and science of mushroom cultivation. By the end of course you will have everything you need to start growing your own mushrooms at home, on your farm, or in your community, including the mushroom spawn to get you started!
All food and refreshments are provided and you will get to take home all the preparations and substrates you make over the weekend.
Who is this course for?
This course is for anyone with a growing interest in fungi and mushroom cultivation. If you would like to learn how to grow a variety of mushrooms on a small scale then this course is for you. You do not need to have any prior knowledge of fungi or mushroom cultivation as the course is designed to take you through the process of understanding fungi at a deeper level and utilising that knowledge to cultivate a range of gourmet and medicinal mushrooms.
You will learn:
- The fascinating biology, ecology, and history of the Fungal Kingdom
- Wild mushroom identification fungal foray
- Aseptic (“sterile”) practices with agar, grains, and wood-based materials
- The core principles and paradigms that underlie the art and science of cultivation
- Bulk spawn production, processing growing mediums and substrates
- Appropriate, low-cost, and low-tech cultivation methods and tools
- Lab and fruiting environment designs for home, farm, or community scale projects
- Log cultivation
- Outdoor mushroom garden design and installation
- Application of fungi with integrated agro-ecosystems
- Place-based resource management and systems design principles
- Fungal integration into various permaculture-inspired sustainable living systems
- Biochar & fungi
Mushroom Species You’ll Learn to Grow Include:
- Garden Giant (Stropharia rugosoannulata)
- Cordyceps (Cordyceps sinensis)
- Pearl/Tree Oyster (Pluerotus ostreatus)
- Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus)
- Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum)
- Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor)
- Maitake (Grifola frondosa)
- King Oyster (Pleurotus eryngii)
- Shiitake (Lentinula edodes)
- Elm Oyster (Hypsizgus ulmarius)
- Nameko (Pholiota Nameko)
- Wood Blewitt (Clitocybe Nuda)
- Shaggy Ink Cap (Coprinus Comitus)
Venue/Accommodation
Coed Talylan is a 70 acre woodland on the western edge of the Brecon Beacons. Nestled below the iron age hill fort of Garn Goch in the foothills of the Black Mountain it offers a secluded and peaceful location for our course participants to learn and explore the potential of applying agroecology within a co-sufficient community.
Accommodation is available as camping around our guest lodge, an A-frame wooden cabin with kitchen and dining/living space. We have running filtered spring water throughout the site, compost toilets and wash facilities.
Participants are welcome to arrive on the Friday evening before the course.
Transport
We are offering a 10% discount for those that use public transport to travel to the venue. We also help facilitate ift sharing opportunities. The rail service to Llangadog is part of the “Heart of Wales Line” an historic railway running from Shrewsbury to Swansea. If you choose to arrive by train or bus we offer a collection service from Llangadog at set times (contact us for more information).
Fees
Fees include tuition, handouts and refreshments.
- Up to 14K/year £225
- 14K-20K/year £275
- 20K upwards £325
We endeavour to make our courses and events affordable to all. Unfortunately, we do not receive any external funding and rely on large amounts of voluntary input. Concessions are available for pensioners, unemployed and full-time students.
We offer a 10% discount for OPD owners and LWA members.
We can also make arrangements for payment by instalments, contact us for more details.
See the Terms and Conditions.
Booking and Paying for your place
To book a place on the course use the following link to complete the booking form.
