Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Upcoming Mushroom and Herb Workshops
Last year I posted here about attending a mushroom-growing workshop in Langley that resulted in a couple of mushroom logs for my backyard and the confidence to go further with mushroom-growing this spring. Hosted by Bill of Western Biologicals, I can’t say enough good things about the information I got out of that morning workshop and the other awesome folks I met there who were all doing their own variety of urban homesteading.
So imagine how pleased I was to get a flyer from Western Biologicals mailed to me yesterday that outlines upcoming workshops for those of you interested in getting to know more about backyard mushroom growing. The following workshops must be registered for by sending a check to Western Biologicals, PO Box 283, Aldergrove BC V4W 2T8. Any questions? You can phone 604-856-3339 or email westernb@shaw.ca.
2011 Western Biologicals Workshops Include:
- March 19 from 1-4: Growing Oyster Mushrooms on blocks of straw – $35
- March 20 from 9-noon: Growing Shiitake and Oyster mushrooms on wood logs – $34
- March 26 from 1-4: Propagating and Growing Wasabi – $35
- March 27 from 9-noon: Popagating and Growing Stevia, the Sugarleaf Plant – $35
- April 16 & 17 9-4: Full Program Specialty Mushroom Workshop. Agenda includes: Sport and tissue culture; preparation of mushroom spawn including liquid spawn techniques; Cultivation of shiitake, Oyster Mushrooms, Enoki, Nameko, Simeji, Reishi, etc; Alternative methods for preparing mushroom substrates including chemical pasteurization, low temperature sterilization. Hands-n sessions. Medicinal uses of mushrooms, cooking with mushrooms and dyeing with mushrooms. Includes Mushroom farm tour. Participants receive free mushroom cultures. Registration fee includes materials and lunch on both days – $250 plus HST. Register early!
- May 8 9-4: Fermented Foods Workshop – Learn how to make KimChi, Tempeh, Vinegar and other fermented foods. Lunch included – $150 plus HST.
- May 15 9-5: Extracting and Refining perfume/essential oils – $150 plus HST
- Plant Tissue Culture Workshop: Participants learn to perpare tissue culture media as well as make tissue cultures of a variety of plants. We will build a horizontal laminar flow clean air cabinet as a class exercise. Mets on a Saturday or Sunday every six weeks or so. Registration fee for five sessions includes materials. $250 plus HST.
Having taken one course from Bill, I can assure you that these courses will all be well worth your time as he is a wealth of information and has been at plant and mushroom propagation (including the trickier aspects) for a long time. Spawn and growing supplies are also available through Western Biologicals – send an email to the above address for a complete catalogue and workshop schedule.
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Red Cedar 
For those in the city, I’ve found that the city workers who trim the trees in many parts of town are quite helpful. At our place two years ago, we happened to see them trimming the cherry trees outside, and we were able to get a lot of nice big logs from them (intending to grow shiitakes), and a load of chips to use as mulch in the garden.