Mushroom Workshop to Teach Basics of Cultivation

After a sold-out workshop in August, instructor Zach Mermel is back to teach the basics of mushroom cultivation.

The “Food From Wood: Growing Edible & Medicinal Mushrooms on Logs, Stumps, and Wood Chips” workshop will take place on Oct. 19 from 9 am. to 2:30 p.m. at Volcano Art Center Niaulani Campus, located at 19-4074 Old Volcano Road in Volcano Village.

The workshop is meant to teach gardners how to turn certain fungi problems into an “edible solution.”

“A wonder drug or just darn tasty, the humble mushroom belongs to a kingdom seldom explored,” the Volcano Art Center press release states. “Mushrooms are an excellent source of vegetarian protein and nutrition with the added bonus of easy to grow.”

Their health benefits are well known and their ecological advantages are just now being fully realized, according to the release. Workshop participants will discover the health benefits of different edible and medicinal fungi in Hawai‘i.

Course fees are $55 for VAC members and $60 for non-members. Pre-registration is required. Each participant will depart with a shiitake mushroom log kit, as well as a King Stropharia mushroom kit. Participants will meet at VAC’s Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village for a slideshow lecture, then drive to Shaka Forest Farms on Wright Road in Volcano Village for the hands-on segment of the workshop.

For more information and to register for the workshop, please call 808-967-8222 or visit www.volcanoartcenter.org.