The Basics of Mushroom Growing and Mycology

Christopher Smith - The Mushroom Smith will give you an introduction to the basics of cultivating edible mushrooms and mycology as a science.
Christopher has over a decade of experience as a mushroom cultivator, an MSc in Biology and a Graduate Diploma in Teaching from the University of Auckland. He will use his background in academia, education and science to provide a pedagogically sound experience. Christopher will give you an understanding of Fungi as a Kingdom of life as well as a look at what fungi we have here in Aotearoa and which can be easily cultivated at home.
The workshop will explore the following topics:
The scientific history of Fungi
The Mātauranga Māori of Fungi
Basic fungal biology
Basics of mushroom cultivation
An introduction to the fungi of Aotearoa
The state of mushroom cultivation and foraging in Aotearoa
An overview of the edible and cultivatable fungi of Aotearoa
Practical activities on the day include:
Making a spore print
Inoculating agar plates
Setting up a Phoenix Oyster Grow kit
A cooking demonstration
You will leave this workshop having undertaken some fun and practical mycological activities as well as having gained knowledge of the basics of how to grow mushrooms in Aotearoa. As well as this you will also go home with your own Phoenix Oyster Grow Kit. The culture used for these kits was derived locally with all relevant council and iwi permissions.