Get ready for an immersive exploration into the world of Fungi! We'll collect and identify, cook and create with a variety of species. Class time will be a mix of exploring Hambidge’s unique temperate rain forest; presentations on the biology, history, and innovative uses of fungi; demonstrations of cooking (and tasting!) different edible and medicinal mushroom preparations; and hands-on creating. Projects include shibori dyeing silk scarves with mushrooms, as well as making sturdy paper using nothing but mushrooms and water. You’ll learn innovative low-tech cultivation methods that make home-grown mushrooms a reality. Join us and discover how we can interact with, benefit from, and work with mushrooms to help regenerate our soil, our health, and our planet.
Supplies and materials are provided through the workshop fee and materials fee. Additionally, you will be asked to bring:
A good-size collecting basket
A collecting knife or pocket knife
A good pair of small paper-cutting scissors and optional Exacto knife
Sturdy hiking boots, long hiking pants, and a hat for outdoors (for sun or rain)
A dark colored (black preferred) 100% cotton t-shirt (short or long sleeved)
A medium-sized plastic box with compartments (such as for beads)
A notebook and writing implements
A water bottle
Insect repellent
Workshop Mushroom Immersion: All Things Fungi
Leaders Dr. Cornelia Cho and Sam Landes
Fee $1825-$2075 (These prices include lodging and meals. Special pricing is available for our Local Community members.)
Materials Fee: $50; includes materials for mushroom logs, shibori dyeing, and paper making.
Experience Level All levels are welcome. Ages 21 & over only.
About the Leaders
Dr. Cornelia Cho is a nationally sought after keynote speaker, medical doctor, artist, citizen-scientist, and president of the Mushroom Club of Georgia (MCG). Recent keynotes cover a range of topics, including mushrooms as food and medicine; the inner workings of the microbiome; "The Mycelial Brain"; and how to facilitate self-transformation. Audiences appreciate her ability to make complicated information understandable, actionable and most importantly, fun. Her 'out-of-the-box' approaches to art, science and self-growth help foster other people's creativity, allowing them to uncover new solutions to old problems. Above all, Cornelia is passionate about empowering others – teaching about growing your own medicine, fermenting your own probiotic-rich foods, developing your own life resources, and how we can work together with fungi to preserve life on this planet we all inhabit.
Sam Landes grew up in Central Illinois where his mother took him morel mushroom hunting beginning at the age of 5, and he's been exploring the world of mushrooms ever since. He has been the Treasurer of the Mushroom Club of Georgia (MCG) since 2010, and is a member of the North American Mycological Association (NAMA). Sam recently stepped down as the Foray Committee Chair for NAMA after serving for 7 years. As a retired Montessori teacher, Sam enjoys giving frequent presentations and lessons to gardening clubs, Master Gardener groups, Master Naturalist groups, and school groups. He leads forays for MCG and travels around the country joining other mushroom enthusiasts in hunting for mushrooms.