Boston Flora

Tag: Willie Crosby

  • Saturday, February 17, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Medicinal Mushrooms

    Are you curious about the power of medicinal mushrooms? Join Berkshire Botanical Garden on February 17 at 2:00 pm, along with Willie Crosby of Fungi Ally. In the classroom, the woods and the kitchen, this exploration of medicinal mushrooms will serve as an introduction into some of the common mushrooms found in the Northeast woods and cultivated at home. We will learn how to prepare them to access their medicinal potency. We will get to know reishi, cordyceps, lion’s mane, maitake, and other fungal allies. 

    Owner of Fungi Ally, Willie Crosby has been growing mushrooms indoors and outdoors for nearly a decade. He works to reveal the power of mushrooms by educating people how to incorporate mushrooms into their gardens and lives. Willie teaches online for Stockbridge School of Agriculture, Cornell University, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, as well as in person at his farm in Hadley, Mass. $40 for BBG members, $60 for nonmembers. Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org

  • Saturday, April 15, 11:00 am – 1:30 pm – Cultivating Mushrooms Outside

    Start spring early with a dive into the fungal kingdom with Berkshire Botanical Garden. Learn how to inoculate logs, wood chips and stumps for mushroom cultivation in your backyard. We will cover the basic information everyone should know about fungi and get hands-on experience doing these easy to replicate growing methods. By the end of class you will be familiar with six different wild mushroom species, three cultivation techniques and have loads of new fungal lore to share with your friends. The class takes place at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge on April 15 from 11 – 1:30.

    Willie Crosby is the owner of Fungi Ally. He has been growing mushrooms indoors and outdoors for over nine years and works to reveal the power of mushrooms by educating people how to incorporate mushrooms into their gardens and lives. Willie teaches online for Stockbridge School of Agriculture and Cornell as well as in person at his farm in Hadley, Mass., and for UMass-Amherst. $35 for BBG members, $45 for nonmembers.

    Courtesy Freshcap.com

  • Sunday, April 5, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Cultivating Mushrooms at Home: Winecaps, Oysters, and Shiitakes – Postponed

    Explore growing your own mushrooms in a class at Berkshire Botanical Garden, 5 West Stockbridge Road in Stockbridge on Sunday, April 5 from 1 – 3, with Willy Crosby. Willie Crosby is the owner of Fungi Ally, a mushroom company located in Montague, MA, focusing on mushroom research, education, and spawn production. Willie has received 6 research and education grants over the last 5 years to study and educate the public on mushrooms. Willie aims to create a world of balance and connection through revealing the power of mushrooms.

    Learn the lifecycle of mushrooms and the important ecological role that fungi fill. Focus on several methods of cultivating mushrooms.  Participants will leave with the tools and knowledge to start cultivating mushrooms at home and will be given their own inoculated mushroom log.

    This program is currently accepting names for a wait list.  Call 413-298-3926.  Image from www.ruralaction.org.