MushNet Log Inoculation Workshop at the Alice Austen House

The NYC Mushroom Network (MushNet) is partnering with the Alice Austen House Queer Ecologies Garden to grow mushrooms on logs sourced from NYC parks, which will become a living part of the garden's landscape.

In this hands-on workshop, we will walk participants through drilling holes in the logs, inoculating them with mushroom spawn, and sealing them to incubate and fruit next season. We'll finish by discussing best practices for maintaining a successful outdoor mushroom-growing system.

This workshop is one of several mushroom log inoculation workshops organized by MushNet happening around New York City this spring. Please check out our evenbrite page for other dates and locations.

The NYC Mushroom Network is a grassroots organization that connects the urban forest, community gardens, and local growers through growing mushrooms on organic waste streams. Our spawn is made in Queens at Biotech Without Borders and our logs are sourced from the Parks Dept and local arborists in NYC.

The Alice Austen House is a historic waterfront cottage and museum in Staten Island’s Rosebank neighborhood. Once the home of pioneering photographer Alice Austen, the site celebrates her groundbreaking images of everyday New York life and her unconventional, independent spirit. Today the landmark house and park host exhibitions, public programs, and cultural gatherings while honoring Austen’s legacy as an early female photographer and an important figure in LGBTQ+ history.

This workshsop is faciliated by Katya Bloomberg and Zachary Tan Strein

Katya is a lifestyle medicine coach and educator from Central Asia who explores how technology shapes food, culture, and our shared future. She is the founding editor of MYCRO Mag, recognized by NYU Green as a Climate Hero, and the creator of Edible Graveyards, recently featured at Falmouth University in the UK. She teaches mycology, mushroom cultivation, foraging, and biomaterials across NYC organizations, builds community through CSA and food pantry work, and serves on the board of Slow Food NYC. Katya also loves hosting cookouts and sharing her homemade Central Asian ladzhan chili oil.

Zach is an active member of his community garden, a farmer, a home cook and a bicycle commuter. When he was young his family had a small garden where they grew cherry tomatoes; he has loved growing food ever since. His experience with mushrooms includes soaking wood ear mushrooms to cook with, foraging for chicken of the woods upstate and learning to grow shiitake with Cornell Cooperative Extension as a part of the Community Mushroom Educator program.

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The NYC Mushroom Network is by the (OSI), as part of its . will be accepted by OSI on behalf of the NYC Mushroom Network.

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