Mushroom man offers four-day course at Sterling College

Author and mushroom man, Tradd Cotter, will return to Sterling College June 7 through 10 to lead an immersion course, “Mushrooms, Molds and Mycorrhizae,” that dives into mushroom ecology, basic identification, farm reproduction methods, cultivation, mycoremediation, and medicinal mushroom extracts and tinctures.

Mr. Cotter is a microbiologist, professional mycologist, and organic gardener who has been tissue culturing, collecting native fungi in the Southeast, and cultivating both commercially and experimentally for more than 22 years. He is the author of Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation (Chelsea Green, 2014). In 1996, he founded Mushroom Mountain, which he owns and operates with his wife, Olga, to explore applications for mushrooms in various industries. He currently maintains over 200 species of fungi for food production, mycoremediation of environmental pollutants, and natural alternatives to chemical pesticides.

Participants in this short course, held on the Sterling College campus in Craftsbury Common, will gain knowledge and skills on how to cultivate fungi on small and large scales, incorporate edible mushrooms and beneficial fungi into garden designs, identify wild mushrooms, cultivate and prepare medicinal mushrooms, and clean contaminated soils and polluted water through mycoremediation.

Online registration is now open, but spaces are limited. Students are encouraged to apply as early as possible. For more information and to register, visit sterlingcollege.edu/course/snaf. — from Sterling College.