27/02/2024
Back in January we were awarded funding from Edinburgh Communities Climate Action Network to turn our beginner’s mushroom cultivation course (Mushroom Alchemy: How to grow Oyster Mushrooms from Household Waste) into an accessible online course for 100 disabled Edinburgh residents.
Sign up here 👇
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc89S5s9a8UBZcvhO20rK6FfT4WXMNhyMoIp5uscwHFQ1I0WA/viewform?usp=sf_link
We’ve been scheming about creating (the best)* online mushroom cultivation course (in the world)** for some time now and this funding lets us dip our toes in before scaling up to develop an online mushroom cultivation course that is much more comprehensive and ambitious.
Accessible Alchemy is a deep dive into low cost methods of growing mushrooms from household waste. After finishing the course, participants will know how to make mushroom fruiting blocks from little more than oyster mushroom stems, coffee grounds and trash, as well as loads, loads more.
The course has videos with step by step instructions for fun and engaging cultivation experiments, and all participants will receive a cultivation kit that includes everything needed to complete those experiments at home.
So- if you're an Edinburgh resident who identifies as disabled and are keen to learn how to grow mushrooms please do fill out the short form linked above.
This funding is for people with physical disabilities, as well as neurodivergents, people living with mental health difficulties, chronic pain or illness. Self-identification is totally fine - we are not asking for any kind of proof or justification.
To complete this course you will need to be able to follow online lessons that will be presented in a variety of formats. Some lessons will use videos - but all lessons will include text and audio options. You or a carer you work with will need to have the same level of upper body mobility needed to bake a cake🎂🍄
*Our staff team has wildly varying levels of ambition. Some of us are “good enough” kinds of people, and find the notion of trying to be “the best” particularly “the best in the world” a bit grandiose, tacky and dare I say... American.
**Others among us have a serious perfectionist streak. I will not name names, but fwiw the course is being project managed by that guy ✨💛😂