Upcoming Winter/Spring/ Summer offerings in 2019:
March 24: Medicinal Mushrooms: SpoonfulHerbals, Katherine Elmer. MycoEvolve, Jess Rubin. 10am-12pm Valhalla, 5507 Ethan Allen Drive, Charlotte, VT. 10-12pm. Join Katherine Elmer and Jess Rubin to traverse the folk wisdom and modern scientific understanding of some common wild and cultivated forest fungi. We will sip Wild Mushroom Chai and discuss the ecology, ethical harvesting, processing, medicinal benefits, and cultivation of medicinal mushrooms such as shiitake, chaga, reishi, lion’s mane, maitake, and turkey tail. https://www.facebook.com/events/412101299359372/
Register here!
March 27: Building the Soil From the Ground Up Panel; Juan Alvez, Jess Rubin, Cat Buxton. Randolph, VT 6:30-8:30pm; Bethany Church, Randolph VT. The Soil Food Web was discovered in the 1990's, shifting our collective understanding of the interplay between plants and organisms while reshaping the way we think about and manage our landscapes. Capturing sunshine with living plants and creating soil from organics waste will help us to feed the billions of soil organisms that weave our landscapes together, minimizing flood and drought effects, and creating habitat for new people and species who will be displaced by climate change.
https://www.facebook.com/events/301202257255131/
April 14: Field trip-> MycoDaimonia; MycoRemediating a Vermont Brook, Brendan Lalor, caravan-> Poultney VT
11-3:30 pm MycoDaimonia: 2616 Highland Gray Rd., Poultney, VT 05764
Curious to learn about what is involved in researching and implementing a mycoremediation pilot study at a public institution from the beginning? Join us to brainstorm and begin to collaborate around this exciting project. This meeting's goal include generating insights about Phase I of fall's Glen Brook MycoRemediation Project, and the introduction of a mid-Vermont lab space to VT MycoNode members. Questions: contact host, Brendan Lalor: brendan@thereitis.org (802) 688-5627
https://www.facebook.com/events/405093606703207/
May 19: Farm to Medicine Cabinet: SpoonfulHerbals, Katherine Elmer: Valhalla, Charlotte, VT
Our farm landscapes are not only capable of producing nourishing foods but also powerful plant-based medicines from weeds, cover crops, ornamental gardens, forests, and backyards. This “weed walk” will introduce participants to medicinal plants commonly found on different parts of the Vermont farm landscape and invites participants to engage in deepening the local food movement by incorporating nature-based local medicine as part of a resilient food system. Join us to explore the potential of on-farm "weeds to medicine"!
June 2: Fungal DNA sequencing: NYC Radical Mycologist, Craig Trester. Charlotte, VT. 10am-4pm.
other offerings: MycoEvolve via Jess Rubin:
32 Annual NE Women's Herbal Conference
Aug.14: Fungi as ancient allies of plants: (Day intensive)
Aug 15: Strategies for rewilding ourselves & urban/suburban landscapes with plants
Aug 16: Planting green infrastructure as living libraries of resilience; Camp Wicosuta (100 West Shore Rd) on 21 Wicosuta Dr. NewFound Lake, NH
More details on all of these coming soon!
Past Workshops, Presentations, & Classes:
Mycoremediation Research for Watershed Restoration: Jess Rubin, MycoEvolve, Community Center in Jericho 329 Brown Trace Road Jericho 05465 5:30-7pm. We gathered to learn more about fungi's unique role in earth repair through their intricate networks with microbes, plants, and trees. We heard about a current case study in N Central Vermont and a few other projects in the works. We then investigated potential pollutants in our communities, which species we may partner with to begin remediation efforts, and strategies to do so all within the greater Transition movement from extraction based polluting economy to nurture rooted nourishing network.
VT Myconode Gathering, 10/21: 11-6pm at Valhalla Vermont 5507 Ethan Allen Hwy, Charlotte, Vermont 05445
Vermont Myconode shared in a community potluck in the late afternoon. If possible bring local harvest from Vermont. After land acknowledgements, gratitude, and a tour of our mycelium library and lab, folks tidied the barn for upcoming trials with hemp hulls in our grow kits before sharing food and vision.
And of course we read the Radical Mycology Principles and discussed.
Vermont Myconode shared in a community potluck in the late afternoon. If possible bring local harvest from Vermont. After land acknowledgements, gratitude, and a tour of our mycelium library and lab, folks tidied the barn for upcoming trials with hemp hulls in our grow kits before sharing food and vision.
And of course we read the Radical Mycology Principles and discussed.
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Mycoremediation Strategies for Watershed Restoration Poster Presentation at Society for Ecological Restoration Conference: Connecting Communities and Ecosystems in Restoration Practice. 10/11-13, New Haven, CT. Hannah and Jess presented our research at the poster pub. Mycoevolve, in partnership with University of Vermont, and funded by EPSCoR, conducted an experiment using the mushroom species Stropharia rugosoannulata, otherwise known as the garden giant, wine cap, or King Stropharia, to reduce E. coli in simulated farm effluent. In Vermont water quality in the Lake Champlain watershed is frequently contaminated by excess fertilizer, nutrient runoff, algae blooms, and E. coli largely due to the dairy industry. This project contributes to a small yet growing field, combining grassroots remediation strategies with academic research, and is a crucial step towards understanding how mycoremediation (a form of bioremediation using fungi) may be applied in the future by farmers and land “owners” to better manage landscapes for improved water quality. Results from this study will inform the next phase of outdoor mycofiltration mat installation in swales, wetlands, riparian buffers, and rain gardens to support watershed health.
(Research team members are: Jess Rubin, Mycoevolve, Hannah Huber, Mycoevolve, Dr. Arash Ghalehgolabbehbahani, UVM, Sue Van Hook, Haut Terrain, Travis Berg, Mycoevolve, Alex Dorr, Mushroom Revival, Dr. Josef Gorres, UVM) |
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Vital Signs: Tracking Soil Health
September 30, 12pm-4pm; Valhalla VT 5507 Ethan Allen Highway, Charlotte, VT 05445 We explored with Cat Buxton what would happen if we shifted the paradigm of how people interface with the land. We checked out monitoring tools that we as gardeners and land managers could use to track changes in soil health and whole-system health; to assess if our soil is able to help slow water down, deepen watersheds, increase biological soil health and create conditions for thriving ecosystems. We were introduced to soil health principles and simple ways to implement them in the backyard and beyond to restore soil health and retention, improve the nutrient density of foods, and mitigate climate change. Cat Buxton is a community organizer, compost consultant and soil health educator. She runs Grow More, Waste Less in Sharon, VT and is founding director of the Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition. She serves on the Board of Directors for Rural Vermont, the Soil Carbon Coalition, and Upper Valley Food Co-op. To learn more about her work www.growmorewasteless.com |
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New Moon Mycology Summit: White Pine Community Farm 295 Duell Hollow Road, Wingdale, New York, NY 12594: 8/6-12, 2018, Mycoremediation Strategies for Watershed Restoration. Mycofiltration cleanses and harnesses water initially deemed unsafe. Part of our Mycoevolve team shared about our current EPSCoR mycofiltration research project involving partnership with Mycoevolve & UVM; involving King Stropharia's role in filtering E. coli(known to be pathogenic) from dairy effluent through mycelial mats before it enters Lake Champlain. We highlighted context within our bioregional landscape, research process, current learning lessons, living questions, and brainstorm portals through which researchers like you can install efficient mycofilters. Finally we will rolled up our sleeves to explore mycofilter options to filter grey water from Seeds of Peace Kitchen and from a spring uphill from the site.
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Fungal Inoculation; Rockpoint Center, Burlington, VT; 5/24/2018, 12:30-3:30pm Students and a teacher from a public school in Kemps Bay Bahamas learned about the shiitake mushroom and helped inoculate several oak logs. As we stored them in the forest to mycelia we encountered a few wild edibles as well as brainstormed ideas of what species they could experiment with back at home to incorporate edible & medicinal fungi into their farming.
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Permaculture Action Day: Willow Crossing Farm, Johnson VT: 5/20, 2018 all day.
Design & Install a United Plant Savers oriented endangered & threatened medicinal plant sanctuary with edible & pollinator supportive polycultures. After offering cedar to the land and listening to what was being asked for, attuning to the already present medicine circle on the land, and responding to trophic instructions where peaberries already were present we planted according to the present grid lines various species, while reverently removing abundant field species, sheet mulched, pruned, watered, sang, and shared in community revelry to rejuvenate a previous neglected hub area on, in & with the land and each other while amazing, live musicians drummed and grooved nearby. |
Transition Town Vermont; Kellog Hubbard Library, Montpelier VT; 5/17/2018 6-7:30pm. Effects of exotic earthworms on maple forests in northeastern states. In Western Science's creation story of evolutionary biology, species better adapted to changing conditions replace other species, causing major trophic changes throughout the community in which they are nested. Over the past few years a pattern has emerged of how European (Lumbricus sp., & Dendrobaena sp.,) and Asian (Amynthus sp.) earthworm species are malaffecting perennial systems. In this presentation data found through careful study and analysis will be shared highlighting changes in forest soil structure, plant understory diversity, and tree regeneration with serious implications for disrupting carbon and nitrogen cycles, water storage, and nutrient exchange networks in place since the last glaciation. While no clear answers or easy solutions are evident, several unanswered questions to ponder and trends to watch are shared. This is from a study Jess worked on last year when serving as a bioecological research technician for the Entomology Department at UVM.
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Village Kids Afterschool Program: EJ Parks & Recreation in Essex Junction, VT on May 8 & 9 4pm. Planting an edible garden for camp. Kindergardeners learned about different types of seeds, helped load up trays with fresh organic soil mixed with compost, practiced using our compost system, prepared the garden beds for planting, decided what they wanted to grow, planted seeds, made signs, and watered.
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Village Kids Vacation Camp; Hiawatha Elementary School in Essex Junction, VT on April 24 10-10:45 am. Meet Fungi Friends. Students discerned what cheese, yogurt, bread, & kombucha, all had in common: fungi!. They grappled over whether yeast, a form of fungi, is alive and watched as it was fed warm water and sugar, respirating like we do and filling a balloon with carbon dioxide. They went on a mini treasure hunt exploring shelf fungi through their sense as well as a picnic search for where fungi show up in our daily lives and diets. We even spotted some fungi in a lichen on a nearby tree. We drew shaggy mane using connect the dots and followed a few mycelial mazes under tree roots traced on paper.
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Permaculture Course at UVM, Jeffords; 3/21/18 "Invisible Structures" class aka renamed: "Scaffolding". This video is a snippet of the class addressing social structures in society that need to be, can be, and will be reworked to create a more equitable world. The term 'Invisible Structures' according to Dave Jacke is a jargon term that is problematic so I propose shifting the term to "Scaffolding." Students are investigating these concepts through studying the PAN educator's pledge.
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Burlington Permaculture Workshop Series; FletcherFree Library; 3/14/2018; 6-8pm
Creating Plant & Pollinator Sanctuaries in Gardens & Farms with John Hayden of The Farm Between & Jess Rubin of Mycoevovle
Garden devotees and enthusiasts learned about simple ways to increase pollinator habitat as well as provide sanctuary for endangered and threatened plants in Vermont. Participants met pollinator, threatened & endangered plants which can diversify the landscape. We discussed accompanying curriculum for sanctuary establishment, complex views on ethical rewilding and 'emerging natives,' while encountering a few of the pollinator species who fly and crawl around moving species. We discussed current challenges accompanying this 6th Great Extinction, roles of organizations such as IUCN and Xerces in conservation, and networked amidst each other for ideas in our gardens, yards, neighborhood communities.
Creating Plant & Pollinator Sanctuaries in Gardens & Farms with John Hayden of The Farm Between & Jess Rubin of Mycoevovle
Garden devotees and enthusiasts learned about simple ways to increase pollinator habitat as well as provide sanctuary for endangered and threatened plants in Vermont. Participants met pollinator, threatened & endangered plants which can diversify the landscape. We discussed accompanying curriculum for sanctuary establishment, complex views on ethical rewilding and 'emerging natives,' while encountering a few of the pollinator species who fly and crawl around moving species. We discussed current challenges accompanying this 6th Great Extinction, roles of organizations such as IUCN and Xerces in conservation, and networked amidst each other for ideas in our gardens, yards, neighborhood communities.
Bioremediation Course, UVM Burlington, VT: 2/28/2018
'Introduction to Mycoremediation Class. Students were introduced into this art and science of earth repair through: his/herstorical context of fungi's role as a habitat creator over geologic time, treasure hunt exploration into pollutants and corresponding species & substrates that can remediate them, investigation of two case studies, introduction to Radical Mycology, overview of Mycoevolve's projects, and Vt Myocnode invite with multiple resources to grow fungal literacy offered.
'Introduction to Mycoremediation Class. Students were introduced into this art and science of earth repair through: his/herstorical context of fungi's role as a habitat creator over geologic time, treasure hunt exploration into pollutants and corresponding species & substrates that can remediate them, investigation of two case studies, introduction to Radical Mycology, overview of Mycoevolve's projects, and Vt Myocnode invite with multiple resources to grow fungal literacy offered.
NOFA Children's Conference, UVM Burlington , VT; 2/18/2018
Meeting Mushrooms; discovering fungal teachers & friends. 3 different groups of youth aged 5-6, 7-9, & 10-13 joined Eliot Cluba of Herbs & Arrows and Jess Rubin of Mycoevolve to learn about fungi, where they show up in our diet, what their lifecycle is like, where they grow, and various other neat findings such as winter forest polypores, mushrooms grown all year in Vermont, and how to tune into fungal wisdom. Concepts we explored included sensory encounters, blindfolds & handlenses, yeast, mold, respiration, carbon dioxide, microbes, decomposition, mycelium, primodium, germination, spores, cap, button, dutch elm disease, medicine, caution, fungal jungle and more! Species we met included: portabello, shiitake, crimini, reishi, shaggy mane, horsehoof polypore, willow bracket, lion's mane, and Trametes elegans.
Deep Change Conference at Briggs's Opera House in White River Junction VT: Sept. 16, 2017; 11:20-12:50pm (https://www.deep-change.org/index.php/deep-change-2017-conferencegathering/)
Rewilding with Threatened & Endangered Plants
After a brief context within the permaculture movement of restorative agriculture, we met or reconnected with threatened & endangered plants that grow in Vermont and learned about habitats in which they grow. We learned about United Plant Savers as a regenerative organization dedicated to the propagation, conservation, and education about these plants as well as how to join to create botanical sanctuaries. Resources were shared of how to get involved including accompanying educational curriculum for elementary, middle, high school, college, and graduate level students. Other applications such as long term phenology studies were offered. We discussed UPS's involvement with IUCN involving international conservation efforts. We also discussed conflicting views of this rewilding effort including state botanist concerns over genetic diversity and seed source.
Meeting Mushrooms; discovering fungal teachers & friends. 3 different groups of youth aged 5-6, 7-9, & 10-13 joined Eliot Cluba of Herbs & Arrows and Jess Rubin of Mycoevolve to learn about fungi, where they show up in our diet, what their lifecycle is like, where they grow, and various other neat findings such as winter forest polypores, mushrooms grown all year in Vermont, and how to tune into fungal wisdom. Concepts we explored included sensory encounters, blindfolds & handlenses, yeast, mold, respiration, carbon dioxide, microbes, decomposition, mycelium, primodium, germination, spores, cap, button, dutch elm disease, medicine, caution, fungal jungle and more! Species we met included: portabello, shiitake, crimini, reishi, shaggy mane, horsehoof polypore, willow bracket, lion's mane, and Trametes elegans.
Deep Change Conference at Briggs's Opera House in White River Junction VT: Sept. 16, 2017; 11:20-12:50pm (https://www.deep-change.org/index.php/deep-change-2017-conferencegathering/)
Rewilding with Threatened & Endangered Plants
After a brief context within the permaculture movement of restorative agriculture, we met or reconnected with threatened & endangered plants that grow in Vermont and learned about habitats in which they grow. We learned about United Plant Savers as a regenerative organization dedicated to the propagation, conservation, and education about these plants as well as how to join to create botanical sanctuaries. Resources were shared of how to get involved including accompanying educational curriculum for elementary, middle, high school, college, and graduate level students. Other applications such as long term phenology studies were offered. We discussed UPS's involvement with IUCN involving international conservation efforts. We also discussed conflicting views of this rewilding effort including state botanist concerns over genetic diversity and seed source.
