Learn to Grow Mushrooms from Scratch

Gain the skills you need to grow ALL the edible & medicinal mushrooms, at home!

The Home Mushroom Cultivation online course will take you from keen beginner to successful edible & medicinal mushroom grower.

You will join beginner growers around the world who have created resilient and thriving mushroom-growing systems at home, and you will learn to grow all the mushrooms you need!

Bookings open each season to our waitlist. 

We can't wait to meet you.

 Join the waitlist for our next class intake - we'll let you know first, when it's time to book in!

"Doing this course SAVED me money - it showed me lots of different methods that would not cost anywhere near as much money as I had initially allocated."

GA
Australia

"The love and fascination Nick has for fungi is truly transmitted through his teaching. You leave the course with a new respect for mushrooms and their role in the world."

Emmy
Australia

"I loved the focus on using recyclable materials and moving away from single-use plastics in my mushroom cultivation."

Jennifer
Australia
 

Sign me up!

Inside this 8-week online course, you will get the skills to grow gourmet and medicinal mushrooms: in buckets, on logs, in gardens and more - using organic, low-tech, low-waste techniques.

You will gain the skills to:

  • De-mystify the steps of mushroom cultivation
  • Grow mushrooms in re-usable buckets
  • Grow mushrooms on logs
  • Grow mushrooms in tubs and gardens
  • Create fruiting chambers to maximise your harvest
  • Harvest, cook and preserve your mushrooms
  • Make medicinal mushroom tinctures 

All inside a crafted learning experience - with exclusive resources, ongoing personal mentorship, and a student learning community, to ensure you succeed in growing beyond your wildest, mushroomy dreams...

This fully-mentored class runs once a season - the next class intake will open on May 6, 2024.

Inside this course, you will learn all the skills, to grow ALL the mushrooms:

Inside your Home Mushroom Cultivation course...

All the skills you need, to get growing -

8 weeks of lessons

On demand, easy-to-follow video lessons & resources - and lifetime access to all course lessons and materials.

Guides & Resources

Exclusive step-by-step guides, plans, lesson notes, recipes, calculators and an extensive Mushroom Species Directory.

Learning Community

Personal mentorship from the Milkwood myco-team of friendly experts - we let no question go unanswered!

Live Q&As

Jump on live online class meetups, and ask your teachers questions, to get the answers you need in real time.

 

Your Mushroom Cultivation Teachers

More than two decades of experience, with thousands of happy beginner growers...

Nick Ritar

Nick founded Milkwood with Kirsten in 2007, and started growing mushrooms at home soon after.

He has trained with various world-leading mycologists such as Paul Stamets, and taught 1,000+ students hands-on gourmet mushroom cultivation through Milkwood's courses.

When he's not growing mushrooms, Nick teaches permaculture, grows veggies, keeps bees and scoots off foraging at any opportunity.

Kirsten Bradley

Kirsten founded Milkwood with Nick in 2007. Since then, she has established farms and community gardens, and grown a LOT of vegetables.

She is author of the best-selling books Milkwood: Real Skills for Down-to-Earth Living - which includes a full chapter on low-waste mushroom cultivation.

Kirsten is also known for her advocacy and workshops in permaculture skills - from fermenting to natural beekeeping to foraging for wild food.

"This course gave me the confidence to grow mushrooms easily and sustainably, it added to my sustainable lifestyle, allows me to take better care of my health and best of all it gives me so much joy. Seriously... just sign up - it's the best."

Fiona
Australia

"Totally recommend the course! First buckets I set up have produced a second and third (smaller) flush with zero effort, and next batch is now fruiting heavily. Including a MONSTER white oyster... slated for pizza tonight."

Lisa
USA

"Had I not done the course, I would have been limited to mushroom grow kits. Instead, I am scaling what I've learned to suit my needs. I was grateful for the support of the Milkwood team, who were right alongside me as I worked through the modules."

Jenny
Ireland

Your Pricing Options:

Every option comes with a 30-Day Money Back Guarantee - so it's all good.

Yay! - You have a discount code. Click the 'Book Now' button to see your savings at checkout.

THREE MONTHLY PAYMENTS

 ✔ 8 weeks of course materials

✔ Downloads & resources

✔ Live Q&A sessions

✔ Exclusive student community

✔ Lifetime access to everything

And - *2 bonus short courses*

✔ Mushroom log cultivation

✔ Mushroom gardens 

 

3 monthly payments of

AU$139

3 monthly payments of

US$89

ONE-TIME PAYMENT

✔ 8 weeks of course materials

✔ Downloads & resources

✔ Live Q&A sessions

✔ Exclusive student community

✔ Lifetime access to everything

And - *2 bonus short courses*

✔ Mushroom log cultivation

✔ Mushroom gardens 

AU$369

 You save $48

US$239

 You save $28

FAST FORWARD OPTION

Turbo-charge your mushroom cultivation journey with:

All the 'best value' features

PLUS:

2 hours of personal coaching call time with Nick

PLUS:

*The mushroom book pack*

✔ Milkwood: Real skills for down-to-earth living  personally autographed by Kirsten & Nick

Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms by Paul Stamets

AU$929

US$599

Yes, you CAN grow mushrooms where you live

- and if some tweaks are needed for your climate or country, we'll assist you personally, to make that happen. Here's our current student map...

Here's the Full Course Curriculum

We'll start you off with an overview of the course and a tour of the online learning platform - to get you cosy, comfortable and ready to roll.

So what actually ARE fungi - biologically speaking? We'll walk you through the amazing kingdom of fungi: why they’re different from plants and how that impacts what you need to provide, to make them grow.

An introduction to our low-waste approach to bucket cultivation - accessible, permaculture-inspired techniques suited to home growers - that's you!

It's time for your first real grow. Growing on cardboard is a very accessible, low-tech way to put theory into action and actually grow some mushrooms.

Now we get into the really fun stuff - growing low-waste mushrooms in reusable buckets. This module will introduce you to the method, from start to finish, and get you growing bucketloads...

This module introduces the fruiting chamber: a series of tools that work together to give you more control over mushroom fruiting conditions. Fruiting chambers truly are excellent - they significantly improve the quality and quantity of your yield. 

You’ll get comprehensive information to design and build your own fruiting chamber - one that works best within YOUR space, budget and climate.

Now you know how to grow mushrooms, it’s time to learn when to pick them - and how to eat them too. Learn how to recognise the harvesting sweet spot between size, flavour and texture, and what to do with them all.

So, where to from here? In this module, we'll provide you with a mountain of useful resources and tips for how to take your mushroom cultivation journey further.

How to establish multiple mushroom patches - grow garden giants and other mushrooms in your garden, from start to finish

Everything you need to know about growing shiitake and a wide range of other gourmet and medicinal mushrooms on logs in your yard.

Plus, you'll receive exclusive guides, calculators and student notes...

To print out and help you learn by doing, get your hands dirty, and GET GROWING!

"Amazing course!! Loved every minute of it! You guys are amazing teachers and managed to create an interactive & fun way for us to learn virtually & apply in real life! Thank you."

Mariane
Australia

"This is THE definitive, all-rounder mushroom course, and you can do it from home! If you're curious about the world of fungi, this is your chance to become a fun-guy or gal."

Marita
Australia

"Probably the most comprehensive course I've ever done. Mind definitely blown. I honestly don't think I'll have to seek out a resource of mushroom cultivation ever again."

Simone
Costa Rica

By the end of this course, you will:

  • Create a more resilient household with mushrooms growing in buckets, gardens and on logs, throughout the year - to stock your pantry and medicine cabinet.
  • Have a deepening understanding of the world of fungi - for your relationship with your ecosystem, and your home-grown mushrooms also.
  • Be making delicious and nutritious mushroom-filled meals - salts, preserves, ferments, pickles and more.
  • Be making simple medicinal mushroom preps for energy, health and wellbeing - from medicinals you grew yourself.
  • Have the confidence to design your own growing setup for maximising your harvest, that suits your budget & climate.
  • Be saving money on both your food and wellbeing - through growing your own nutritious protein supply, and medicine, too. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Got questions? Here's the answers you seek...

You'll get access to new on-demand lessons and resources every week for 8 weeks, together with the rest of your class. Take as long as you like to move through it all!

The live class Q&A sessions are held at a mix of times, to suit different timezones. These live sessions rotate every two weeks between the times: 9am, 12pm and 6pm AEST.

The 1:1 advice from our team is there for you via lesson comments, the student community, and the live Q&As.

You have lifetime access to all your course materials, personal mentorship, and to your community, too.

YES! Our course is designed to help you get started, wherever you might be in the world, with the fundamentals of low-waste, low-tech, organic Mushroom Cultivation.

If you live in an extreme climate, we can help you choose the most suitable species to grow where you are - using the techniques your will learn in this course.

The good news is - species of fungi exist in the furthest reaches of this planet... from the icy poles to the bottom of the ocean, to outer space. So there will be edible mushroom species to suit your context, wherever you live.

 

We recommend you set aside 1-2 hours a week to do this course, to get the most out of your learning experience.

The amount of time you spend actually 'doing the things' and cultivating mushrooms is in addition to this.

If you’d like to ‘grow along’ with us during the course, that's totally possible - we've planned the course that way, and we tell you what to get ingredients and such in readiness for the following week.

Or you might choose to complete all the lessons and start your cultivation afterwards, in your own time. That's fine too.

Bookings for the class of our Home Mushroom Cultivation course will open on 6th May (we let the waitlist know first), and your course starts 2 weeks later.

You'll receive new lessons each week for 8 weeks, and ongoing access to your course materials.

Our course is designed to cater for all budgets and scales of home mushroom cultivation.

You will need a few things, such as food-grade buckets and spray bottles - all of this is explained in detail in the course. Most of this can be repurposed from around your house or local community.

You won't need to buy a pressure cooker or expensive lab equipment.

We recommend that you do purchase some mushroom grain spawn to get you going. (Grain spawn is the living culture of the fungi that will produce mushrooms for you.) We will point you to a range of reputable online suppliers around the world who can send you high-quality grain spawn through the post, quick smart. 

You will need to purchase a minimum of $100 worth of additional supplies - but, like any hobby, these costs can grow with your enthusiasm if you really get into it! For example, if as part of your setup, you choose to build an electronically controlled mushroom fruiting chamber to increase your yields, we'll show you how to do that with equipment that costs less than $350.

However much you choose to commit, we will show you methods that will help you grow the most health-giving, organic, homegrown mushrooms you can - in the most cost-effective way.

Yes, it does! All videos are fully captioned and the captions are searchable.

We'll do our best to make your course  the best experience we can. However, it just might not be for you. That’s ok! If you decide that’s the case, let us know within 30 days of your purchase and we’ll refund your payment. 

Please note that the 30-day money-back guarantee applies for the online component of your purchase only. Books, postage or personal coaching calls that have already been supplied as part of the Fast-Forward option are non-refundable unless damaged or similar.

Nope! If you can view this page and the video on it, you can access the entire course just fine.

The course is delivered via our special course portal, web pages and email.

You can access your course hub and private community (which is not on facebook!) via any web browser on any laptop, PC, Mac, tablet or smart phone that is connected to a reasonable internet connection.

You don't need any other special applications or memberships to other platforms. You are not required to have a Facebook or Google account.

It's simple and easy.

Yes, you will! We send you a Certificate of Completion once you finish the course.

In short? Our mission is to help you create a home with:

stacks of fruiting shiitake logs down the side, buckets of oyster mushrooms fruiting in the back shed, enokitake mushrooms coming out your ears, and winecap mushrooms popping up along your garden edges...

...plus jars of medicinals such as lions mane and turkeytail mushrooms in your pantry - homegrown and home dried...

Household resilience at your place, a deepened relationship with fungi & your ecosystem, and the skills to grow ALL the mushrooms you need:

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