Home Mushroom Cultivation

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.

We'll give you access to new lessons and resources every week for 8 weeks, but you can take longer, if you like. You have lifetime access to all your course materials, and lifetime access 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.

Not necessarily - we have many students who don't have gardens, and they focus on bucket and jar cultivation - which can be housed in your laundry, or on your balcony - with great success.

Log cultivation is also a possibility (inoculated logs need a cool and moist environment, which doesn't need to be in a garden) - if you have somewhere outside to do prepare them.

We've also had a lot of students that take this course while they're in an apartment... to use the skills at their community garden, or in readiness for having a bigger place.

Because you really can't have too many skills for household resilience, and there's always a way and a space to use those skills, once you know what to do.

The next class of our Home Mushroom Cultivation course opens for bookings on July 3, and will begin on July 17, 2023.

We recommend joining the waitlist to ensure you're notified when bookings open for a short window before the class starts.

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.

Lifetime access means you will be able to access this course, and all its resources, for as long as we have it available online.

Milkwood has 15+ years experience of delivering stellar education - and we're not going anywhere, anytime soon.

This is a long-haul commitment for us, and for our family business. No tricks, no fine print. We want you to have access to this knowledge for as long as you need. 

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

Notify our team within 30 days of your purchase and we’ll refund your payment. No questions asked. At this point you should be about a third through the course.

• You may request a refund for any reason during your first 30 days after payment.
• You must contact us by email at [email protected] before the end of the 30th day.
• The money-back guarantee is available on both upfront and payment plans.
• Refunds will be provided within 5 working days (often much more quickly).
• That’s it! No catches and no fine print. We want to let you try our course absolutely risk free – that’s how confident we are that you’ll love it!

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.

We've made this course for anyone who wants to get started with mushroom growing, regardless of how much or how little you might already know about fungi.

There are no prerequisites or required reading. No previous experience is necessary - we’ll walk you through the whole process, and we can answer any questions that arise.

Just bring your enthusiasm.

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.

Although we do have many past students who have gone on to create thriving small mushroom-growing businesses, this course is focused on low-waste growing in home-based situations, helping your household become more abundant & resilient.

The core concepts and techniques you will learn ARE applicable for use at a commercial scale, but there are also many other considerations, that we do not cover in this course, that you would need to take into account before investing your time and money into a successful mushroom cultivation business.  

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