Confidently Grow Mushrooms at Home & Learn to Identify Them In the Wild
Grow Food & Medicine ~ Save Money - Increase Your Self-Reliance
This super fungi training will guide you step-by-step in how to grow an abundance of nutritious and medicinal mushrooms at home. The techniques can be applied regardless of whether you live in an urban apartment or a rural homestead.
We also cover the foundations of learning to identify mushrooms in the wild and the foundations of learning to forage them confidently and sustainably.
~ Start Learning Today! ~
1-Year On-Demand Access + Live Sessions
Regular $247 USD**
School of Traditional Skills Students
= $197
*The price is listed in USD. Taxes included for Canadian residents where applicable.
** 30-day, 100% Money Back Guarantee - No Questions Asked + 1-Year Access!
Here is How it Works:
~ The core course lessons are pre-recorded and ready to watch the moment you join.
~ We will help you grow your first (or next) batch of mushrooms from setup to harvest, and know exactly what to do at every step.
~ You will learn about wild mushroom identification so that when you do head into the woods, you learn what you're looking at and how to stay safe.
~ Save money on groceries and increase your self-reliance and food security by growing and foraging an entire year worth of edible and medicinal mushrooms {even in the city!}
~ On top of that, we run live sessions throughout the year where you can ask your specific questions and we bring expert guests on a range of topics (see schedule below). All past session replays are available to watch.
~ One year of access, start whenever you're ready and participate on your schedule.
This is for you if want to:
~ Learn the foundations of Growing Mushrooms (Shiitake, Oysters, Wine Caps, Lions Mane - Indoors & Out) and how to get started step-by-step.
~ Build your identification skills in the wild and work towards being able to forage safely and sustainably.
~ Develop a broader and more well rounded understanding of fungi across foraging, medicine making, ecology, preservation, cooking & other uses
~ Learn with instructor guidance and new lessons to support you as your interests and skills evolve.
~Have a place you can return to over time to ask questions as they arise and your interests grow.
Course Includes:
~ Ready to watch lessons on growing, wild identification, ecology, foraging, medicinal preparations, cooking and preserving, and more.
~ Semi-regular live Q and A sessions to answer your specific questions.
~ Live expert guest sessions exploring specialty topics (see schedule below).
~ Ongoing instructor support to help you inetgrate what you learn and ask questions as they come up.
~ New lessons and material added throughout the year.
~ 30-Day, 100% Money Back Guarantee.
~ One full-year access.
Bonus Expert Live Sessions with Q&A
( ALL PAST SESSIONS ARE AVAILABLE INSIDE THE COURSE
AND READY TO WATCH NOW )
With Chris Gilmour
Forest Ecology for Growers & Foragers
Special Guest: Me - Chris Gilmour
Date: March 19th at 8pm EDT
This session is a practical exploration of tree identification, forest habitat types, and how different trees associate with fungi relevant to both growing and foraging.
These relationships are everywhere once you know how to see them, and understanding them changes how you walk through the woods and how you make decisions in the field.
We'll also cover how to responsibly harvest and prepare mushroom logs so you're set up well for the season ahead.
Outdoor Growing Deep Dive
Special Guest: Jessica Snider
(Grow Mushrooms Canada)
Date: April 9th @ 8pm EDT
The mushroom growing season is here, and knowing how to set your outdoor grows up for success makes all the difference.
This class is a deep dive into outdoor cultivation techniques. Whether you're inoculating your first log or refining a system you've been running for years, Jessica brings a deeply practical and innovative perspective to growing. From selecting the right species for your environment to adapting techniques to your specific setup, this one will help.
With Jessica Snider
With Laura Gilmour
Meet the Polypores
Special Guest: Laura Gilmour ( Wild Muskoka Botanicals)
Date: April 23rd at 8pm EDT
Polypores are one of the most overlooked groups in the fungal world, and once you start seeing them you can't stop.
Also known as shelf fungi, these woody bracket mushrooms are an excellent entry point for beginner foragers. Many species are highly distinctive, making identification more approachable than you might expect.
This class with Laura from Wild Muskoka Botanicals covers identification, ecology, ethical harvesting, and the fascinating medicinal properties of polypores. You'll also learn how to prepare and preserve them so you have good medicine stocked up heading into winter.
The Fungal World — Compounds, Relationships and Endless Possibility
Special Guest: Shane O'Donnell
(Heartwood Mushrooms)
Date: May - Exact day TBA soon
Fungi are far more than something to grow or forage. They are ancient, intelligent, and woven into the fabric of life on this planet in ways most of us have barely scratched the surface of.
We'll explore the compounds and properties that make mushrooms so remarkable, how they grow and reproduce, and the symbiotic relationships they form with the living world around them.
Understanding fungi at this level changes everything. It deepens your growing, opens up new possibilities for healing, and connects you to one of nature's most extraordinary allies.
With SHANE O'Donnell
With Elaine Sheff
Mushrooms As Medicine
Special Guest: Elaine Sheff (Green Path Herb School)
Date: TBA
Mushrooms have been used as medicine for thousands of years, and modern research is catching up to what traditional herbalists have known all along.
This session walks us through a handful of mushrooms she works with in her own practice. We'll explore their medicinal properties, how they support health and wellbeing, and how to properly prepare them to get the most out of what you're growing and foraging.
This one bridges the gap between cultivation and the medicine cabinet in a really practical way.
More 2026 Sessions Will Be Announced Soon
2025 Sessions Replay's - Available Inside of the Course:
With Shane O'Donnel
Working with Lions Mane, Medicine Making & Growing
Special Guest: Shane O'Donnel (Heartwood Mushrooms)
Lion's Mane (Hericium spp.) is one of the most well-researched and exciting fungi in the world, and Shane O'Donnell of Heartwood Mushrooms knows it inside and out.
In this session, Shane walks us through how to grow Lion's Mane at home, its remarkable medicinal compounds, and how to prepare and work with it as medicine. Whether you're growing it for the kitchen or the medicine cabinet, this one is packed with practical, field-tested insight.
Getting Ready for the Foraging Season: Indentification & Spring Mushrooms
Special Guest: Laura Gilmour
(Wild Muskoka Botanicals) & Steve Lukacic
The spring foraging season is upon us. Join these two incredibly knowledgeable foragers as they discuss the essentials of proper identification as well as what mushrooms you can forage in the Spring & Summer months.
With Laura Gilmour & Steve Lukacic
With Shane O'Donnell
Myco-remediation & Working with Fungi Beyond Food & Medicine
Special Guest: Shane O'Donnell
(Heartwood Mushrooms)
This call will be an overview of everything I do to get ready for the spring outdoor mushroom growing season. Bring your questions and will have some fun diving into Shiitake logs, logs towers, inoculating garden beds, fun mushroom growing experiments I'm trying this year and more...
Fall Foraging, Identification & Fungi Ecology
Special Guest: Steve Lukacic
The fall foraging season is upon us. Join us as we discuss fall mushroom ecology, identification and foraging.
With Steve Lukacic
Laura Gilmour is back!
Mushroom in the Kitchen & Medicine Chest
Special Guest: Laura Gilmour
(Wild Muskoka Botanicals)
Laura runs a Wild Muskoka Botanicals, a sustainably wild foraged foods and drinks business. She also teaches in-depth classes on herbal & mushroom medicine making.
Join her as she shares some of her tips and recipes around working with mushrooms in the kitchen & making your own medicinal extracts to support your health!
The Benefits of Growing and Foraging
Sustainable & Organic
Self-Reliance & Food Security
Health & Medicinal Benefits
Get 1-Year Access to All the Course Resources
Dozens of videos showing you step-by-step how to grow indoors and outside - Grow an entire years worth of food & medicine year-round!
Avoid common mistakes & safe time - Troubleshooting videos to address common issues
Help with initial set-up - Links for where to acquire your growing spawn and other materials
Worksheets with clear instructions
The "Virtual Mushroom Walk" ~ Learn about the ID features, habitat and properties of common wild species
Lessons on Fungi Ecology, their role in nature and how to do spoor prints
A community to ask questions and share your excitement with
What You Can Expect From
The Mushroom Course
Clear step-by-step instructions - Acquire the knowledge & confidence to grow edible & medicinal mushrooms at home {indoors & out}.
Fantastic video tutorials - Learn how to identify mushrooms in the wild. Great for those looking to get into mushroom foraging.
Save money & improve your food security - The best techniques to save you time, money & increase your self-reliance {learn to grow & forage an entire year of food}.
Support and guidance - How to get all the required materials for home-scale growing.
Ask your questions - An inspiring & supportive online community to help you and your mushrooms grow!
Meet Your Mentors...
Hi, We Are Chris and Laura Gilmour
We were introduced to mushroom cultivation and wild foraging over 20-years ago while apprenticing in permaculture and sustainable forest management on 7 Ravens Farm.
Today we live on a twenty-six acre homestead where we grow and forage food for ourselves and our wild foods business, Wild Muskoka. We have been growing and foraging mushrooms on our homestead for the past 14 years working with various techniques and species.
Chris is the lead mentor in the growing component of this course, and Laura is the lead mentor in the wild fungi identification lessons.
On top of Chris & Laura's mentoring, you will also have access to a bunch of expert guests through the live sessions and there replay's.
Some of the Many School Lessons
WELCOME & SAFETY
A course tour and important lessons around safety when growing at home and handling wild mushrooms.
GETTING STARTED
An introduction on how to get set up to grow in your unique situation (ex: urban vs rural). We also teach you how to save money and grow more by expanding your initial mushroom spawn culture.
GROWING OYSTERS ON COFFEE GROUNDS
Learn to grow Oyster Mushrooms indoors on leftover coffee grounds. This is a great beginners project to learn the fundamentals.
GROWING ON STRAW INDOORS OR OUTSIDE
This technique is a low-cost way to grow a significant amount of food and medicine in a small space year-round.
GROWING MUSHROOMS ON LOGS
With minimal annual work, a mushroom log can produce food and medicine for 3 - 8 years. We will walk you through it step-by-step.
THE LOG TOWER METHOD
This outdoor growing technique requires less work and time than growing on logs. You could even do it on an apartment balcony.
THE VIRTUAL MUSHROOM WALK-INTRO TO FORAGING
Begin your adventure with a virtual mushroom walk and learn the foundations of identification with our mushroom scavenger hunt.
GROW WINE CAPS IN GARDEN BEDS
Learn how to grow mushrooms in your existing garden beds to increase production while building your soil health.
FUNGI ECOLOGY
Learn about the fascinating role fungi and mycelium networks play in the planet's ecology and other ways we can work with them, from art to healing damaged landscapes.
~ Start Learning Today! ~
1-Year On-Demand Access + Live Sessions
Regular $247 USD**
School of Traditional Skills Students
= $197
*The price is listed in USD. Taxes included for Canadian residents where applicable.
** 30-day, 100% Money Back Guarantee - No Questions Asked + 1-Year Access!
Not Your Average, Boring Online Course
We strive to create a different kind of online learning experience. One that is entertaining, engaging, and allows you to build authentic relationships with the instructors and other participants.
Post pictures, ask questions and come along with us on Virtual Mushroom Identification Walks.
Increase Your Self-Reliance and Grow Your Mushroom Knowledge
