Expanding Specialty Mushroom Production on Urban and Rural Farms
Yolanda Gonzalez, Urban Agriculture Specialist
Harvest New York
As a response to the growing demand for both mushrooms and technical production knowledge, Yolanda Gonzalez, Urban Agriculture Specialist from Harvest NY, and the Cornell Small Farms Program, along with partners Farm School NYC, Just Food, and Grow NYC, were recently awarded two multi-year grants. The first grant is the USDA NIFA Grant "Expanding Specialty Mushroom Production on Urban and Rural Small Farms," which will engage growers, service provider organizations, and industry partners to enhance the collective knowledge base and capacity of farmers to grow specialty mushrooms and sell them profitably to local and regional markets within 250 miles of New York City. The second grant is the Northeast SARE Professional Development Program "Spawning a network of northeast mushroom educators serving urban and rural farmer audiences," increasing the educational capacity through a network of Community Mushroom Educators throughout the region.
For questions about the mushroom projects, please contact Yolanda Gonzalez.
Find more information on mushroom production on Cornell's Specialty Mushroom Cultivation website.
Growing the Specialty Mushroom Industry in the NYC and Regional Foodshed (pdf; 259KB)
Upcoming Events
Log Inoculation Party
April 28, 2024
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
New York, NY
Join us for a log inoculation party and Community Mushroom Educator (CME) reunion at the Randall's Island Urban Farm with past and prospective CMEs. We will be inoculating local tree species with shiitake and oyster spawn as part of a larger research project with the Randall's Island Park Alliance Urban Farm and Cornell Cooperative Extension. Announcements
Field Guide: Arthropod Pests of NYC Vegetables
Arthropod Pests of NYC Vegetables aims to help urban farmers and gardeners find, identify, and understand the most common and important insects and other arthropod pests found in New York City farms and gardens. Some of these pests are rarely mentioned in other guides but are common in NYC. The guide emphasizes scouting tips, including how to identify pests by the damage they leave behind, even when you can't find the insect itself.This guide was created as a collaboration between Cornell Cooperative Extension's Harvest New York team and the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program.