The January chill has certainly encouraged our mushrooms to blossom! We spread our hyphae far and wide over the past few years and some of our efforts are really starting to bear fruit! From co-creating unique mushroom experience dinners with some of our favorite local chefs, to psilocybin advocacy efforts that have grown to the caliber of including a video call in from Paul Stamets! Read below for a recap of January and a sneak peak at the events just on the horizon!
Chef Dave Chaiken was joined by Chef David Stein for our January dinner amongst the mushrooms.
Our partners at Prime Dining have been showcasing some of our culinary activities and doing some cross promoting!
Our myriad of chef, restaurant, and cafe partners continue to churn out absolute deliciousness!
Recent capital region resident, Jisung Chun, is planning on opening her own restaurant. For now she is operating out of Cafe Euphoria as House of Jeon. Details on when these pop up dinners are taking place are on their social media:
https://www.instagram.com/cafeeuphoria518/
https://www.instagram.com/houseofjeon/
The Chef teams at Mazzone have incorporated our fresh fungi into several options during their Culinary Lab series at Regeneron.
Amy has been voted onto the board of the Rensselaer County Farm Bureau! She is taking an active role in ensuring that urban controlled environment farms have representation and other urban farmers have their voices heard. We will be representing Rensselaer County at the Taste of New York event on Monday, March 4th that precedes the Farm BUreau lobby on Tuesday, March 5th. We will be cooking up a special treat for the farmers and lawmakers from all 52 counties that include onions from Cornell’s Farm stand in Johnsonville, locally made cheese from R+G Cheese, and our mushrooms served on a Rensco made crusty bread!
We had an absolute blast at the Albany Food and Wine for the Arts event. We were paired with the Curamia tequila team. Amy crafted 2 delightful mushroom cocktails, and Dave and Corinne curated the tasty bites: mushroom & hazelnut crema huaraches with tequila salsa and hongos crudo Jalisco with tequila ceviche mushrooms.
Check out this great article Amy found about mushroom hunting and eating in Jalisco.
https://www.mundocuervo.com/eng/blog/2019-08/tequila-a-destination-for-mushroom-lovers/
Our Educational programming will be shifting to Mycology Now New York, a soon to be 501c3 that will focus on curating our arts and enrichment pillars. We hosted one field trip so far in 2024 that had attendees from just a few blocks north of us! The Joy of Troy Seventh Day Adventists Jaguar Pathfinder group visited to earn their Fungi Patch!
We tried the Little Saints Non Alcoholic mushroom infused spirits! These products are something we are considering carrying in our farm store. They have a few different mushroom infused beverages! We loved them all!
Our Mushroom Book Club met to discuss the second half of Chanterelle Dreams and Amanita Nightmares over mushroom snacks and various beverages.
Our next book, The Fungus, is a work of fiction that details a world where giant fungi take over!
We supply mushroom mycelium compost to many farms and gardeners who are working on maintaining soil health or rejuvenating plots that have lost their viability. We connected with Edible Uprising Farms in Troy to talk about soil and a few other potential collaborations! They are doing incredible things on their urban plot!
One of our customers requested a few specific teas for cancer recovery and pointed out this great article on the official National Institute of Health website on medicinal mushrooms
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/patient/mushrooms-pdq
Foraged New York founder Nadine Medina and Avery Stempel met with Assemblymember John McDonald to talk about how we could spread Foraged to the New York Capital! We are planning big things for Foraged 2025!
We experimented with putting food coloring on our snowy white oysters. They came out so incredibly beautiful! And the color even stayed through cooking!
Here are a few other mushroom articles we found interesting this month!
Mushrooms Talking!
Mushroom Sneakers!
New Yorker Psilocybin Action Committee Corner
Our next meeting will be Tuesday, February 13th at 7pm featuring retired Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox. Join us in person at 333 2nd Ave, or from afar using this link:
Chief (Ret.) Brendan Cox is the Director of Policing Strategies at the LEAD Support Bureau where he provides strategic guidance on the operation of Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion/Let Everyone Advance with Dignity to jurisdictions around the world. Prior to the Support Bureau, Brendan had a twenty-three-year career with the Albany, New York police department, where he retired as Chief of Police in 2017. Under Brendan’s leadership the department was recognized by the Department of Justice as one of the top 15 police departments in the country within the COPS Advancing 21 st Century Policing Initiative.
Brendan has a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Dayton and a Master of Public Administration from Marist College. He is a graduate of the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police. He is a member of New York State’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Group and Council of Community Justice.
Brendan is an adjunct professor with the State University of New York at Delhi. He is an Executive Fellow with the National Police Institute, a member of the Global Law Enforcement and Public HealthAssociation and a board member for the Law Enforcement Action Partnership.
He and his wife Ann have two children, Connor and Spencer.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27: JOIN US FOR OUR LOBBY DAY AT THE CAPITOL!
We will be gathering advocates from around the state to help educate lawmakers about the efficacy of using psilocybin for health and wellness.
As part of our advocacy efforts we have partnered with the folks from Reconsider to present a series of their “Stories of Transformation.”
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26th at The Linda at 339 Central Ave, Albany, NY12206.
Mycologist Paul Stamets will dial in to share a live message.
Click this link for the slides from Bill Brennan’s EMBARK presentation.
NYPAC EMBARK talk – for sharing.pptx
In an effort to curb the increasing numbers of soldiers dying by suicide, Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Research has been included in this year’s military budget for active duty personnel.
COMING SOON
February Dinner on the Farm featuring Chef Dave Chaiken. Saturday, February 10th. 5:30pm. This dinner will also be featuring the musical stylings of LSDaniel. $80 per seat. Tickets are still available through eventbrite, or avoid the fees and buy them directly from our farm store.
Paired Provisions at the Arts Center of the Capital Region. Friday, February 16th.
For more details see their website:
Schenectady County Community College: Mushroom Dinner Experience. Tuesday, February 20th.
Starter: Grilled Mushroom Antipasto
Entrée Choice: Beet Ravioli/Mushroom + Goat Cheese Filling/Sage Brown Butter/Toasted Pine Nuts (or) Crispy Glazed Mushrooms/Creamy White Beans/Sundried Tomato Pesto/Braised Kale
Dessert: Mushroomisu/Lady Fingers/Chaga Coffee/Creamy Mascarpone/Topped with Mushroom Meringues
Mushroom Book Club. Thursday, February 22nd. 7pm.
Stories of Transformation with special guest, Paul Stamets. The Linda Performing Arts Center, 339 Central Ave, Albany NY 12206. Monday, February 26th. 7pm.
New Yorkers for Mental Health Alternatives Spotlight on Health and Wellness Alternatives. Tuesday, February 27th. 9am – 5pm.
Dinner on the Farm with Chef David Stein. Saturday, March 2nd. Tickets will go on sale soon through eventbrite. Or Come right in and buy them directly from our farm store.
Taste of New York New York Farm Bureau Mushroom bites. Monday, March 4th. Albany Convention Center. The Concourse.
New York Farm Bureau Lobby Day. Tuesday, March 5th. 9am – 5pm.
A Mushroom Experience featuring Chef Matt Olley at Indian Ladder Farms. Saturday, March 16th. Menu and more details coming soon!
Capital Cooks: Pairing Wine and Mushrooms with Amy and Avery. Tuesday, March 19th. Register for the class on their website:
https://capitalcooksny.com/shop-classes/ols/categories/february-classes
Hudson Valley Community College Leisure and Special Interest Class “Mushrooms Mycelium and More” Monday evenings April 8 – April 29. Register on their website:
Dinner on the Farm featuring chef Agata Dziedzic-Dean. Saturday, April 13. Menu and details coming soon.
Troy Public Library Free Talk. Thursday, April 18. This talk will focus on health and wellness benefits of mushrooms.
Foraged New York 2024 May 4th – 11th (our 3rd year of bringing wild harvested excitement to the Capital Region)
https://www.foragednewyork.org/
Maine Fungi Festival May 18th – 19th
We have been invited to participate in this year’s festivities by the North Spore team. Details are still being worked out!
https://www.mainefungifest.com/
Rosendale Fungi Film Festival Date TBD
While we will not be part of the team putting this event together this year, we hope to be able to enjoy it as an attendee.
Last Year’s details:
Adirondack Mushroom Mania 2024 Saturday August 24th 2024. As part of the mania, we will be curating a mushroom dining experience in collaboration with Chef David Stein on Friday, August 23rd, ! Stay tuned for details.
Collar City Mushrooms 