February was such a blustery month at our new location on the Indian Ladder Farms campus. We wrestled with the cold and constant wind and got our mushrooms fruiting! We fired up our main production equipment and refined some of our infrastructure. It is starting to feel like home for sure. The staff of Indian Ladder Farms and Indian Ladder Farms Cidery and Brewery have been so welcoming! We are enjoying being part of a wider crew working in agriculture.
We welcomed Marrow to our team! They come to us with a passion for sustainability, composting, and reducing waste! They have been a critical part of getting us set back up and producing again!
Speaking of sustainability, we are experimenting with the spent brewers grain as a food source for our growing mushrooms! A few more sessions to get the right moisture content down and we will be able to use the grain coming from the ILF brew house to grow all our mushrooms!
We’ve been working on some sign design for our new retail space. Indian Ladder Farms is generously assigning us our own section of their newly finished farm store. We will be able to host workshops, talks, meetings, and dinners in this new space. We will also occasionally be hanging out with our library of resource books to answer and mushroom questions guests may have during our “meet the mycologist” times. This new space is going to be called “The Corner Spore.”
We had a Super Secret Supper Club in a private residence for our dinner of the month. It was an intimate affair for only 16 guests. 4 Delicious mushroom forward courses served up while records from Soundhouse Records spun away on the turntable.
We were a finalist in the New York Ags and Markets Indoor farming Innovators photo contest (we came in second) with the below photo! Thanks to everyone who voted!
Find us (nearly) every Wednesday at the Helderberg Mountain Tasting Room on Maine Street, East Berne. Stop by and grab some fresh mushrooms and sample one of their delicious cold beers!
Customer Spotlight:
Meadowlark catering is doing weekly meal prep. One week in February they used our blue oysters to make some fried mushroom hunks that looked absolutely mouth watering!
PSILOCYBIN CORNER
February was a heavy month for our psilocybin advocacy. We started out by occupying the state Legislative Office Building’s main entrance corridor and meeting with lawmakers in order to educate everyone on the new bill introduced during the last few weeks of 2024’s legislative session.
Assembly Health Committee Chair Amy Paulin is carrying A2142, and Senator Julia Salazar, Chair of the Crime Victims, Crime, and Corrections Committee has introduced the “same as” bill in the Senate.
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A2142
Albany Local News Channel 13 reporter Tamara Starr has been following our efforts and reported on our lobby day:
https://wnyt.com/top-stories/ny-advocates-push-for-legalizing-psilocybin-mushrooms-for-medical-use
Avery and Amy have been spreading the mycelium of awareness amongst other New York mushroom farmers and the New York Farm Bureau. Several other NY Mushroom Farms have joined their voices with our to call for access to these natural fungi that promote neural plasticity.
Psilocybin Containing Mushrooms continue to make waves in the mainstream media space. This month on CNN’s 60 Minutes program featuring Anderson Cooper.
Take a look at this great support letter from L.E.A.P. (Law Enforcement Action Partnership) that our bill received!
Avery and a few other members of New Yorkers for Mental Health Awareness met with advocates from around the northeast to discuss how we can share resources and help move legislation forward across the region. The Northeast Alliance for Psychedelic Access includes people in Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland so far!
The North American Mycological Association Medicinal Committee page is being flushed out with content from our members. You can easily access the two psilocybin focused articles Avery has written so far:
COMING SOON
New Yorkers for Mental Health Alternatives Monthly Meeting, Tuesday, March 11th 7pm – 8pm. This monthly meeting will focus on planning future speakers and the Albany Common Council Action. ONLINE ONLY.
Join remotely via zoom here:
Regeneron Mushroom Showcase, Thursday 3/13, Chef Dave Chaiken will be working with a team of chefs at Regeneron to present a variety of mushroom forward menu options. Avery will be on hand to talk fungi and will be presenting an hour long lecture on the ‘State of Mycelium.’ OPEN TO REGENERON STAFF ONLY.
Maplefest at Indian Ladder Farms, Saturday 3/15 and Sunday 3/16 11am – 4pm. We’ll be vending our typical festival ware as well as some freshly cooked savory mushroom waffles! Stop by and say hi!
Mary Banning Exhibition at the New York State Museum, Friday 4/4 7pm – 9pm. FREE and OPEN to the PUBLIC.
https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/women-of-science/mary-banning
Check out the event here and -pre-register to let us know you’re coming!
Mushroom Experience Dinner at Schenectady County Community College, Tuesday, April 15th 5:30pm. This 3 course dinner curated and prepared by the culinary students of SCCC will be a wonderful evening to get immersed amongst the mushrooms. We’ll be setting up some fungal ambiance and be on hand with some mushroom educational items as well as a limited selection of fungi finds for purchase! Tickets will be available soon! Stay Tuned! This will sell out!
Foraged New York Walks, Sunday, May 4rd – Saturday May 10th More info and tickets available soon. ($20 per walk)
Foraged New York Dinner and a show featuring Sean Rowe, Saturday May 10th. This multi Course Dinner curated by Corinne Carey and Dave Chaiken will feature foraged ingredients as well as mushrooms. Guests will be joined for dinner by singer songwriter and avid forager Sean Rowe. He’ll be concluding the evening with a private concert. Tickets can be purchased that include the concert with VIP seats, or even a pre-dinner foraging walk. **THIS EVENT PRESENTED AS PART OF FORAGED NEW YORK 2025**
POSTPONED! Sounds, Sights, and Dank Bites at the Arts Center of the Capital Region featuring Yael Erel and musical guests, Saturday May 31st. Yael Erel from lightexture
(https://www.lightexture.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoo7S27EuY-_5WfJnGSVtMtQ1VRO8eWg0_pyoKs8u6u8aVZMlXdC )
Yael’s incredibly entrancing light art evokes the blossoming of mycelium into space. She and her team have visited our farm space and crafted at least one new reflection disc specifically inspired by our growing mushrooms!
See some of her light art on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DBZBtssOUDg/
We are very disappointed to announce that this event has been cancelled and will hopefully happen at another time. Meanwhile, stay tuned for more information on how we are working with the Arts Center of the capital region.
The Barn School: The Mysterious World of Mushrooms at Indian Ladder Farms. August 4th through August 8th. For learners in grade 1 through 8. Enroll your young mycologist through this Indian Ladder Farms link:
Collar City Mushrooms 