April is one of the most exciting times of year. The forests and fields break through their winter slumber and come alive. After the last few months of transition, destruction, re-building, ironing out, and settling, we at Collar City Mushrooms are starting to really feel like a functioning farm again, and just in time to take advantage of the warming days for some spring forage time. Amy and Avery along with Sean Rowe have taken the torch for Foraged New York and are bringing it back for a fourth year, this time with activities focused mainly on the Indian Ladder Farms property. From foraging foray tours to crafting classes to an end of festival dinner and performance, the team is taking full advantage of the Sprawling acreage nestled at the base of the Helderberg Escarpment. There are still a few tickets for the dinner (8), and about a dozen left for the Sean Rowe performance.
Amy and Avery made several evening meals and beverages using foraged elements as wild ingredients began to be pulled from the forest.
Collar CIty Cold Pressed made a Ramp Cream Cheese with some of the ramps that we foraged.
Chef Steve over at Lost and Found has been foraging his own ingredients as well as prepping the wild crafted items we’ve been supplying for Foraged New York.
The faculty and students in the Hospitality program at SUNY Schenectady curated a delightful 3 course meal in their Van Curler Dining Room while our team set the fungi scene.
Our Corner Spore is now open inside the Indian Ladder Farms’ store. A variety of fresh mushrooms and mushroom products are always available. Additional products, like grow supplies, will be rolled out over the coming months.
Amy, Avery, and Marrow have been working to plug logs with a mix of myceliums for outdoor growth at Indian Ladder Farms. The main plot will be located near our grow container, but a “Shroom Patch” is being installed on the main campus for guests to experience.
The Mushrooms, Mycelium, and More class at Hudson Valley Community College wrapped up with a few hands-on sessions. This class runs every semester. Look for it again in the fall!
Avery was interviewed for a podcast by Farm to People along with Corey Neilssen from Tivoli Mushrooms about the state of culinary fungi, farming, and psilocybin-containing mushroom advocacy.
Avery introduced a very interested group of budding young mycologists to the world of mushrooms at the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library.
Avery popped onto the WEQX podcast with the Indian Ladder Team to talk about Foraged New York and settling into “The Treehouse” on the Indian Ladder campus.
Steve Barnes, the food writer for the Times Union featured CollarCity Mushrooms and the Foraged New York Festival in his newsletter, Table Hopping, and then the Times Union main publication as well.
Collar City Mushrooms was also featured in the Readthe 518 newsletter put out by Phat Chiem.
Operating on the Indian Ladder Farms’ campus opens up a variety of venues for our team and chef partners to create mushroom experience dinners. Chef Kate Ray and Chef Christina Lloyd have stopped in to get eyes on the spaces as we begin to plan future events.
New York State Mycologist Patricia Kaishian and the team at the New York State Museum kicked off their Mary Banning exhibition with a standing room only launch party. The New York Mycological Society made custom tote bags for the event and our team served up delicious mushroomy tastes.
https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/women-of-science/mary-banning
The New York State Department of Ags and Markets used the picture we submitted to showcase Mushroom day on April 16th!
We will be running a booth at the Troy Waterfront Farmers’ Market starting Saturday, May 3rd. If you frequent the market, make sure you stop in and say hi! We will be offering all our fresh mushrooms and a variety of other mushroom products as well!
PSILOCYBIN CORNER
The Farm to Table podcast interview focused mostly on psilocybin-containing mushroom advocacy. The in-person live event included a question and answer period for guests who were very engaged and interested in what is happening in the legal realm. They are planning to release their episodes in June.
Our New Yorkers for Mental Health Alternatives team continues to meet with New York’s lawmakers as we work to disentangle the misconceptions surrounding psilocybin-containing mushroom use.
Because of the New York State Budget negotiations, the Assembly Hearing on Psilocybin-containing mushrooms has been shifted to May 16th. The panel of presenters Assemblymember Amy Paulin’s team has gathered will be providing expert testimony to the Assembly Health Committee during a day-long session in Manhattan.
COMING SOON
New Yorkers for Mental Health Alternatives Monthly Meeting, Tuesday, May 13th 7pm – 8pm. This monthly meeting will focus on planning future speakers, the upcoming Hearing on Psilocybin-containing Mushrooms. In person at Indian Ladder Farms in the Yellow Rock Cafe or online via zoom from anywhere.
Join remotely via zoom here:
Foraged New York Walks, Sunday, May 4rd – Saturday May 10th ARE ALL SOLD OUT
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**
ONLY 8 Dinner Tickets Left. These must be pre-purchased.
Show tickets can be purchased at the door, but may sell out!
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:
Into the Forest
There are certain scents
Certain tastes
Certain textures
That are so tragically ephemeral
Belonging uniquely to specific portions of the year
A season
A few weeks of a season
Early Spring
Those first few weeks of April
As the Northeast’s wilderness areas shake off their wintry nap
Trees barely sprinkled with buds
The sun warming through vaguely chilled breeze
Fingers stained green while picking leaves from stalks
Knees firmly planted in the moist loam of a newly awakened forest
The first forage of the year
Forsythia and scarlet-cup splash color onto the greys and browns of the thawing world
A blanket of variegated green spreads below the barren canopy
The olive of garlic mustard
The rich purple-verde of stinging nettle
The smooth emerald of allium tricoccum
The forest is alive
And so am I
Collar City Mushrooms 