Mercedes Whitman will be presenting High Desert Mushroom Cultivation &Other Fungal Pursuits. She’ll talk about the challenges unique to the high desert of the Southwest and how mushroom cultivation and working with fungi for applications such as building soil health, water retention, erosion control and remediation can help address them.
Progressively unpredictable weather patterns and more intense, but less frequent, rains are regular challenges in the Southwest, and increasingly so worldwide with climate change. The practices she will demonstrate can be applied anywhere, from entire cities, forest and grassland preserves and even your own backyard.
Designing microclimates that support fungal growth, makes for more social and ecological resilience. Water catchment and placement, mulching, passive hoop house syst
ems, and using native and climate relevant species, are feasible and cost effective ways of cultivating mushrooms consistently, and using fungi for the overall well being of our lands and ourselves.