Fungi and Fermentation Skill Swap

The Institute for Sustainable Living, Art & Natural Design (ISLAND) and the Martha Wagbo Farm and Education Center are proud to partner for the upcoming Fungi and Fermentation Skill Swap.

The skill swap will take place Sunday, October 4th from 1 pm to 5 pm at the Wagbo Farm, located three miles south of East Jordan at 5745 North M-66.

Join us as we explore the wide world of fungi and fermentation. Anyone with an interest in local foods; wild-crafting; food preservation; or tasty, healthful meals will greatly benefit from the workshops offered here. There will also be local vendors selling fungal and fermented goods.

Experienced instructors will lead workshops about fungi and fermentation, including:

Mushroom cultivation with Jim Ruster of Mitchell Hill Farm
Paper-making with polypores taught by Franny Bluhm
Fall mushroom hunting led by Michigan Mushroom Hunter's Club Vice President Jim Provci
Dyeing wool with mushrooms taught by fiber artist Julie Hurd of the Lake Charlevoix Weavers Guild
Cheese making taught by Amanda Kik of ISLAND
Sauerkraut preparation by Mark Maier
Composting with Mike and Monika Fiebing of Bella Terra Farms
Kombucha with Pepper Bromelmeir
Mead making with Nels Veliquette, beekeeper and fourth generation farmer in Northern MI
Wine making with Brian Hosmer
Live ginger beer and kefir with Nirinjan Singh and Kimberly Dante of Anahata Balance
Whole Grain Home Brew with Jerome Grskovic, BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) beer judge


Sponsored by Eden Foods, and support from the following: Field and Forest Products, and Pleasanton Bakery, Tandem Ciders, Leelanau Cultured Veggies, Black Star Farms, Mushroom the Journal.

Cost is $20 for pre-registration by Friday, October 2nd, or $25 at the door.

For a complete list of workshops and vendors, or to register, please visit http://www.ARTmeetsEARTH.org or contact Yvonne at ISLAND 231-480-4515 or info@ARTmeetsEARTH.org.

Cheese in 2008

Cheese is one of my goals for 2008--making cheese that is consistent in quality. And yummy.

Brad designed and crafted a cheese press for me, and on the first day of the year, I preformed my first cheese-pressing experiment. (Plans for the press will be available on our website soon.)

There are many soft cheeses (chevre, queso blanco, cottage cheese, paneer) that do not need a press. These are delicious and easy to make, but they don't last long before blooming blue, green or red molds. To keep and eat more local foods through the off-season, I am interested in creating cheeses that are aged and kept for longer periods. For this, I need to delve into the world of hard cheese.

Because Tonetta is visiting another local farm for breeding and Posey's production is down for the winter (these are the goats that we milk), I used cow milk from Shetler's, a local dairy that does not over-process their product.

My first try at hard cheese is with Monterrey jack.

The curds were placed in the cheesecloth-lined press for 30 minutes with 2.5 pounds of pressure, and then about 16 hours with 5 pounds. The wheel came out of the press looking an awful lot like cheese--a good sign, though it is no guarantee of a good final product.

After drying the cheese for five days, I waxed it carefully, labeled it properly, and set it amongst the wine in the mini-fridge with a small dish of water to keep the conditions humid for proper ripening.

I will report back with my first taste test in 1-4 months.