Learn how to grow mushrooms in sterile conditions!

This full-day on-site training at the Helsieni farm will teach you how to successfully grow fungi in both laboratory and home environments. The course will provide you with the skills you need to start your own mushroom culture collection and grow a wide range of mushrooms. At the end of the training, you will know how to clone fungi from a mushroom fruitbody and how to transfer the growing mycelium to any sterile growing medium.

The training is suitable for either advanced mushroom hobbyists and starting professionals.

Both theory and practice sessions will cover:

• the saprotrophic fungi lifecycle
• the basics of sterile work, both in home and laboratory environments
• how to prepare and inoculate your own sterile media such as malt extract agar petri dishes, grain spawn and substrates.
• how to spot common contamination issues and how to avoid them
• how to store your mushroom cultures.

At the end of the day you will be allowed to take home the cultures you started during the practical session. You will also be distributed a printed handout containing key information and useful links. We are happy to associate you with the worldwide community of mushroom growers!

Teachers for this course:

Lorin von Longo-Liebenstein

Lorin has over 10 years experience in applied mycology. He has worked in consulting and active support for various research institutes and companies in different projects. He was a cofounder of Kääpä biotech, the most advanced Finnish company in the field of fungi-based biohacking. His latest projects include conservation efforts of rare and endangered species and implementation of fungi into gardens for habitat creation. For his longtime efforts and passion in sharing his knowledge with the public, he received the 2025 Community Mycologist award by the American Mycological Society.

As a shareholder and a special advisor, Lorin has been of great help in the Helsieni creation and for each of our expansion steps ever since.

Stéphane Poirié

Co-founder of Helsieni with Chris Holtslag and Sini Ilmonen 10 years ago, Stéphane has managed and run the Helsieni mushroom farm ever since. He has developed a unique low-tech process for small-scale commercial oyster mushroom cultivation. Currently, Stéphane focuses at the farm’s mushroom species diversification and at a major upgrade of the cultivation facilities.

Lunch is included in the ticket.

Teaching language: English. Finnish will be used as a support language if needed.

Date and Time: Saturday, January 24th; 9:45 - 15:00

Location: Pohjoispellonkatu 13, 10320 Karjaa Note: Please check the access map attached in the confirmation email for a successful navigation to the farm.

As hygiene is important for laboratory work, we kindly ask you to wear clean clothes when joining for the training. Additional needed equipment will be supplied on site.

The maximum number of participants for this course is 8 persons, to give you enough time for practicing and the opportunity to ask any question you have. We reserve the right to reschedule or cancel the workshop if the number of participants does not reach the minimum of 4 persons. Be sure we will inform you well and listen to your proposals for rescheduling. In case of a cancellation, you will be reimbursed integrally and benefit from a discount code for your next purchase on our webstore.

Students, unemployed, etc. can get a 100€ discount with the coupon code: SIENI40