Rock Tree Sky - Building a Mushroom House!
Back in early 2021, we volunteered to join the amazing people at Rock Tree Sky in the building of a “mushroom house” crafted from assorted upcycled materials and “cob” (that we mixed mostly with our bare feet!). The idea was to create a structure that would allow students the opportunity to learn more about how commerce works, literally from the ground on up!
For about 10 days, a handful of volunteers and a crew of students pulled together a variety of materials (like scrap wood, plexiglass, tarps & old tires), then covered the structures with cob to create an optimal environment to cultivate and grow mushrooms.
For those of you unfamiliar with cob, it’s an incredibly durable substance created by combining varying amounts of clay, sand, water and straw. The balance of ingredients changes in proportion to create different effects, from solidifying basic structure to the finished, sculpted, smoothed texture.
It’s amazingly strong once in place, and lasts for quite a long time with little-to-no maintenance needed.
Guided by a local mushroom farmer, a few on-site teachers, and us volunteers, the students were able to participate in everything there is to know about growing assorted varieties of delicious, nutritious edible fungi and how to harvest them. Once the crops were substantial enough to harvest, the kids then began to take them every week to the local Farmer’s Market to sell.
It’s been more than a year and a half now and the project is still going (and growing!) strong. How cool is that?!?!?
The structure we created together is both functional and beautiful. We all had a blast getting our hands & feet all muddied and we’re quite proud of this little house that will continue producing mushrooms for as long as the students choose to continue cultivating them.
Rock Tree Sky truly ROCKS!
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Please consider donating to this wonderful place. At the heart of this unique organization is the intention to hold space for young people to be autonomous agents of their own lives while modeling what it means to live and thrive in healthy and joyful harmony across differences.