Easy Fermented Beverages at Home with EH member Michelle Doherty

Fermented beverages can seem intimidating and strange at first but I hope to find everyone a beverage that they can enjoy and reap the benefits of. In a time where our digestive systems are ravaged by the monotony of processed foods and fast food it is of utmost importance to take steps towards a healthy lifestyle. Fermented beverages have a multitude of purported health benefits with one of the most common being replenished gut flora and improved digestion.

In this workshop I will go over the benefits and steps to making Kefir, Kombucha and Ginger Bug Sodas with a special demonstration on making kefir.

When: Saturday, July 26th. 2014
Where: Grace Lutheran Church, 1107 Main Street West. Hamilton
Time: 2 pm to 3.30 pm

Suggested donation: $5
 Please register with Beatrice at bekoko@environmenthamilton.org or call 905 549 0900

Marvellous Mouth-watering Mushrooms

Happy New Year to you all!
There's lots to do to protect and enhance our wonderful planet and its inhabitants of all sorts. There is also lots of fun to be had and we are kicking off the new year with a workshop on growing your own mushrooms at home. Yay! I love mushrooms, being part Hobbit.
Our volunteer Tom Nagy will be leading the workshop and here's what he says:

Ever been interested in growing your own crop of delicious or medicinal mushrooms, either inside or outside of your own home? Come and learn a variety of efficient and creative methods for growing your own varieties of mushrooms and how doing so can enhance your physical and mental health and our relationship with food, crops and the environment.
This presentation will begin with a short analysis of what mushrooms and fungi actually are, how we understand them, how they behave, and also how they differ from other kingdoms of life. Understanding fungi at least on a basic level is critical to effectively nurturing them just as one would do a plant in the garden or inside the home.
Next, you will learn the basic ways of which to grow mushrooms both indoors and out, including the importance of humidity, sterility, substrate and a number of other key components necessary for successful mushroom gardening. Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) will be the main focus, but other simple and delicious mushroom species will also be covered, and how some of them can be used in combination to increase the productivity of your vegetable garden.

When? January 25th, 2014
What time? 10-11.30 am
Where? Grace Lutheran Church.
1107 Main St. West Hamilton, Ontario

Now folks, this event is free but donations are welcome so that we can get Tom to host more of these workshops.