Winter Events For Mushroom Learners - Spotlight on Chaga

Medicinal & Culinary Mushrooms: An Online Presentation

January 15, 2026, 7-9pm on Zoom
(Yes, Online presentation-must sign-up and pay for program)
Click Here to Sign-up & Pay

Hope you can make it. Promises be a fun presentation.

Join Yael Bernhard, production manager and mushroom walk leader for Catskill Fungi as well as an integrative health coach, in this informative online presentation. We’ll begin with a brief overview of the life cycle of mushrooms, their role in the ecosystem, and how this relates to their role in human health. Other subjects include:
• Different types of mushrooms and their basic identifying characteristics
• How medicinal and culinary mushrooms work in the body
• Different types of herbal and fungal extracts and how they’re made
• How to choose and get the most out of medicinal mushroom extracts
• The medicinal attributes of the six mushrooms that are the basis of Catskill Fungi extracts

More Info Below - FYI

I've experienced Yael's cooking presentation at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Just getting there was an experience in itself. I don't recommend you go there, especially alone. See below for more fun with Yael & John.

Coming up on the calendar:

## Coming up on the calendar:

Medicinal & Culinary Mushrooms: An Online Presentation
January 15, 2026, 7-9pm on Zoom
Join Yael Bernhard, production manager and mushroom walk leader for Catskill Fungi as well as an integrative health coach, in this informative online presentation. We’ll begin with a brief overview of the life cycle of mushrooms, their role in the ecosystem, and how this relates to their role in human health. Other subjects include:
• Different types of mushrooms and their basic identifying characteristics
• How medicinal and culinary mushrooms work in the body
• Different types of herbal and fungal extracts and how they’re made
• How to choose and get the most out of medicinal mushroom extracts
• The medicinal attributes of the six mushrooms that are the basis of Catskill Fungi extracts

Mushroom Harvest Dinner: Cooking and Eating Fungi
February 19, 2026, 4-6pm
San Mul - Fleishmanns, NY
As seasons change, mushrooms are a great way to help nourish our bodies. Catskill Fungi and San Mul 산물 are partnering to host a Harvest Dinner where participants will learn to cook a mushroom-based feast and then enjoy the preparations around the table together. While we cook, we will learn about the ways fungi and fermented foods are medicinal and nutritional for our bodies, as well as tips and tricks for making your mushrooms taste amazing!

The Many Uses of Mycelium: Fungal Technologies
February 24, 2026, 6-7:30pm
New York Botanical Gardens Online
Scientists have engineered so many new products from mycelium that Scientific American heralds the dawn of the “Mycelium Revolution” and Harper’s Bazaar dubs fungi “The Future of Fashion.” In this fascinating presentation, John Michelotti will explore how scientists have harnessed mycelium’s ability to create complex structures that are now being used as eco-friendly alternatives to plastic, leather, meat, and Styrofoam. Mushroom bacon or sneakers, anyone?

Mycoremediation: Can Fungi Help Heal the Planet?
March 24, 2026, 11am-1pm
New York Botanical Gardens Online
Discover how fungi are being used to degrade pollutants and clean up the environment by filtering water, removing heavy metals from soil, remediating microbes, and breaking down plastics. Mycologist John Michelotti will discuss current mycoremediation efforts worldwide—including his own work in Ecuador. Pet owners will even learn to build a remediation bucket to treat bacteria in used kitty litter and other pet waste.

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Catskill Fungi extracts are available online, or may be found in local stores. Find our calendar of mushroom foraging walks, workshops, and other events here.

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## Spotlight on Chaga: The Curious Conk

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##### by Yael Bernhard

The first time I saw Chaga, I thought I was looking at a chunk of pavement stuck to a tree. Black as charcoal and hard as rock, Inonotus obliquus seems more like a mineral than anything organic. Also known as the Clinker Polypore, this curious fungus is not a mushroom, but a sterile conk, canker, or sclerotium that grows exclusively on birch. Chaga is a parasitic fungus that does no favor to the tree, often growing in a wound in the bark and slowly contributing to the tree’s demise. But along the way, it draws betulinic acids and other substances from the heartwood, and transforms them into powerful compounds that are beneficial for humans.¹
Rich in antioxidants and prized for its immune-modulating activity, Chaga has been used as a folk medicine in Asia for centuries. In Russia, it is typically simmered for tea in a pot that sits on a wood stove through the long winters of the boreal forests. When the tea reaches the color of black coffee, it’s poured off and the water is replenished. A single piece of chaga may yield dozens of pots of tea. Once exhausted, the black mass may be dried, pounded into a poultice, and used externally to inhibit infection and promote healing.²
Chaga contains numerous polysaccharides (complex sugars), triterpenoids, triterpenes, melano-glucans, sterols, and inositol (vitamin B1), among other healing constituents. It was originally used as a remedy for tuberculosis, ulcers, and digestive ailments. Today it’s known for its healing effects on the intestines, which also extends to skin health. In vitro studies of betulinic acid have shown it to be effective against a wide variety of cancers;³ and in 1955 a drug called Befungin was approved as a cancer treatment in Russia. In the 1970s and 80s, studies were conducted on the effects of Chaga on peptic ulcers and psoriasis. In the 1990s, several studies showed Chaga’s anti-viral activity against HIV and influenza, as well as analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties; and in the early 2000s a study showed Chaga’s hypoglycemic, anti-lipidemic, and anticoagulant potential – all of which merit the ongoing scientific research that is slowly shedding light on this mysterious fungus.⁴

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Chaga is purported to be the richest source of antioxidants in the world,⁵ exceeding other food sources by a factor of 50. Antioxidants are crucial for preventing the DNA damage implicated in chronic inflammation, abnormal cell growth, and cognitive decline. One study on Chaga extract showed a 40% reduction in DNA fragmentation compared to controls,⁶ while another demonstrated a significant reduction in oxidative stress in lymphocytes from IBD patients.⁷
Chaga grows very slowly, and care should be taken to harvest it sustainably. The conks are so condensed, a little bit goes a long way. While Chaga is not uncommon here in the Catskills and Hudson Valley, it should not be taken without good reason, nor depleted at any one source.
Catskill Fungi’s triple extraction of Chaga is mindfully made in small batches, drawing out all the health-promoting components that are soluble in alcohol, by hot water decoction, and by cold water infusion.

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Like most mushrooms, Chaga is adaptogenic and confers its benefits gradually and cumulatively. Fungal mycelium grows slowly, penetrating its chosen substrate over many months and extending the web of life that interconnects life in the forest. Similarly, it takes time for our fungal allies to improve our health. Herbal and fungal medicine is a patient practice, suitable for the long winter months. Consistency is key. Sipping Chaga tea or taking the tincture daily, we are graced with its gentle blessings.

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Yael Bernhard is production manager, writer, and mushroom walk leader for Catskill Fungi. She is also an integrative health & nutrition coach, with a special emphasis on herbal and fungal medicine; and a professional painter and illustrator – all of which she weaves together in her two Substacks: The Art of Health and Image of the Week.