Soil Science
Welcome!
We are so glad you are here.
“Sugar is the currency used by plants to trade for a myriad of ecosystem services.” – Brock Barker
- This course will provide a rudimentary understanding of what basic information and materials are needed to begin your journey in growing, identifying, and classifying mushrooms.
- Learn about the cascade of predator prey relationships between a vast diversity of bacteria, fungi, earthworms, nematodes, and microscopic insects, in combination with mycorrhizal fungi that make up what is referred to as the soil food web.
Questions this course will answer:
How do you begin identifying mushrooms?
What information and materials are needed to begin your journey in growing mushrooms on logs?
What are the three main mobile nutrients in plants?
How do you find the pH for your soil?
Learning Outline
Each course is broken down into digestible lessons and each lesson contains different components.
Lectures are broken down into bite sized mini lectures* with key takeaways for your viewing and comprehension ease. Please view all content for the best learning experience.
Engage with your peers and community in forums and discussions related to this lesson and course. Deepen your understanding by digging into the community knowledge available
Additional resources are available for your additional learning at the bottom of the lesson. Take advantage of the opportunity to deepen your knowledge of the lesson at hand.
Take notes using the embedded, super nifty notetaker tool (the black box labelled Take Notes) in the lessons. As you progress lesson to lesson, course to course, your notes will cumulative into one handy-dandy document.
*Note: Since the original filming of these lectures, we have made some improvements, tweaks, and updates such as breaking the lectures into bite-sized chunks, reorganizing topics, and expanding the additional resources available. We made these little tweaks to bring this course from amazing to legendary and to provide the best learner experience possible. So occasionally you may hear one of the teachers refer to a resource (ie: Notepack) or mention a former lesson that you can’t find in this specific course–don’t fret!
Meet your teachers

Shad Quidsi
Shad Qudsi Shad Qudsi has 20 years experience in organic and commercial gardening and farming. He is certified in Permaculture Design and has over 12 years experience in holistic site development and homesteading. Shad originally set out to study mathematics and work in big business, but long ago had a change of heart. Shad is the Co-Founder of Atitlan Organics Permaculture Farm and Education Center, and more recently serves the role of President in the non profit organization, Wellkind Guatemala. Aside from all of this, Shad is an enthusiastic teacher who truly believes that humans are good for the planet. Human resilience cannot be erased from the landscape and now, it is coming back with a gentle loving caress.

Neal Hegarty
Neal is from an Irish family with a background in dairy farming. He has worked in agricultural projects all over the world, including Australia and Colombia. He came to Guatemala five years ago to study write a thesis on the relationship between permaculture and traditional agricultural practices of the mayan people. He has been here since, working on many different Permaculture projects, before starting his own Permaculture farm, Granja Tzikin, with his two partners. He now manages his farm and farm to table restaurant, teaches in the Atitlan Organics permaculture teachers guild and work as a designer and consultant with Regenera.

Jeremy Fellous
Jeremy Fellows has focused ten years of study, mentorship and implementation of permaculture design systems back home in Massachusetts. With many years of experience in botany and horticulture, he is fascinated by the world of plants. After working many years in Guatemala, Jeremy has dedicated his focus to land and water management systems that lend to ecological acceleration and social integration through food production. Jeremy now runs granja tzikin, works as a designer and consultant with Regenera and teaches in the Atitlan Organics teachers guild.

David "Brock" Barker
Brock Barker was raised as an outdoorsman in the marshes and forests of south Louisiana, where he developed a passion for all things plants. After studying horticulture at university, Brock has worked in nurseries, landscaping outfits, and in the facilitation of a horticultural therapy program, and more. His primary ‘work’ for the last 12 years has been developing a 10 acre homestead which serves as personal garden of Eden and educational space for volunteers and workshops. Brock’s proficiency in areas such as mushroom cultivation/ foraging, fermentation, and botany, combined with his infectious enthusiasm make him an integral part of our team.