5.0
Verified
return to the heart
I had another wonderful weekend retreat with Irina Devi at Menla - one of my favorite retreat places !
FRIENDS OF FUNGI FORAGING: FALL WEEKEND RETREAT
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Top Rated
FRIENDS OF FUNGI FORAGING: FALL WEEKEND RETREAT
4.8157 reviews
375 Panterkill Road PO Box 70 Phoenicia, NY 12464 United States
September 18 - 20, 2026
About this Retreat
John Michelotti is the founder of Catskill Fungi which empowers people with fungi through outdoor educational classes, cultivation courses, mushroom art, and mushroom health extracts. John is a past president of the Mid-Hudson Mycological Association (MHMA) where he co-founded the Catskill Regional Mycoflora Project as well as the Gary Lincoff Memorial Scholarship. He served on the
Mushroom Advisory Panel for Certified Naturally Grown to develop ecological standards in mushroom production. He was chosen by the Catskill Center as a "Steward of the Catskills" for his contribution to the environment. His goal is to educate and inspire people to pair with fungi to improve health, communities, and the environment.
Catskill Fungi
Catskill Fungi produces high integrity, triple-extracted health tinctures from mushrooms that are wild-crafted or grown near our family farm in the Catskill Mountains. We enjoy sharing our love of mushrooms on our guided mushroom walks, medicinal and cultivation workshops, and our fungi retreats. Catskill Fungi has a foundation of permaculture principles. This means the core of our business is about helping people and improving the planet through our work with mushrooms. We practice sustainable harvesting, leave-no-trace principles, and compassion for the environment. We aim to empower people to grow edible mushrooms as a fun source of fresh food, to heal themselves through utilizing health properties of fungi, and to explore the historical uses and present day innovations of this exceptional kingdom.
Aubrey graduated from Indiana University in 2016 with a BS in Biology. He has worked at several different ecological institutions in and around the NYC area, including the Central Park Conservancy, the Westchester Land Trust, the Stamford Land Conservation Trust, and Sleepy Cat Farm. Currently the Assistant Ecological Manager at Manitou Point Preserve near Garrison, NY, Aubrey became deeply fascinated with fungi after reading Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake, and has since devoted much of his life to cultivating that curiosity. Aubrey publishes a newsletter every Monday, entitled 'Mushroom Monday', which features photos and a profile of a different mushroom he has found throughout his travels. All archived posts can be read on mushroom-monday.com. He also leads public and private mushroom walks in Central Park, and is an active member in the New York Mycological Society. After five years in NYC, Aubrey has recently settled in Putnam Valley, NY and is spreading his mycelium in this fungal friendly part of the state.
Erwin Karl is a farmer, mycologist and educator who has led walks and workshops for Catskill Fungi and Mid Hudson Mycological Association. He serves as site manager at the CycleX farm
in Andes, NY where he has been involved in building maintenance, construction and agriculture for more than a decade. His projects in mycology, permaculture, beekeeping, canning, fermentation and wildcrafting build upon pursuits cultivated while growing up in a family that grew produce and kept livestock. He shares his interests by co-hosting the Farm Hour on WIOX (91.3 FM), writing plays about the Catskills for Preserve Players, and volunteering at the Michael Kudish Natural History Preserve.
Special Guest!
Delta has been a holistic psychotherapist since 2010. She has a masters degree from Fordham University, and was trained in plant medicine through the indigenous lineage of Maria Sabina, a Chamana from the Mazateca region of Oaxaca. Delta’s practice is deeply grounded in the relational wisdom that all the earth kindoms continuously nourish and heal each other. She has worked with hundreds of individuals using plant medicines in therapeutic and ceremonial settings and spends most of her time helping them integrate their experiences and restore their full expression of being. Delta works both in NYC and the Hudson Valley. She is also a passionate forager and always has a big pot of medicinal fungi and root tea ready to share.
Details of this retreat
Join the Catskill Fungi team for a weekend of fun, wonderment and enlightenment as we delve into the forests of Menla, and engage the fungal residents there. Take a hands-on approach to learn how to identify common fungi in the forest. Through using your senses, you will be acquainted with multiple species and confirm your IDs. Learn to sustainably harvest mushrooms in the forest, how to clean them, cook them, and eat them. We will also dehydrate mushrooms to make teas and medicinal tinctures. This ID focused course is for any beginner or Friends of Fungi alumni to take a deeper dive into befriending and foraging fungi.
Participants will learn to:
-Identify common edible and medicinal mushrooms
-Cook and eat wild and cultivated mushrooms
-Preserve and store mushrooms
-Make mushroom tinctures and extracts with medicinal mushrooms
Finish the weekend with:
-Confidence in identifying some edible, wild mushrooms
-Foraging hand lens and Mushroom journal
-Medicinal mushroom tinctures
-Dehydrated mushrooms
-Deeper connection with fungi, nature, self, and friends
Many people say "I would never trust myself to eat mushrooms from the forest." This is a healthy fear and an important first step to safe foraging. John didn't trust himself until someone showed him which mushrooms were edible, and he was confident he could tell them apart from their lookalikes. At some point we all learned to recognize and name different animals. Now we would never mistake a deer for an elk. One mushroom at a time, we learn to identify different species of fungi. This weekend get to know your common, easy, edible wild mushrooms. Learn to look, smell, and feel the differences between some obvious edible mushrooms that have few or no poisonous lookalikes.
There is no greater act that connects you directly to nature and the land than confidently finding something in the forest, identifying it as nourishing food or medicine, working with that organism to prepare it, and ingesting the nutrients it has to offer you. We are happy to help show you how to trust yourself and your resources to get to know, forage, identify, and prepare easy, edible and medicinal mushrooms.
This is Friends of Fungi's 12th session, and we are looking forward to another wonderful weekend of foraging!
Catskill Fungi professional guides, presenters, and private-walk leaders: Aubrey Carter, Erwin Karl, Delta Hunter, and John Michelotti
Schedule:
Friday, September 18
3 - 6 pm Check-in
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 pm Evening Program: Intro and Welcome Circle
Evening Presentation: Mushrooms 101 - Biology and Ecology of Fungi - John
How to use INaturalist, FUNDIS, and Resources
Saturday, September 19
8 - 9 am Breakfast
9:30 am Characteristics to Identify Mushrooms
10 am Pick up Bag Lunch
10 am - 3 pm Extended Mushroom Identification Walk: Finding Food and Medicine
3 - 4:30 pm Break
4:30 - 6 pm Cooking, Dehydrating and Preserving Mushrooms
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 pm Evening Program
Groups of Mushrooms and ID Table Walk Through
9 pm Optional: Open Discussion at Fire Pit and Music Jam (bring instruments)
Sunday, September 20
7 - 11 am Check-out of Rooms
8 - 9 am Breakfast
9:30 am - 12 pm Morning Program
Mushroom walk
Edible/Medicinal Mushroom review
Foraged Mushroom Collection Review
Closing Circle
12:30 - 1:30 Lunch & Departure
*Please note that schedule is subject to change.
Participants will learn to:
-Identify common edible and medicinal mushrooms
-Cook and eat wild and cultivated mushrooms
-Preserve and store mushrooms
-Make mushroom tinctures and extracts with medicinal mushrooms
Finish the weekend with:
-Confidence in identifying some edible, wild mushrooms
-Foraging hand lens and Mushroom journal
-Medicinal mushroom tinctures
-Dehydrated mushrooms
-Deeper connection with fungi, nature, self, and friends
Many people say "I would never trust myself to eat mushrooms from the forest." This is a healthy fear and an important first step to safe foraging. John didn't trust himself until someone showed him which mushrooms were edible, and he was confident he could tell them apart from their lookalikes. At some point we all learned to recognize and name different animals. Now we would never mistake a deer for an elk. One mushroom at a time, we learn to identify different species of fungi. This weekend get to know your common, easy, edible wild mushrooms. Learn to look, smell, and feel the differences between some obvious edible mushrooms that have few or no poisonous lookalikes.
There is no greater act that connects you directly to nature and the land than confidently finding something in the forest, identifying it as nourishing food or medicine, working with that organism to prepare it, and ingesting the nutrients it has to offer you. We are happy to help show you how to trust yourself and your resources to get to know, forage, identify, and prepare easy, edible and medicinal mushrooms.
This is Friends of Fungi's 12th session, and we are looking forward to another wonderful weekend of foraging!
Catskill Fungi professional guides, presenters, and private-walk leaders: Aubrey Carter, Erwin Karl, Delta Hunter, and John Michelotti
Schedule:
Friday, September 18
3 - 6 pm Check-in
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 pm Evening Program: Intro and Welcome Circle
Evening Presentation: Mushrooms 101 - Biology and Ecology of Fungi - John
How to use INaturalist, FUNDIS, and Resources
Saturday, September 19
8 - 9 am Breakfast
9:30 am Characteristics to Identify Mushrooms
10 am Pick up Bag Lunch
10 am - 3 pm Extended Mushroom Identification Walk: Finding Food and Medicine
3 - 4:30 pm Break
4:30 - 6 pm Cooking, Dehydrating and Preserving Mushrooms
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 pm Evening Program
Groups of Mushrooms and ID Table Walk Through
9 pm Optional: Open Discussion at Fire Pit and Music Jam (bring instruments)
Sunday, September 20
7 - 11 am Check-out of Rooms
8 - 9 am Breakfast
9:30 am - 12 pm Morning Program
Mushroom walk
Edible/Medicinal Mushroom review
Foraged Mushroom Collection Review
Closing Circle
12:30 - 1:30 Lunch & Departure
*Please note that schedule is subject to change.
Getting Here
Menla, 375 Panterkill Road PO Box 70 Phoenicia, NY 12464 United States
Accommodation
Deluxe Queen
Deluxe Queen Room with Queen Bed and Private Bathroom
Free Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available
Air Conditioning
All Rooms in Lhasa are Handicap-Accessible, Including Four Rooms with Wheelchair Accessible Showers.
Deluxe Queen Rooms are Available in Lhasa Inn and Kathmandu House
* Please note that rates include meals and accommodations
Standard Single - Shared Bath
Menla Private Queen Room with Queen Bed and Shared Bathroom
Public Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available
This lodging type is not ADA Compliant
Private Queen Rooms with Shared Bathroom are Available in Thimpu House, Panther Cottage and Potala House
* Please note that rates include meals and accommodations
Standard Double Full - Shared bath (Shared Room)
Deluxe Double Room with Two Full Beds and Shared Bathroom
Free Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available
Air Conditioning
This lodging type is not ADA Compliant. Please note that due to the stairs we recommend that guests with mobility issues book other accommodations.
Deluxe Double Rooms with Shared Bathrooms are Located in Thimphu
* Please note rates include meals and accommodations.
This booking is for one bed in a double shared room: We May Assign You a Roommate if You Do Not Register with One.
Economy Premium Single - Shared Bath
Standard Premium Single Room with a Queen or Full Bed and Shared Bathroom
Up to 10 guests share two large bathrooms. Each bathroom has two shower stalls and two toilets.
A phone is not available but high-speed WiFi is available in the room
Phone Access Available in Upper Level Of Conference Center. All calls are free of charge
This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant.
* Please note rates include meals and accommodations.
Economy Single - Shared Bath
Standard Single Room with a Twin Bed and Shared Bathroom
Bathroom is Shared with One to Six Other Guests on Your Floor.
A phone is not available but high-speed WiFi is available in the room
Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge.
This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant.
* Please note rates include meals and accommodations.
Economy Double - Shared Bath (Shared Room)
Standard Double with Twin Beds and Shared Bathroom
The bathroom is Shared with other rooms on the same floor.
High-speed Wi-Fi is available in the room.
Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge.
This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant.
* Please note that rates include meals and accommodations
* Please note: this is an open door policy room, meaning there are no keys to lock the door (we have lockers you can use at Lhasa if needed)
* This booking is for one bed in a double shared room: We May Assign You Roommates if You Do Not Register with others
Customer Reviews
Verified
5.0
Verified
Impeccable kitchen...beautiful surroundings
The lovely girl who cleaned my room, Amy, literally MADE my entire trip. She was so kind.
The scenery is magnificent, the landscape supreme, the food was AMAZING, cleanliness was top notch.
Everybody at Menla was extremely helpful and nice, with the exception of one person who shall remain nameless.
The scenery is magnificent, the landscape supreme, the food was AMAZING, cleanliness was top notch.
Everybody at Menla was extremely helpful and nice, with the exception of one person who shall remain nameless.
4.0
Verified
This is a special place
I attended Menla for a Therapist Ketamine retreat. There were approximately 35 attendees and 8-10 faculty. The buildings and the grounds are stunning and do what they set out to do..... force you to relax! The conference center offered so much space and ability for smaller groups to break out. I was fortunate enough to stay in a deluxe room which had stunning and peaceful decor and a very comfortable bed.
The Menla staff was welcoming and helpful.
I was disappointed with the meals. I live in the SF Bay area and am fortunate to have access to very high quality and thoughtful vegetarian food. I found the meals to be Okay but not delicious. I should mention that our group didn't have breakfast. I did appreciate the creative beverage offerings and constant access to fresh fruit - the apples were yummy!
The Menla staff was welcoming and helpful.
I was disappointed with the meals. I live in the SF Bay area and am fortunate to have access to very high quality and thoughtful vegetarian food. I found the meals to be Okay but not delicious. I should mention that our group didn't have breakfast. I did appreciate the creative beverage offerings and constant access to fresh fruit - the apples were yummy!
3.0
Verified
Nice place, kind staff, pricey, food was not good, not enough
The cabin was comfortable, and the shared areas were nice. The food, however, was extremely limited—mostly beans and vegetables, essentially a $2 meal with no meat or chicken. After one hour of being served, most of the food was gone and not replenished, so arriving around 1 p.m. meant finding almost nothing left. Beans can also trigger gas and discomfort, and the Indian dishes were too spicy, causing bloating. For the price of the stay, the meals felt inadequate.
Staff should wait until meetings are finished before moving items or making accommodations. The trail signs were also confusing and unclear; improving them would make a big difference.
Staff should wait until meetings are finished before moving items or making accommodations. The trail signs were also confusing and unclear; improving them would make a big difference.
5.0
Verified
Breathing in the Heart of Nature
I've visited the center twice, in June 2025 and June 2026, and both times I found it restful, peaceful, and a place to feel at one with nature, with many opportunities to swim, walk, and hike without leaving the center. It's a great place for meditation, reflection, care, and nourishing food. I had a spa session with Nitty, a Reiki practitioner with over 30 years of experience, and it was better than expected. While there, I saw many animals and birds, and a woman using the Cornell University bird app was able to identify 37 species in one sitting on the patio of the main building. The staff is very friendly, and the spa center with a swimming pool is the most luxuriously built of all the buildings. The biggest luxury I've found in Menla is silence.
