Meeting October 2^nd

We will start the season with a presentation by Paul Maschka on Oct. 2nd titled "Fungus, Friend or Foe", An Introduction to the Mycological Mind.

This will be a fun refresher course in our local mycology which would also serve as a fascinating beginner course for the many new people we will undoubtedly have attending.

This meeting  will also be our annual election of officers

Point Reyes MycoBlitz

December 9, 2006 and January 20, 2007

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

The Point Reyes MycoBlitz is an ongoing attempt to document the macrofungi at Point Reyes National Seashore. Through a series of forays spanning several seasons, armies of volunteers, made up of professional and amateur mycologists, collect fungi from all the major plant communities in the park.

The forays have three primary goals:

1. Generate as complete a species list as possible for the macrofungi of Pt. Reyes

2. Photograph, catalogue, and voucher specimens for future study

3. Incorporate these data into the Pt. Reyes National Seashore website

 

Who's participating?

Organized and initiated by David Rust, Dr. Tom Bruns, and Darvin DeShazer, the MycoBlitz is a collaboration between the UC Berkeley Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, Point Reyes National Seashore, the Sonoma County Mycological Society, Bay Area Mycological Society, Mycological Society of San Francisco, Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz, and anyone who wants to get in on the action.

 

When and where

There will be two forays during the 2006/2007 mushroom season. The first foray is planned for Saturday, December 9, 2006; the second foray, on Saturday, January 20, 2007, will be followed by a public display of fungi (a mini Fungus Fair) at the National Seashore on Sunday, January 21.

We'll assemble early in the morning, split into groups, and collect fungi from the different parkland habitats. Photographing, drying, and vouchering usually takes place at UC Berkeley over the following days. (Hey, there are a lot of mushrooms to go through.)

 

Everyone's invited

These forays will be fun, and may lead to more projects at other parks. Dr. Bruns has invited several mycologists from the Pacific Northwest to help with identification. Last year over 100 mushroom hunters from throughout northern California showed up for each foray. Please join us and learn about fungi, the unique habitats of Pt. Reyes, and have a blast. The more folks who participate, the more fungi we can add to the list.

For more info, contact David Rust at incredulis@yahoo.com.

 

 

El Niño Year?

Scientists at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center reported on September 13 that El Niño conditions have developed in the tropical Pacific and are likely to continue into early 2007. Ocean temperatures increased remarkably in the equatorial Pacific during the first two weeks of September.  "Currently, weak El Niño conditions exist, but there is a potential for this event to strengthen into a moderate event by winter," said Vernon Kousky, NOAA's lead El Niño forecaster. Some impacts from the developing El Niño are already evident in the pattern of tropical precipitation.

Previous El Niño years have been excellent for mushroom hunting, so we can hope for a good season this year.

 

 

Mt. Pisgah Arboretum Mushroom Festival

Mount Pisgah Arboretum, located in Eugene, Oregon, has several major annual fundraising events throughout the year. The Mushroom Festival, co-sponsored by the Cascade Mycological Society (CMS), is one of those events. This festival is held on the last Sunday in October, and features a broad range of fungi collected throughout western Oregon. Experts are on hand during the show to help with mushroom identification. The Mushroom Festival also includes hayrides, cider pressing demonstrations, wine tasting, and a scarecrow contest. The event this year falls on Sunday Oct 29, 2006. See site for more details or contact the CMS for details..

http://www.efn.org/~mtpisgah/

The Mushroom Festival, co-sponsored by the Cascade Mycological Society, is held on the last Sunday in October, and features a broad range of fungi collected throughout western Oregon. Experts are on hand during the show to help with mushroom identification. The Mushroom Festival also includes hayrides, wine tasting, cider pressing demonstrations, and a scarecrow contest.

Catch & Cook: Hooked on wild picks

By Brett Prettyman

The Salt Lake Tribune

 

UINTA MOUNTAINS -- While stalking the Utah woods for deer and elk, Don Johnston would also notice the wide variety of fungi growing in the forest. The mushrooms made him wonder.

"I was curious about whether or not I could eat them. It was driving me crazy," he said.

Unlike his hunter-and-gatherer predecessors in Utah, Johnston didn't have to risk an upset stomach, hallucinations and possible death to find out if they were safe for human consumption.

He bought several mushroom field guides and returned to the woods where he quickly realized identifying wild mushrooms is a detailed and time-consuming activity. Still, he was hooked , and started attending the Utah Native Plant Society's Annual Mushroom Foray to gain more expertise and meet other mushroom maniacs.

In 1994, Johnston and a group of other fungi enthusiasts, led by Ardean Watts, a retired University of Utah music professor and long-time associate conductor of the Utah Symphony, formed the Mushroom Society of Utah.

"I had so much fun gathering mushrooms, but no friends to share the experience with," said Watts, who has been wandering the woods mushrooming for roughly 50 of his 78 years.

The Society now holds a foray once a month during the mushrooming season - April through September. Johnston said there are typically 15 to 20 common edible mushrooms in Utah among the hundreds of varieties. Watts says he has counted 22 different mushrooms in the past 20 years alone in the front yard of his Salt Lake City home in Sugar House.

The biggest event on the Mushroom Society of Utah's schedule is the Annual Fall Foray. Traditionally held in Francis, at the base of the Uinta Mountains, the weekend before Labor Day, the Fall Foray typically draws between 50 and 100 people for three days of mushrooming with the experts.

"The No. 1 rule," Watts told members of a foray crowd last month before they set off in the nearby Uintas, "is to never eat anything which has not been positively identified by yourself or somebody who knows more than you do. There is no substitute for going out with people who know what they are doing. It is possible to self teach, but it is like self teaching the piano or violin . . . it's just a lot better with somebody who has been there or done that."

Bill Jenson and Julie Bowen have heeded that advice. They became interested in mushroom collecting after watching a cooking show on television about using wild fungi in the kitchen.

"We found the Utah Mushroom Society," Jenson said. "It is a delightful group of people who love mushrooms and are very open with their information."

The Salt Lake couple also likes to use gathering mushrooms as an excuse to get out of the city.

"Julie and I like to hike. One of the joys of mushrooming is being in the wilds and enjoying nature and then getting something to have with dinner that knocks your socks off," Jenson said.

Thanks to the experts at the Mushroom Society, Jenson and Bowen enjoyed eating mushrooms after their first excursion, but it took them about a year to become confident enough in their identification abilities to pick and eat their own fungi.

Their favorite dish is a French omelet with chanterelle or porcini mushrooms, both of which were found during this year's Fall Foray.

People are not the only creatures searching the woods for mushrooms. Deer, elk, bear and other wildlife will take advantage of mushrooms when they can, although no one knows if they know how to pick out the edible versus poisonous caps or if they enjoy the psychedelic species.

Watts said there are some "recreational" mushrooms growing wild in Utah, but the Mushroom Society is not into that scene.

The "high" for Watts is identifying mushrooms first for the table and secondly "because they are beautiful, exquisite organisms," he said. "The third thing that hooked me was the fascinating ecology of mushrooms and their relationship with trees. It is an amazing symbiotic relationship."

 

For more information about the MSU, see  their web site at:

www.users.uswest.net/~dwjohnston.

 

 

Long Beach Peninsula Wild Mushroom Festival

The annual Long Beach Peninsula, Washington, Wild Mushroom Festival kicks off on 15 October and runs through the end of the month. As part of the festival, participating restaurants, inns and bed and breakfast establishments will offer daily wild mushroom specials. Wild mushroom workshops, field excursions and prix-fixe dinners will also be offered. 20 October is the big night, when you can enjoy an evening of Wild Mushroom Appetizers with guest artisan cheesemaker, Dawn Jump of Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy in Ocean Park. Innkeepers David and Laurie will complement Dawn’s aged, local wild mushroom goat cheeses with some of their own savory wild mushroom creations. The cost is $35 per person and includes one glass of wine. Visit the site to enjoy local mushroom finds, recipes, and a calendar of events.

 

For more information, see:

http://funbeach.com/mushroom/

 

Mushroom Events

SDMS Events

October 2,  2006

SDMS Meeting

 

Other Events

October 8-11, 2006

Breitenbush Conference

Detroit, Oregon

503-854-3320

 

October 15, 2006

Fraser Valley Mushroom Fair

Mission, B.C. Canada

Juergen Kuerten, 604-814-3580

 

October 16, 2006

LAMS Meeting

L.A. Natural History Museum

www.lamushrooms.org

 

October 20-22, 2006

7th Annual Mushroom Fest

Yachats, Oregon

www.yachats.org/events.html

 

October 29, 2006

Mt. Pisgah Mushroom Fest

Eugene, Oregon

www.efn.org/~mtpisgah

 

November 10-12, 2006

MSSF Mendocino Foray

Mendocino, CA

mendo@mssf.org

415-457-7662 or 707-829-2063

 

December 2 and 3, 2006

MSSF Fungus Fair

Oakland Museum

www.mssf.org

 

December 9, 2006 and

January 20, 2007

Point Reyes Mycoblitz

Point Reyes National Seashore

incredulis@yahoo.com

 

January ??, 2007

FFSC Fungus Fair

Louden Nelson Center

Santa Cruz, CA

www.fungusfed.org

 

What’s Cooking

Fungi As Food

This month, I found a good recipe on the Internet while looking for mushroom news items.  Perhaps someone can test it on us at the holiday potluck.

 

Pecan-Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

24 (1 1/2- to 2-inch-wide) cremini or baby bella mushrooms with stems

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus additional for buttering dish

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 ½ teaspoons chopped oregano

4 oz pecans (1 cup), finely chopped

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 cup heavy cream

 

Preparation:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 250°C. Trim ends of mushroom stems and carefully separate caps and stems, reserving both. Arrange caps, stemmed sides up, in a buttered 13- by 9-inch shallow baking dish.

Finely chop stems, then cook with garlic and oregano in butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in pecans, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring frequently, 1 minute. Stir in 1/3 cup cream and bring to a simmer, then remove from heat.

Sprinkle insides of caps with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper, then divide filling among caps. Drizzle mushrooms with remaining 2/3 cup cream and bake until filling is browned and caps are tender, about 30 minutes. Serve mushrooms drizzled with pan juices.

 

From Forks&Corks: Sofia, (Bulgaria) Morning News