Meeting October 5^th

Mushrooms in the Garden: Friend, Foe, or Food?

Paul Maschka will kick off our 2009-2010 season with a talk about local mushrooms.

Annual Election

Fall is when we elect the officers for the new season. In October we will have a discussion and accept nominations or volunteers. That will be followed in November by an election. Please consider getting involved in keeping the organization going.

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SDMS Email Lists

This summer the SDMS Web site was moved to a new service provider. You should not have noticed any changes, but there were some significant invisible changes. The new service is free. It is easier to manage, and has some other advantages that we may make use of in the future.

The first noticeable change occurred when we moved our SDMS email list to the new service. You should have received a notice inviting you to sign up for the new list. You will need to click on the link in that message to confirm your subscription. If you did not get the message, or deleted it without confirming, you can still sign up for the new list. There is a link on the "Habit (What We Do)" page. Look for "Hotline". Or click Here.

The old list has been shut down, so we can stop paying the old service provider.

Some time ago, the board decided that the foray announcements should only go to SDMS members. We have not been enforcing that policy, but will start soon. Make sure your membership is up-to-date before the start of the foray season.

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SDMS Membership

We have changed our renewal policy. All memberships expire in February. This will make it easier on our treasurer. Since we are not sending a paper newsletter to serve as a reminder, we need to rely more on our members to make sure you renew each year. We observed that most of our members join at or just after the fair each year, so many expiration dates already fell in February or March. Those whose expiration dates fell in other months may consider their expiration date to be the February nearest to your last expiration date.

We are asking all members to make sure you have paid your dues for 2009. The treasurer will have a list at the October meeting so you can check your status. All renewals will then be due in February of 2010.

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El Niño 2009

NOAA scientists in July announced the arrival of El Niño, a climate phenomenon with a significant influence on global weather, ocean conditions and marine fisheries. El Niño, the periodic warming of central and eastern tropical Pacific waters, occurs on average every two to five years and typically lasts about 12 months.

El Niño's impacts depend on a variety of factors, such as intensity and extent of ocean warming, and the time of year. Contrary to popular belief, not all effects are negative. On the positive side, El Niño can help to suppress Atlantic hurricane activity. In the United States, it typically brings beneficial winter precipitation to the arid Southwest, less wintry weather across the North, and a reduced risk of Florida wildfires.

More information here

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Search for Northern California’s perfect mushroom

LA Times

Fall brings mushroom madness to Northern California’s Mendocino County, where seasonal rains cause more than 3,000 mushroom varieties to spring to life from October to January. Fungi fanciers hunt the 500 edible varieties, then celebrate with special events such as tastings, dinners, tours and lectures. Dozens of events take place throughout the mushroom season, but the highlight is Mendocino County’s Mushroom Festival, Nov. 6 to 15, which includes activities as diverse as wine- and beer-pairing workshops, mushroom hunts by kayak, musical performances and guided mushroom foraging walks.

“We have so many incredible varieties of mushrooms. Everyone gets involved in showcasing this great local bounty,” said Ryane Snow, a local mushroom expert and member of the Mycological Society. During mushroom season, Snow offers identification walks, helping foragers find the precious candy cap mushroom, in addition to chanterelles, porcinis, morels and hedgehogs.

Among the special events scheduled this year are:
Skunk Train’s Wine & Mushroom Adventure, a five-hour journey along the Novo River, Nov. 7;
Wild Mushroom Winemaker Dinner at MacCallum House Inn, Nov. 12;
Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens Mushroom Identification and Cultivation Workshop, Nov. 7, 14 and 21;
Mushroom Paddles kayaking along the Novo River, Nov. 7, 8, 14, and 15;
From Forest to Table foraging walk and lunch, Nov. 7 and 14;
Medicinal Mushrooms workshop, Nov. 8.

For more information see: Go Mendocino or call (866) 782-9636.

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MSSF Mendocino Woodlands Foray 2009

November 20-22, featuring author Gary Lincoff

This weekend long mycological event includes guided forays, classes, cooking demos, workshops and activities, including special programs for children. All on-site meals and lodging (Friday night through Sunday morning) are included in the basic $150 dollar per person member rate. Reduced rates for off-site lodging ($90) and child rates (5-12 $75) are available. For non-MSSF members, add $25 per adult / $15 for children.

Event schedule details will be published, along with a registration form, at http://www.mssf.org in early October, and in the November issue of the Mycena News.

Send registration checks to:
Lou Prestia / MSSF 722 21ST Ave, San Francisco, CA 94121
Or electronic registration forms from the Web site may be sent to mssf at prestia dot com.

For more information on the Mendocino Woodlands facility, go to http://www.MendocinoWoodlands.org

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Mushroom News

• Morris County Fungus Fest 2009
• Fungus Fest in Mendham will be full of surprises
• Recent rains bring fairy rings
• Utah's mushroom man
• Mushroom moderators (Article on commercial harvest)

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Mushroom Views

• Mushrooms and Reindeer
  

• Cordyceps video - great pictures
• Kunming Mushroom Market

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What’s Cooking!

Fungi As Food

By Dave Grubb

In the interest of getting this newsletter posted before the end of September, I give you some links instead of an article.

• How to Eat a Bolete
• Morel Values
• Health Zealots Free Fancy Fungi
• Playing with your food - How to Make a Radish Mushroom

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Two sources for a "Recipe of the Month".
BAMS, and MAMS

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Fungi of the Month

Now there are two "Fungus of the Month" sites:
Tom Volk's long-running series at : http://tomvolkfungi.net/.
And a new one at: http://www.bayareamushrooms.org/mushroommonth/index.html.

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SDMS Information