Mushrooming Workshop
Part One: Thursday, September 13, 2007, 7 pm–10 pm: illustrated lecture.
Part Two: Saturday, September 15, 2007, 9 am–noon; mushrooming foray, followed by an exhibit and discussion of the fungi found.
In the workshop, the ecological function of fungi will be stressed, as will basic factors involved in their identification. The similarity of toxic and edible species will be described as well as the dangers of misidentification. The complete identification of some mushrooms may take weeks or months, but others can be recognized at a glance. For those interested in eating wild mushrooms, an emphasis will be placed upon developing a safe, conservative approach to this endeavor.
Like all living matter, mushrooms are very dependent upon moisture and temperature. They will fruit in our area in abundance from May through mid- October or later; mid-September usually marks the peak of the collecting season. The habitat at Glynwood supports both mycorrhizal and saprophytic fungi so we expect a rewarding foray.
Participants who choose to eat mushrooms collected on this foray do so at their own risk. Glynwood Center, its members, and the foray leader can not be held responsible for any toxic reaction to the mushrooms or to other toxic substances encountered on the foray, such as ticks, poison ivy, stinging nettle, etc.
This workshop will be limited to 20 participants so register early.
Bill Bakaitis
Bill is of Italian and Lithuanian ancestry. Both sets of his immigrant grandparents collected and ate wild mushrooms, although each was quite sure the mushrooms eaten by the other set were poisonous. He therefore came to an independent judgment by necessity!
Bill is the Founding president of the Mid-Hudson Mycological Association, where he has also served as Education Director. He is a consultant to the NYS Poison Control Network, and is a Mycology/Taxonomy consultant to Hudsonia and Bard College. He is a popular speaker in the Mid-Hudson area, and has given mushroom identification courses/workshops for the last 25 years at area colleges, and environmental and culinary associations. Bill is also a contributing editor for Mushroom: The Journal of Wild Mushrooming.
