Mushroom Camp, 2011

I recently attended the Sonoma County Mycological Society (SOMA)Mushroom Camp. There were over 200 participants from all over Northern California and abroad, all interested in the glorious fungi!  I felt proud to count myself amongst a group obsessive about those funny mushrooms that grown out the forest floor.  Mushrooms have all my favorite things in them. First, obviously, it’s about the food for me. Foraging wild mushrooms and then eating them is the best. I learned some amazing recipes, including a candy cap terrine that was to live for. I watched someone grate 5 Oregon white truffles into 3 cups of pasta with cream sauce, and of course, there was the mushroom caramel sauce.

But it’s  becoming more than food for me. I hand dyed a scarf with mushroom natural dyes. I learned several new varieties. I sat down and drew a mushroom for the first time. I learned how to use a key to identify mushrooms. I made bags to grow oyster mushrooms in.  And I learned a few great spots to look for mushroom here in SF.  There is so much to learn.  I learned about a type of mushroom that lives on a caterpillar in Tibet, and is sold for $20,000 a pound. This mushroom has been supporting the economy of rural Tibet.

Here is my favorite book to use while going mushroom hunting.

I also learned that you MUST cook wild mushrooms really well, even though they are edible. They are NOT to be eaten raw, not even the mildest of wild mushrooms like hedgehogs. It can give someone an upset stomach.

There was much discussion about the use of psilocybin mushrooms for medical purposes,and there is much research being done about it for treatment of cluster headaches, depression, and drug addiction.