In a place such as this where mushrooms grow in abundance, it makes sense that we should have a fantastic mushroom festival. Every year Mt. Pisgah Arboretum throws a major mushroom bash at the end of October, and it is an event not to be missed. Here you can buy wildcrafted mushrooms from our local forests, sample mushroom cuisine, take in some great live music, learn to dye silk and wool with vibrant mushroom and lichen colors, and peruse the amazing collection of mushroom specimens. There is also a fantastic scarecrow contest where you can see some of the most unusual, beautiful, and downright weird scarecrows you’ve ever laid eyes upon.
Some exceptionally talented folks from our Waldorf School created this AMAZING harvest king scarecrow. His moss backpack was filled with gourds and chanterelles spilling over in abundance to the scarecrow children catching them below. His head was a carved pumpkin that lit up in the dark with a candle inside!
For the mushroom enthusiast, there are tables of edible mushrooms, look-alike and poisonous mushrooms, and everything in between. Since we’ve been having a smorgasbord of delicious wild mushrooms over the past few weeks, I focused in on the ones I typically pick, the one’s I’m trying to avoid picking, and the ones I’ve been wanting to pick but haven’t been certain enough about. I also took some handy ID photos to use later on if a mushroom is in question.
Pacific Golden Chanterelle
Pig’s Ears
Cauliflower Mushroom
Shaggy Mane
Hedgehog Mushrooms
Lobster Mushrooms
White Matsutake
Lion’s Mane
Fried Chicken Mushrooms
This Amanita may be poisonous, but he’s sure looks like a fun-gi!
If mushroom hunting sounds like your thing, a mushroom festival is a good place to find some information and get started. You can also get in touch with your local mycological society, or get some good ID books. We use All That the Rain Promises and More by David Arora, and a lot of folks I know use Mushrooms Demystified by the same author. Mushrooms are one of those foods you should know well before eating, so educate yourself well, utilize your local resources and try going with someone experienced the first couple of times out. Before you know it, you’ll be on your way to cooking up some gourmet autumn meals.
I love mushroom! Yummy! 🙂
Wish I was there…i like photographing and identifying mushrooms…South California don't have many species..