Sweater-weather among us, but mushrooms…

Cooler times are approaching. I am sorry to say this, for all the people that don’t want to think about that time of the year yet. Fall. It is beautiful, but can’t it last longer than it does? If you haven’t guessed it already, I am in the ‘I don’t want fall to come so fast’ club. It’s not like I don’t like fall, I really enjoy spooky season and all that is involved (well, not everything. Not a fan of scary movies, but cryptids, I got you). My crazy reasoning is that winter then follows. COLD... brr... I don’t quite want that yet.

I like the warm weather and the sunshine. I like not having to layer my clothing, to adjust to all of the places with vast differences in temperatures. However, sweater-weather is coming and that does make this girl happy. On Sunday, I had the pleasure of taking a wild mushroom forager class at Munson Bridge Winery. It was so fun! It was a cooler day, so I even donned a stocking cap to finish off the pre-fall cooler weather ensemble.

While traipsing around the forest I wandered a little further than the rest of the class to capture moments of nature at its finest. There were so many different aesthetically pleasing views that I wished I had brought my DSLR camera along. Alas, my iPhone sufficed.

The instructor of the group (a very knowledgeable individual who was asked to teach because the other instructor did not show up) had to whistle for me to come back. I wasn’t getting lost. I was capturing moments! I did follow his whistle and the blurs of color I saw in the distance.

When I had reached the group, a fellow mate had a mushroom in hand that was white and looked as if to have white hairs all over it. We identified it correctly. After inspecting and identifying it as Bear’s Head Tooth fungi, hericium abietis, I voyaged on to the interwebs and read that this is a mushroom that is safe to eat from a reputable and trusted source. Have I eaten it yet? Well, no. I haven’t figured out what the best way to cook it would be.

I have though, eaten part of a mushroom that the fill-in instructor foraged the day prior. I say ‘part of a mushroom’ because this one mushroom weighed between 5-10 lbs. Hen of the Woods, grifola frondosa, AKA ‘Maitake’, is a very powerful medicinal mushroom. I washed, peeled and chopped it. Yumm... They have been very tasty so far and I can’t wait to enjoy them further. We still have plenty more to eat. I am very happy my tastebuds decided to change their ways into liking mushrooms.

While looking back at this past weekend of the forage, I felt as I did as a kid. Spotting a tiny little mushroom amongst the forest floor, was as if my inner child inside was finding hidden treasure. I would like to keep that little inner child dancing and rejoicing every time she finds a mushroom. She sees things in such a beautiful way.

“Maitake mushrooms are known in Japan as the dancing mushroom. According to a Japanese legend, a group of Buddhist nuns and woodcutters met on a mountain trail, where they discovered a fruiting of maitake mushrooms emerging from the forest floor. Rejoicing at their discovery of this delicious mushroom, they danced to celebrate.”

- Paul Stamets

ONDER

SAMANTHA Y OCIUS PHOTO-TECH