The Boston Natural Areas Network will present a free class on Saturday, November 1, from 10 – noon at City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive in Mattapan, entitled Grow Your Own Mushrooms. Mushrooms thrive in shady spots, are low maintenance and taste delicious! From inoculation to harvest learn to grow mushrooms on a log, over wood chips or in a bin. Registration required, to register call 617-542-7696 or email info@bostonnatural.org. Image from www.countryfarm-lifestyles.com.
Explore the wondrous world of fungi! Join Harvard students on Saturday, October 25, from 10 – 1 for a closer look at the mushrooms, yeasts, and molds found in gardens, forests, labs—and even in our own refrigerators. Learn about the use of fungi in common foods such as bread and cheese. This is an opportunity to investigate museum collections and participate in hands-on activities and taste tests led by Harvard students. Regular museum admission rates apply. Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street.
Free event parking available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.
Join Michael Rogers, CLS, on Saturday, May 3, from 10 – 11:30 at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley, to learn how to identify and harvest edible mushrooms. Rogers is a laboratory scientist and mushroom enthusiast who has been researching all different types of native mushrooms throughout the Sudbury Valley and beyond. Learn how to identify species, focusing on those native to Massachusetts and general information on what not to eat. Enjoy a guided hike and lecture. $15 for Massachusetts Horticultural society members, $20 for non-members. Register by calling 617-933-4943, or visit www.masshort.org. Image from www.honest-food.net.
Join Formaggio Kitchen’s two favorite fungus gurus for a tour through the microbial world of cheese and mushrooms on Saturday, March 15, beginning at 5:30 at the Formaggio Kitchen Annex, 67 Smith Place in Cambridge. Veronica Pedraza, cheesemaker at Meadowood Farms and avid forager, and Benjamin Wolfe, a microbiologist and mycologist at Harvard University specializing in the microbiology of fermented foods, will help you discover a whole new world of fungal treats. $55. To purchase a spot, register online at www.formaggiokitchen.com/classes, or call 617-354-4750. Please have your credit card number ready. If you have any questions, please email classes@formaggiokitchen.com.
Let Lawrence Millman escort you on a journey into the amazing natural history of over 150 Northeastern fungi species on Wednesday, March 5, beginning at 10 am at The College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston. Learn how to make spore prints, discover which species are edible and which are poisonous, and find out which mushroom the Vikings ate before their raids. His book Fascinating Fungi of New England will be available for purchase and signing.
This Garden Club of the Back Bay meeting is free for GCBB members, and a $5 contribution is suggested for nonmembers. An optional lunch at a separate cost will follow the meeting. Guess what we’re having for lunch? Members will receive written notice of the event, and nonmembers may email info@bostonflora.com for more information.
Have you ever wondered about safe ways to hunt for wild and exotic mushrooms, or wanted to spice up supermarket varieties like crimini or portabello? If so, join president of the Boston Mycological Club Susan Goldhor, expert forager Ben Maleson, and renowned chef Chris Douglass to explore fascinating fungi at this Boston University Food and Wine course to be held Monday, October 28 beginning at 6 pm at 808 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. Goldhor has been collecting and eating wild mushrooms—without a single stomach ache—for more than 25 years, and writes a regular column for the magazine Mushroom, the Journal of Wild Mushrooming. Chris Douglass is chef/owner of Dorchester’s beloved Tavolo and Ashmont Grill, and an active proponent and patron of local food producers. Please your palate with mushroom dishes paired with wine while expanding your mushroom knowledge. $80. Image below from www.cookingontheweekends.com. Register on line at http://www.bu.edu/foodandwine/registration-manager/catalog.php?action=section&course_section_id=808.Â
What is fungus? Join Formaggio Kitchen’s two favorite fungus gurus for a tour through the microbial world of cheese and mushrooms! Veronica Pedraza, cheesemaker at Meadowood Farms and avid forager, and Benjamin Wolfe, a microbiologist and mycologist at Harvard University specializing in the microbiology of fermented foods will help you discover a whole new world of fungal treats.While Veronica and Benjamin walk you through these fungal delights, eat tasty bites prepared for you by Veronica that will show you the ways these foods play together in harmony. With a crisp glass of wine in hand, Veronica and Benjamin’s class is sure to be a tasty educational journey you won’t want to miss. $55 fee. The class takes place at the Formaggio Kitchen annex, 67 Smith Place in Cambridge. You may register online at www.formaggiokitchen.com. Photo below from www.honestcooking.com.
John Klironomos, Professor of Biology at University of British Columbia – Okanagan, will speak to the public at the Arnold Arboretum on Monday, April 29, from 7 – 8:30 in the Hunnewell Building, in a program co-sponsored by the Boston Mycological Club. Fungi are found everywhere and play important roles in the environment. Some are decomposers (recyclers), others are parasites and pathogens, and yet others form mutualistic symbioses with plants and animals. In this presentation, the diversity and functioning of fungi in terrestrial ecosystems will be illustrated and discussed. $10 for members of the sponsoring organizations, $15 nonmembers, and you may register on line at www.arboretum.harvard.edu.
Join mycologist Lawrence Millman on Saturday, March 16, from 1 – 3:30 at Garden in the Woods in Framingham to discover what fungi can be found in New England at the end of winter. Learn about survival strategies of these species, then walk through the Garden in search of some of them. The underside of a log is the equivalent of a nice cozy chair in front of the fire for many fungi. Copies of the instructor’s new book, Fascinating Fungi of New England, will be available for purchase. $21 NEWFS members, $25 nonmembers. Register at www.newfs.org.
The 6th Annual Fungus Fair will take place tomorrow, Saturday, September 15, from 10 – 5 at the Millers River Environmental Center, 100 Main Street in Athol. Have a fun-gi filled day with talks on Beginners’ Mushroom Identification with Noah Siegel, Mushrooms from All Seasons: What to Expect and When with Bill Neill, An Exploration into Micopigments for Dyes and Watercolors with Alissa Allen, and Common Edible & Poisonous Mushrooms, again with Noah Siegel. Multiple forays will take place throughout the day, and there will be a mushroom cook-up and much more. For directions and more information, visit http://www.millersriver.net, or email nsiegel1@yahoo.com. You may also call 978-249-4260.
