Cause we are fun-guys

The day of the wolf howl we also attended a guided walk on mushrooms and fungus. A topic that we really don't know a lot about, even though we have lots on tables, a wooded area full of it and I am constantly emptying pockets with it in during laundry. It was a fabulous hike in a truly beautiful lush part of the forest, with lots of great information shared.

As I write the post though , I am aware of how little my brain retains these days. I did remember this, which I think my fellow nature loving mama's could make use of . It is alright to pick mushrooms. The important part is not the part above ground that we see, but the part growing below the surface that we can't see that should stay undisturbed by us. That wasn't it though. You know the large hard fungus that grows off the tree like a fan. We have numerous pieces as part of our nature table. Apparently it harbours beetle larva, when it comes inside they can hatch and eat away at your wood furniture thinking it is a tree. So if you collect some, bring it home but FIRST but it in a ziploc and then in the deep freeze for a few days. Then take it out of the bag and put it in the oven on low heat for awhile. This will kill any friends hanging out.

Those same flat fungus (the guide is holding up one) are perennial. Each year they grow another layer. Like tree rings you can count the layers seen on the spot where it attaches to the tree, a layer for each year. Cool.

We learnt lots of different names of different fungus, many of which I can't remember. We did pick up the park's guide on mushrooms which looks good. He did recommend two field guides, he does suggest always using two guides to cross reference because fungus can change so much as it grows. The first was the Lone Pine guide which apparently has fabulous photos but the descriptions are lacking. The second was the Audubon Society Guide which has excellent descriptions but the photos are in a different section requiring you to flip back and forth.

We came aware even more inspired to learn more, perhaps remembering a few more names. Our counter is currently set up to capture the spores of mushrooms for prints. We will let you know how it goes.