Slow Mushrooming: Mushroom Identification Workshop
Fungi are diverse, delicious and sometimes deadly. With interest in foraging for wild food on the rise, learning to accurately identify fungi reduces both poisoning risk to humans and harm to the environment.
Developing the skills to find fungi requires slowness, not speed. The workshop will focus on assisting participants to identify a few edible species thoroughly, rather than many superficially.
We will engage multiple senses to examine the major diagnostic features of edible fungi alongside their toxic lookalikes. We will also follow the principles of ‘ecological foraging’ – an approach based on care, conservation and an understanding of ecosystem dynamics.
Following an interactive indoor identification session around a specimen table we will then head to the field to search for fungi.
This workshop is of value to those who want to learn to identify any fungi, not just edible species.
Please note that although we won’t be collecting fungi during the foray, as we may be in areas where collecting is forbidden, you’ll get to learn many skills for finding and identifying fungi and have a memorable foray!
Participants are welcome to bring fungus specimens to the workshop for identification.
There will be ample opportunity for questions and conversations.
Alison’s books, The Allure of Fungi, Wild Mushrooming, Underground Lovers and Funga Obscura will be available for purchase at the workshop.
This event is kindly sponsored by Wooragee Landcare
Further workshops can be viewed at this link.