WORKSHOPS

boston mycological club fall 2010 mushroom classes Please visit http://media.bostonmycologicalclub.org/doc/BMCFallClasses.pdf for full information and printable form. We are pleased to present the lineup for our fall classes. Although these are designed especially for beginners, all are welcome. All Classes start at 7 P.M. on consecutive mondays in the Harvard Herbaria, at the end of Divinity Avenue. (harvard Square T stop) You may choose to come to one class or the entire series. The charges for admission are: Non-Members: $15 for any single class; $40 for any three; $45 for four; $50 for all five. Members: $10 for any single class; $25 for any three; $30 for four; $35 for all five. Note that if non-members attend all the classes, they can become club members for only $5 extra. (What a Bargain!) Non-Members are invited to the Sunday forays that precede these classes, and are welcome to stay after class for our normal I.D. sessions. September 20: “A Beginner’s Guide to Identifying Fungi” by Erin Page Blanchard. Whether you’re collecting edibles or just enjoying another part of the natural world, putting a name to what you see is important for both pleasure and knowledge. It may take expertise or time to fill in genus and species (see the next class!), but we can all learn to classify mushrooms into groups by visual characteristics, and this tells us where to look next. We are lucky to have Erin with us from California where she has been an official identifier for many fungal events, and moderates a message board for Mushroom hunting and I.D. As a consultant to wild food businesses, and part of a team identifying Yosemite fungi, she’s the ideal person to lead us into the fungal maze. September 27: “Identifying boletes” by Noah Siegel. Noah is a nationally known award-winning photographer and mushroom identifier. He is co-president of the Monadnock Mushroomers Unlimited in Keene, New Hampshire, and a trustee for the North East Mycological Federation. Noah has hunted mushrooms throughout North America as well as in New Zealand and Australia. He’ll host his annual Fungus Fair on Sept. 18th, in Athol, MA (10 AM - 5 PM; 100 Main Street). October 4: “Identifying White and Light Spored Gilled Mushrooms” AND October 18: “Identifying Dark spored gilled mushrooms”: by George Davis. It’s difficult to overestimate the importance of accurate identification for mushroom hunters. Not only is it a fascinating puzzle, but it’s the difference between a delicious meal and a delicious meal followed by a night in the E.R. identification is tricky enough that we devote a monday night to it after every single sunday foray. Luckily, the B.M.C. has experts to help. George (and Karen) Davis are the people we’re most likely to turn to for assistance, teaching us how to figure out what we’ve found. October 25: “All the Rest”: Instructor to be announced. polypores, puffballs, truffles, and all of the other weird and wonderful fungi that don’t fit into the above categories. (Many scrumptious edibles are in this category!)