Search for Northern California’s perfect mushroom

Fall brings mushroom madness to Northern California’s Mendocino County, where seasonal rains cause more than 3,000 mushroom varieties to spring to life from October to January. Fungi fanciers hunt the 500 edible varieties, then celebrate with special events such as tastings, dinners, tours and lectures.

Dozens of events take place throughout the mushroom season, but the highlight is Mendocino County’s Mushroom Festival, Nov. 6 to 15, which includes activities as diverse as wine- and beer-pairing workshops, mushroom hunts by kayak, musical performances and guided mushroom foraging walks.

“We have so many incredible varieties of mushrooms. Everyone gets involved in showcasing this great local bounty,” said Ryane Snow, a local mushroom expert and member of the Mycological Society. During mushroom season, Snow offers identification walks, helping foragers find the precious candy cap mushroom, in addition to chanterelles, porcinis, morels and hedgehogs.

Among the special events scheduled this year are the Skunk Train’s Wine & Mushroom Adventure, a five-hour journey along the Novo River, Nov. 7; Wild Mushroom Winemaker Dinner at MacCallum House Inn, Nov. 12; Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens Mushroom Identification and Cultivation Workshop, Nov. 7, 14 and 21; Mushroom Paddles kayaking along the Novo River, Nov. 7, 8, 14, and 15; From Forest to Table foraging walk and lunch, Nov. 7 and 14; and Medicinal Mushrooms workshop, Nov. 8.

Contact: Go Mendocino or call (866) 782-9636.

— Rosemary McClure, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: The local bounty puts a smile on the face of Mendocino County mushroom expert Charmoon   Richardson. Credit: Doug Wilson]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 12:15 pm by Rosemary McClure and is filed under California, Fall, Family & Kids, Festival, Northern California. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.