Monthly Meeting Dec 5 — Daniel Winkler

Please join us for our December 2023 SVIMS meeting at St. Luke’s Cedar Hill, 3821 Cedar Hill Cross Road, Victoria.

Meeting details. We suggest 6:45pm arrival for a 7 pm meeting. This meeting is in-person only–no simultaneous online broadcast. (A short-term recording, only accessible by active SVIMS members, will later be available on this website.)

Foray. A foray with the speaker will take place on Dec 6. Time and location TBA.

Talk Title: “Fungal Fruits of the Forest – Edible Mushrooms in the PNW and Beyond”

Talk summary: The Pacific Northwest may be the richest region in the Western Hemisphere for great edible mushrooms. Choice edibles–Chanterelles, Hedgehogs, Matsutake, King Boletes, Oysters, Conifer Bearhead, and Cauliflower mushroom–are fairly easy to identify. There is also a variety of often-overlooked mushrooms in our woods that are superb edibles, such as Sweetbread Mushroom, Conifer Woodtuft, and White Coral Fungus. In this richly illustrated presentation, Daniel will help us learn to identify, collect, and prepare many great edible mushrooms.

Speaker bio: Daniel grew up collecting and eating wild mushrooms in the Alps. For the last 27 years, he has been living in the US Pacific Northwest. He shares his enthusiasm as a mushroom educator, photographer, and guide on his mushroaming.com website. Daniel recently published Fruits of the Forest – Field Guide to Pacific Northwest Edible Mushrooms. (It will be available at the talk.) This 400-page, gorgeously illustrated book, which focuses on the edible mushrooms of the PNW, distills a lifetime of mushroom hunting from around the world. Daniel previously published a series of fold-out field guides: Edible Mushrooms of the PNW, Edibles of California (both by Harbour Publishing), Amazon Mushrooms, and Medicinal Mushrooms of North America.  He has also published the MycoCard set “Boletes of Western North America.” His ethno-mycological cordyceps research in Tibet and other Asian locations has been featured in National Geographic, New York Times, NPR, and BBC World Service.

Upcoming

December Monthly SVIMS Meeting, in person or via Zoom.

Tuesday December 5, 6:45 pm promptly, ending 9:30 pm.  Zoom link will be sent to members by email. 

Enjoy the Draw for the 2023 SVIMS Raffle. Click here for further information.

Our in-person speaker is Daniel Winkler.  His topic is Foraging and Identification for Edible Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.

2024 Calendar Sales

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2023 SVIMS Raffle

Click here for further information.

SVIMS Foray Government House Fall 2023

SVIMS members returned on November 8, 2023 to the grounds of Government House. The 18 hectares of the provincial property include extensive natural woodlands (mossy balds, Garry oak meadows) on the south side. 

The foray personnel were composed of both Government House volunteers and SVIMS members. At the end of the foray, participants were welcomed at the Government House cottage for refreshments and sharing of finds.

The 20 or so SVIMS people in attendance divided into four groups. Each group had one recorder (Elora Adamson, Ann McCall, Richard Winder, and Kem Luther played these roles.)

Abundant rains over the last month helped bring out a large number of mushrooms, both mycorrhizals and decomposers. The fungal species from the day can be viewed on iNaturalist. In all, forayers found about 40 different species (as always, the iNaturalist count may change as other people weigh in on the observations). 

Photos courtesy of Steven Strybosch. Click on pics to enlarge.

Bolbitus titubans, the fried egg mushroom, was found throughout the grasslands.
Sarah demonstrates the proper mushroom hunting posture. Eyes on the ground!
Ann records some tree rotting mushrooms.
The group laid out the mushrooms on a table at the cottage and debated IDs.
A jelly fungus, Naematelia aurantia, chows down on some yummy Stereum.

Annual SVIMS Raffle 2023

The Annual SVIMS Raffle is underway! Tickets will be available to purchase at the next meetings until the draw on December 5th! 

Tickets are 2$ each or 3$ for 5

Prizes include…

First Place: Basket valued at over 200$ 
Second Place: One of a kind local art print 
Third Place: Signed Mushrooms of BC book
And many more smaller prizes…. 

Donations from places like Luna Collective, Sea Cider, Foragers Galley and more! 

Please contact svims.mal10@gmail.com for any questions or concerns. 

Happy Foraging! 

2024 SVIMS Calendar

The beautiful 2024 SVIMS Calendar is now available (see front cover below). SVIMS members have contributed their photographs and graphic art for each month. The calendars can be purchased by either members or non-members.

The calendars are $20 each.  They make a great gift to family and friends.

 If you require shipping, please add $5 per calendar for shipping and handling.

See Payment Options on Merch menu.

If you would like to contribute to the 2025 calendar, see the lower part of Merch menu.

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Svims Cowichan Foray 2023

Prez Mel welcomes the crown on Saturday morning

The weather was frosty but clear for the annual SVIMS foray to Cowichan Lake. 

About 60 people came for all or part of the weekend to collect samples of the local mushrooms and identify them.

The collections started on Saturday morning. Groups went to three different areas and brought back specimens.  These were arranged on a display table and given IDs. In the afternoon, groups went out again.

It was a good year for mushroom variety. Just over 175 species were identified–a SVIMS record. The list can be viewed here.

A big thanks to Kurt and all the rest of the time who put the foray together. Photos by Steve Strybosch.

The SVIMS home for the weekkend--the Cowichan Lake Education Centre
Andy takes a group down the Schenstrom Trail and the Pacific Forestry Centre
Because of a ground frost the night before--many of the mushrooms were frozen when collected. Calocera cornea, for example.
Bryce and Adolf work on identifying the mushrooms that were collected.
On Saturday afternoon, several SVIMS people stayed in the collection room to begin laying out and identifying mushrooms.
With the mushrooms identified, a little time for musical fun on Saturday evening.
Some folks sneaked out in the evening for a UV light visit to the mushrooms around the centre.
On Sunday moring, foray participants talked about their favourite discoveries.