SVIMS Monthly Meeting Thursday, September 5, 2024.

by SVIMS eventsSVIMS speakers

NEW General Meeting day of the week and time:

7pm arrivals; 7:15pm start. 

1st Thursday of the month, September to May except January. 

Guests welcome! Bring your mushrooms to be identified.  

St Luke’s Hall

3821 Cedar Hill Cross Rd, Victoria, BC V8P 2M6

SVIMS The Next Generation

An opportunity for SVIMS members to hear from and be inspired by the mycological passions of fellow SVIMS members

And our first speakers of the new season are

Ann  McCall, Mohannah Singh, and Sarah Riley and Josh Wayborn

Ann McCall

“Sequencing Local Mushrooms”

Ann McCall is a mycology enthusiast with a particular interest in taxonomy and ITS barcoding. She joined SVIMS in 2022 to connect with a community of like-minded individuals while advancing her understanding of mycology.

With a background in engineering and a life-long passion for the sciences, Ann finds joy in deepening her knowledge of fungi while actively contributing to citizen science. She regularly participates in citizen science initiatives aimed at documenting all macrofungi in North America, and hopes to make DNA sequencing more accessible to SVIMS members.

When she’s not exploring forests in search of mushrooms, Ann can be found baking tasty treats or adventuring in her self-converted campervan.

Mohanna Singh

“The Process of Mushroom Photography”

Mo is a third year student studying forest biology at the University of Victoria. She has been apart of SVIMS since 2019, and has been doing nature photography since 2017. Her dad and older brother taught her to use a camera, and through lots of trial and error she has slowly improved over the years. She enjoys finding unique species of fungi all over Vancouver Island to photograph. Alongside photography, Mo enjoys reading, writing, and painting.

Sarah Riley and Josh Wayborn

“Ophiocordyceps”

We caught mushroom fever around 2015, having no formal mycology training, we began learning about and hunting mushrooms every chance we got. We moved to Vancouver Island in 2020, largely to chase a longer mushroom season than Manitoba has.
Josh was so fortunate as to come across the first of the Ophiocordyceps on a Western Carpenter ant in 2021 and we later found a large number of specimens at that site.
Treasure hunting for edibles in the forest has been a deep passion for both of us and we hope to have many more mushroom hunting years ahead of us.

SVIMS Stropharia Cultivation Workshop Spring 2024

by SVIMS events

On the weekend of March 16-17, 2024, nearly 40 SVIMS members learned about adding something new to their gardens this spring. The m orning and afternoon workshops were hosted by member Steve Fischer.

The workshops, centred on cultivating King Stropharia/wine cap (Stropharia rugosoannulata) mushrooms, taught the basics of backyard mushroom cultivation, including creating the ideal environment for King Stropharia.

In preparation for the workshop, Steve gathered and prepared the necessary materials, including multiple substrates, mushroom spawn, and pots for members to take home mini stropharia beds. Generous donations of wine cap spawn by Grow Mushrooms Canada and pots by Saanichton Christmas Tree Farm were greatly appreciated!

SVIMS members enjoyed far better weather for this workshop than the last one. The spring day was warm and bright. Each group worked together to build a full-size King Stropharia bed to learn the fundamentals. They then assembled a mini version that they could take home to try their hand at producing these prized edibles.

Mush luck to these new cultivators!


Emma continues to add spawn while Steve describes ideal conditions for mushroom cultivation

Steve demonstrates adding spawn to the mushroom bed

Members take turns adding sawdust to the bed

Steve demonstrates straw bale inoculation

SVIMS Log Inoculation Workshop 2024

by SVIMS events

Approximately 25 SVIMS members gathered in morning and afternoon classes held at Steve Fischer’s home in the Blenkinsop Valley. Their goal was to learn how to create mushroom-bearing logs.

In the days leading up to the workshop, Steve got ready for the class by gathering and cleaning fresh-cut alder, preparing all the equipment, and ordering fresh oyster and shiitake spawn. Steve and his assistants–Andrew Anderson, Bob Jeffs, and Steve Strybosch–drilled the logs and helped participants inoculate them. Steve introduced the group to a new log-sealing technique using bentonite clay.

The weather was quite rainy in the morning, but Steve was prepared for it. He had set up tarps to keep class members relatively dry and comfortable. The rain subsided in the afternoon, but the wind picked up and temperatures dropped. In spite of the weather, everyone left the workshop happy and satisfied, carrying their own logs freshly inoculated with oyster or shiitake spawn.

Steve shows the group his mushroom log collection.
The morning class was thankful for the tarps that Steven had set up.
Leya happily sealing up her inoculated log.
Steve teaches the people the next procedure, the bentonite clay application
Sawdust spawn used to inject into the alder logs.

SVIMS Annual Survivors’ Banquet

by SVIMS events

January 13th, 2024

Open to active members plus 1 guest per member

Sign up via link on January 2 email.

Sign up by January 10.

 

Where?

St Luke’s Anglican Church Hall

3821 Cedar Hill Cross Rd

Victoria

 

Schedule

  • 4:45pm arrivals begin
  • 5:30pm main course  
  • 6:30 approx – Gift exchange
  • 8:30pm – Take down – volunteers needed!
  • (4-4:45pm set up – volunteers needed)

 

What to bring?

  • Your own: cutlery, napkins, mug/cup, bowl, plate. BYOB/Drinks, tea or coffee.
  • One dish (main or dessert) that will feed avg 6 people.
    • Must include a displayed list of ingredients!
    • May or may not include edible mushrooms. 
    • Serving utensils for your dish.
  • A gift for the raffle/gift exchange
    • Handmade, refurbished, new or regifted gift baskets or individual items.  Examples: books, puzzles, survival gear, soaps, teas, libations, squashes, dried mushrooms, walking sticks, artwork …
  • Cash or card for the raffle/gift exchange tickets
    • 2$ each ticket, 3 for 5$ and 10 for 15$. This is a fundraiser and a funraiser.
    • It is not mandatory to participate in the gift exchange
    • There is a draw for gifts, but the gift you win is likely to be exchanged by a later winner (the fun part).

 

 

The kitchen will be available for use of minor items, such as:

  • Sink 
  • Water
  • Kettle
  • Coffee maker
  • Fridge
  • Stove top

 

Please clean what you use.  The club pays extra for the use of the kitchen. 

Thank you!

 

SVIMS Mushroom Show Returns to RBCM

by SVIMS events

Newcombe Conference Hall in the Royal BC Museum became the site for the SVIMS 2023 mushroom show. This was a return to RBCM for SVIMS–the show was at the museum in the 1990s. The 2023 show was the capstone event of a wide-ranging RBCM Fungi Fest that included the opening of a new IMAX film on mushrooms, a mushroom walk, and two noontime lectures.

This year’s event was, without doubt, the most stylish show ever, thanks to some new table signage prepared by Leya Costa, the species cards created in 2022, and elegant posters coordinated by show runner Andrew Anderson.

In the days before the show, SVIMS colllectors ranged far and wide to harvest the show mushrooms. Setup for the show was on Saturday, October 21. Workers arrived about noon and quickly assembled the displays.  The mushrooms were arranged on small paper boats and plates. Identifiers worked to put names to the more than 200 species that were brought in.

After the doors to the show opened at 10 am on Sunday, nearly a thousand visitors streamed through the displays, smelling and touching the mushrooms, asking questions to the SVIMS members behind the tables, and lugging in mushrooms to be identified. Visitors were able to buy the new SVIMS calendar and take out SVIMS membships. Displays at the edges of the room attracted children and foragers. Beginning at noon, short illustrated talks by five different SVIMS members–to capacity audiences–took place in the room next to the bookstore. 

Visitors walking through the doors of the RBCM were guided to Newcombe Conference Hall by a series of posters.
A big thanks to the many, many SVIMS members who contributed their time and effort to make the show a success. And also the the staff from the RBMC, who worked throughout the day to ensure that everything worked smoothly. (Photos by Steve Strybosch).
As the mushrooms were brought in on Saturday, SVIMS volunteers identified them, attached ID cards, and arranged them on the display tables.
The final display sat overnight at the museum, waiting for the morning rush of visitors.
A new addition this year--wooden pedestals to hold some of the specimens above the table.
The show in progress.
The show featured more than a dozen good edibles, such as this Bleeding Milk Cap.
People also learned that some mushrooms found around Victoria should never be eaten.
Andy works the ID table behind one of the new tent signs. Is it Andy or the mushroom that is "currently unidentified?"