Have you ever walked through the woods in the fall and been surprised by a bright yellow patch of witch’s butter on the butt of log or a brilliant orange cup fungi emerging from the ground? Have you noticed mushrooms forming in a fairy ring on your lawn or sticky Slippery Jacks suddenly appearing around the base of larch trees? Have you ever eaten wild mushrooms? Can you recognize shaggy manes, lobster and oyster mushrooms? Are you able to differentiate between a true and a false chanterelle?
Come prepared to see the forest in a different light. Join Robert Macrae, hosted by Wildsight, for a talk at the Creston Valley Public Library at 10 a.m. Oct. 11 followed by a walk beginning at the Summit Creek turn-off at 1:30 p.m.
Macrae has taught environmental chemistry and applied microbiology courses at Selkirk College since 1996. Prior to that, he worked as a quality control supervisor for a diversified food company and as a production manager on commercial mushroom farms. Macrae has an master’s degree in science from the University of Toronto, where he studied plant pathology and mycology, and a bachelor’s degree in science and agriculture from the University of Guelph. He was a postgraduate student at the University of Tokyo where he studied mushroom cultivation and forest chemistry.
Macrae has presented talks on mushrooms, Japanese mushroom cultivation and the origins of Santa Claus (which has a surprising connection with fungi). He has led many walks over the past 18 years throughout the east and west Kootenay valleys to introduce people to the fascinating world of fungi.
Admission to the mushroom talk is $5 and admission to the mushroom walk is $10.
—WILDSIGHT