Eatmore Toadstools, which as you may
have guessed is not his real name, has been studying, picking, and eating wild
edible mushrooms and plants for over 25 years. With 30 years of gardening
experience, he has more recently taken up the cultivation of medicinal and
visionary plants. He was president of the Mycological Association of
Washington in 2003, was its newsletter editor for a number of years and is
currently a member of the Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club. Eatmore has also
taught adult education courses in mushroom foraging at Chautauqua Institution
and Arlington County, VA Adult Education, and presented mushroom
and plant workshops at a number of festivals and events. He has a PhD in public
policy from George
Mason University,
and in real life is an economic policy consultant. His mushroom musings website
is http://EatMoreToadstools.com.
Workshop Description for a 2-3 hour
workshopon wild mushrooms.
This generally includes a 60-75 minute presentation and a 60-75 minute field
trip, depending upon the venue. Due to safety concerns, attending the
presentation is a prerequisite for the field trip.
Foraging for wild mushrooms is safer
than people might think if a few basic rules are followed. The first rule is
that one should never eat a mushroom that you cannot positively identify. Always learn to identify mushrooms from
people who have experience. Never attempt to identify a mushroom from a field
guide or photos until you have accumulated enough experience on your own to do
so. Understand that there are 1000's of
mushroom species and even experienced mycologists cannot identify them all.
Edible, poisonous and medicinal
mushrooms will be discussed. It will be emphasized that only knowledge and
positive identification is a barrier to poisoning, but many people have learned
to pick their own mushrooms with little risk.
I will talk about field guides, mycology websites, mushroom clubs and
associations, mushroom habitat, and show items that are necessary for a
successful mushroom foraging trip. I will tell the audience how to prepare
positively identified edibles for immediate consumption or preservation. My
theory on why some cultures readily seek out wild mushrooms, while others
suffer from what is known as "mycophobia," will be presented.
This event will include a field trip
where mushrooms will be collected and identified if temperature and moisture
conditions allow. However, there is no guarantee that mushrooms will be found,
and while I know hundreds of species, there is no guarantee that I will be able
to identify everything we might find. Those who have no prior knowledge of
mushrooming are especially welcome, but this event will not make them instant
experts in picking mushrooms for consumption.
75 minute workshop on medicinal
mushrooms
Mushrooms have been used in Asia for medicinal purposes for a very long time.
While most of the mushrooms to be discussed are traditionally cultivated in
Asia rather than harvested in the wild, some of the same or similar species may
be found in the wild in the US.
Others may be purchased as "food supplements" or as spawn or kits for home
cultivation.
This workshop will cover 20-30 mushrooms
that are of known medicinal value, provide descriptions of each, discuss the available
medical literature as well as the general field guides and websites, the
marketers of the mushrooms (including those marketing mushroom spawn for people
to grow their own) and the variations in quality of those sold specifically as
food supplements. It may also include a short field trip on the grounds
if it is likely that any of these varieties could be found in the immediate
area. This will depend on temperature, rainfall, etc.
While the subject is medicinal
mushrooms, I will refer attendees to the available literature for more information
pertaining actual medical benefits of particular mushrooms. While I can discuss medical use in general, I
am not a qualified health expert.
75 minute workshop on growing
medicinal and visionary plants
There are a large number of plants that
have been used for dreams, visions, relaxation, healing and altered states for
a very long time in different parts of the world. The US is somewhat schizophrenic about
such plants. Some are sold in herbal form with little restriction.
Some are refined, put in pill or liquid extraction form and are sold with few
restrictions as long as they pass muster as "herbal supplements" in markets
where caveat emptor rules. While some of the better known plants
and refined substances that have been used for what prohibitionists would
probably call non-medicinal purposes are on the US Drug Enforcement Agency's
Schedule I, there are many others that may legally be possessed and cultivated
(although in some cases one should seek legal guidance on the consumption
and/or refining of such plants). There are online merchants who sell many
of these plants and seeds, as do some seed companies in the US and Canada that also sell flower and
vegetable seeds. This workshop covers only those plants that are legal to
grow and possess in the jurisdiction where it is presented.
Some of these plants are easy to
cultivate and grow while others are not. Some are even quite common in much of
the US;
others are over-harvested in the wild. Still others are rarely sold in
the US
as seeds or live plants. A few, such as salvia divinorum, rarely produce seeds
and are propagated by cuttings. There are some about which little is known due
to existence in less inhabited parts of the globe and use by indigenous peoples
and others that have been intensely studied in medical research.
This presentation will cover both plants
used primarily for medicinal purposes, such as goldenseal and ginseng, and
plants more noted for visionary or relaxation experiences, such as kratom and kanna. It will discuss what is available, the existing
literature, experiences of people who have ingested such members of the plant
world (to the extent it is known), where website discussions may be found and
where the plants and seeds may be found in the wild or purchased. It will offer tips on cultivation without reliance on expensive equipment and
greenhouses, noting that one may need completely different soils and methods
for different plants, depending upon their native habitat.
Note: this workshop could also be
presented as two separate 75 minute workshops, one covering visionary plants
and one covering plants historically used medicinally. It is re-emphasized that in no case will plants
that are illegal to possess or grow in your jurisdiction be included in the
workshop.
Lactic fermentations (1-2 hours). Hands-on creation of beet kvass, kimchee, naturally brined pickles, saeurkraut and... ta da... kombucha!
Not all that is transformed by little beasties is beer and wine, although we could cover that too. Learn from my mistakes as well as my successes. Lament the fact that the best pickling cukes are harvested at the worst time for making pickles.
