Wild mushroom hunting and harvesting are on the rise in Maine and mushroom identification classes are sprouting up everywhere. On Fri. and Sat., Aug. 10 and 11, two mushroom identification classes will be held in Lincoln County. Both classes are taught by expert mycologist Greg Marley.
Friday’s class is being held at the Hidden Valley Nature Center on Egypt Road in Jefferson from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturday’s class will be held at the Damariscotta River Association on Belvedere Road, Damariscotta from 9-3:30.
In addition, Marley is teaching a class at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens on Aug. 24, and another one at the DRA on Oct. 6 on the foraging and use of medicinal mushrooms.
Marley has been collecting, studying, eating, growing and teaching mushrooms for 40 years. He is the author of several books, including “Mushrooms for Health; Medicinal Secrets of Northeastern Fungi,” and the award-winning “Chanterelle Dreams, Amanita Nightmares; The Love Lore and Mystique of Mushrooms.” Marley provides expertise in mushroom poisoning cases, as a mushroom identification consultant to Poison Control Centers.
Maine has about 800 common mushrooms out of 2000 so it takes some time to get comfortable identifying them, said Marley. “If someone is interested in learning about mushrooms, they can use resources, take a class, and use field guides, but the most important thing is to go slowly and don’t plan to eat a lot of mushrooms until you know what you are doing,” he said.
To learn about mushrooms you need to develop the vocabulary, said Marley, i.e., to know the parts and the major types of mushrooms so when hunters are out in the field they have a structure on which to build further knowledge.
Mushroom identification requires training one’s eye. “What I find is a lot of people, all of us, only see what we can believe is there,” said Marley. “Many people don’t even see the mushrooms in the woods.”
Mushroom hunting is a tradition in Europe and Russia, whereas in America, the fear of mushrooms has prevented people from enjoying hunting for them.
“Mycophobia, or the fear of mushrooms, is powerful. That will change as people learn more about mushrooms, but the vast numbers of Americans are very scared of mushrooms,” Marley said. “It is possible to kill yourself eating mushrooms, you can’t indiscriminately graze through the mushrooms, but anyone can learn to identify common mushrooms.”
Finding mushrooms is season-specific and weather-dependent, and spring mushrooms are not as plentiful as those that come out in the fall, said Marley. The spring mushrooms he noted are morel and inky cap, which is also known as mica cap. Then there are black trumpet mushrooms, chaga mushroom, and chanterelle, which are all commonly found in Maine.
“Based on a survey I did seven years ago, the most commonly gathered mushroom by far is the chanterelle,” he said. “Not as many people collect black trumpets because they haven’t identified it.”
“Last summer and fall Maine had a lot of rain, and the mushroom harvest was bountiful, but we’ll have slow years,” Marley said. “We had a good spring so far, but the summer has been dry.”
After a decent rain, the number of mushrooms will increase, he said.
The rise in mushroom hunting is due in part to the locovore movement, and to peoples’ increasing concern about their health, and the use of homeopathic remedies for ailments, said Marley. Some mushrooms, like the chaga mushroom, have medicinal properties.
“I’ve been actively teaching mushrooms for 25 years and the curiosity has always be there, but the interest in foraging and learning about them has increased over the past five years,” said Marley. For example, his week-long class up in Cobbs Cook Bay this summer is full. Nearly all of the many classes he teaches are full.
In addition to classes, there are mushroom clubs across country one can join, said Marley. “Maine Mycological Association is a fairly lose knit group of people interested in mushrooms. We hold forays, and offer lectures, throughout the winter,” said Marley.
If anything, mushroom hunting teaches people to go out in the woods and slow down, Marley said. “I urge people to go slowly and deliberately,” he said. “You’re never going to be poisoned by a mushroom you don’t eat.”
For more information on the classes, see www.hvnc.org, damariscottariver.org, mushrooms4health.com, or www.mainegardens.org.
