August 14-- we had a nice foray up around
the Vernooykill
area. It was nice and hot and humid, so the swimming holes up at the top were a
welcome sight. We found some mushrooms but not a great number. It was great to
have Dave and Barb Plume leading the walk, with their combined knowledge. It was
also the first walk for a family of new members Gail, Andrzej and their daughter
Ania.
These Wax Caps glowed like fire from 50 yards away so we just had to take some photos....
April 28 -- reports of morels are starting to come in, so far just early black morels and false morels. See the new Mushroom Sightings Page for more info
Despite inclement weather, our March installation of the Winter Lecture Series was well attended and well received. Amidst aromas of fungal delicacies cooking in the MCC kitchen, David Work presented slides of his photos. The cooking demonstration later in the evening included techniques of sauteeing mushrooms and the unique relationship between hazelnut oil and chanterelles. Other items included in the tasting were a very tasty morel cream sauce, a blewit bordelaise sauce and a risotto made with a melange of black trumpets, morels, maitake, blewits, porcini powder and black truffle oil. Many many thanks to the folks who donated mushrooms to the cause! Recipes will be posted to this site forthwith....
The March 28th event also included the club's annual elections. As our constitution allows only three year terms for most offices, after five years of exemplary service (2 years as acting president and 3 years as president) our beloved Cynthia Fisher relinquished her position to welcome David Work as president. As hoped, Cynthia is not withdrawing entirely from officership and will continue on as our treasurer this year. Many many thanks go out to Cynthia for the amazing work she has accomplished during her tenure and the work she continues to do for us even in her very busy retirement. Kudos! Also added to the roster of new officers this year are Chris Dunne as Club Secretary and George Dagis who has agreed to take on the weighty position of Membership Chairman. We are looking for candidates for the Vice President position.
Toxicology expert and club founder, Bill Bakaitis was our lecturer for the opening of MHMA's first Winter Lecture Series with "I just ate a poisonous mushroom! What do I do Now?" Bill, a marvelous pontificator and knowledgeable mycologue, educated a crowd of more than 30 people on mushroom toxicology, including some very amusing stories involving Gymnopilus spectibilis. We're very pleased with our new found lecture and meeting space, the Marbletown Community Center, and thank them for their generosity in lending us their space.
Left: Bill answers a question from the audience Right: Young George Dagis distinguishes himself as the club's youngest mushroom enthusiast
We had a nice crowd for the potluck get together at Cynthia's on Dec. 5. Cynthia had a beautiful clump of Fall Oysters on the maple right outside her living room window for all to see. Marvelous food, good company and, of course, lots of mushroom talk. We finally got to tast John Boyle's famous Chanterelle Soup! This year in honor of our late mushroom guru and friend, Frieda Trainor, the club established an annual award for outstanding contribution to the MHMA, the Frieda Trainor Award, which was presented to David Work at this potluck for his extensive efforts in increasing membership, in reaching out to the public in creating the Winter Lecture Series and for his work in developing our website.
Below Left, A trio of Georges: George Dagis (left) with his son, George and George Johanson Below Right, Michel Ferber shows off one of Cynthia's Shiitake Logs
We have had an amazing season this year. Our membership has swelled to nearly 70 people and we have had some marvelous events and forays. Most recently, with the collaboration of Diane DeChillo, the adult education Coordinator at the Stone Ridge Library, Cynthia and David gave a presentation covering the basics in mushroom identification, safety, mycophagy and medicinals featuring David's slides to a standing room only crowd of nearly 60.
We've had some well attended and fruitful autumn walks at the Black Forest Park, the Mountain Top Arboretum and Locust Grove. John Boyle discovered some OCTOBER MORELS on a mulch pile at the Arboretum, much to everyone's surprise. Luckily, George Dagis was there with his camera! Now we know just how unpredictable morels can be!
David Work reports having found several high-yield trees fruiting Hen of the Woods as late as October 27th this year. Chanterelles and Black trumpets carpeted the forest floor this year. We are working on developing a relationship for 2005 with the owners of the most incredible chanterelle territory we've ever seen. More new on this later
.
The Locust Grove walk did not yield Hen of the Woods in as great numbers as in the past, partially due to weather and partially because the walk was earlier than in previous years. Hens were late this year. The administrators at Locust Grove have reminded us that the property is a Nature Preserve and that they generously allow only the MHMA to forage there one day out of the year on our annual foray. Please bear in mind that foraging at Locust Grove is not allowed any otherday of year. Please do not abuse their generosity thus endangering our future relationship with the park.
The May 11th walk in Hyde Park was a gas! With only 6 of us on the walk, there were many morels to be had for all. After part of the group left, two diehards stayed, unable to stop going for "one more tree." Persistence paid off, as you can see at right. As George said, "there are going to be some very happy people!" George planned to give most of his morels to friends and neighbors. What a guy!
Our May Day Morel Walk saw many new faces and we even found about 30 young morels. This years season seems it will turn out to be quite lengthy. Considerable numbers of morels were found by members on April 27, yet by May 5th, there are still areas which have not popped yet. Temperatures at night have been pretty cool, slowing things down a bit.
MHMA's March 22nd Meeting at the Plattekill Library included elections for new officers. George Johanson answered the call to take over the position of Treasurer and David Plume took on the position of many hats, Vice President. Cynthia wants to remind people that this is the last year she's allowed to be president, so think to the future, members! (could be time for a constitutional amendment!)
After much discussion and consideration of how best to begin, the MHMA Library is now a small yet potent shelf of books residing in the Stone Ridge Library. Placing our library within a larger system already in existence seemed to make sense in several aspects. It eliminated the necessity to create a librarian position within the club. It allows greater access to the reference materials by making them available through the Mid Hudson Library System, a system of more than 70 public libraries. The only requirement for access to the books is a public library card. Members who wish to make donations to the MHMA Library should contact David, here.
Help Wanted! Calling all members!MHMA is in need of a Foray Organizer who can be the central person to arrange forays. This does not mean that the organizer has to be present for every foray. It merely entails making sure locations and leaders for each foray are secured and that location information, directions and scheduling are communicated to webpage administrators so that word can get out in a timely fashion. We also want to form a during-the-week phone tree for people who want to put together short-notice weekday jaunts…
We also need a web-savvy person to share the Webmaster throne. Let your talents be known! Don't be shy!
First Alerts ! Email us with first of the season finds so that your co-members can benefit from your sharp eyes.