Survival. That's why I got into mushrooming. It was a way to enjoy myself when my husband was fishing for trout and steelhead. He'd fish and I'd mushroom. I started off slowly, discovering crested coral, then moved into larger corals and chanterelles, the easy to identify kinds of mushrooms. Within a year I'd found a 16 pound, creamy white cauliflower in prime condition while he was fishing. Now, that caught his eye, and he's been mushrooming with me ever since!
Curiosity. That's what keeps me mushrooming. I never really know what I'm going to find or where. No matter how much I explore or research fungi, there's no end to how much more I can learn. That's one of the reasons why I keep a diary to track trends over time and why I belong to mushroom clubs - I can share knowledge and perspective. I love to go back year after year to the same spots to see what new lessons they hold for me. Yet, equally, I love to drive the back country, stopping to explore and investigate new places. Even though I love my old standby spots, my favorite place is always the next place that I mushroom...one place is silver and the other gold.
Spiritual. That's why I mushroom in Curry County. Here the woods are serene and quiet, save for the birds and breezes. They're pristine. Clean. Rarely does debris from former visitors deface the landscape. Rarely do I encounter other foragers. As I meander through salal and sword ferns, past tanoaks and Douglas fir and rhododendron, there is a calmness that permeates the landscape and soothes my restless soul. From late July until Superbowl Sunday, the forest floor offers a bounty of choice edible fungi: pigs ears, black trumpets, golden and white chanterelles, boletus edulius, and cauliflowers to name just a few of my personal favorites. Mushrooming is such a blessing for the body and the soul!
Tranquility. That's the aftermath of meandering through the woods. I love coming home and researching the unknown fungi I've gathered; this satisfies my curiosity and reinvigorates me. I love processing the mushrooms, cleaning and preserving them - in the processing I become cleansed. I love sharing the bounty with friends; it's a way of sharing my soul.
Rush hour traffic in foggy, wintry Curry
County!
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