While many people dislike rain, mushroom enthusiasts welcome it.
With the rain comes an abundance of mushrooms, including choice edibles like the chanterelles, lobster, hedgehogs and oysters.
These edible mushrooms are easy to identify, and workshops offered this fall will help novice mushroom pickers to differentiate between the delicious and the deadly.
"Many people are excited by the idea of eating wild mushrooms but afraid of poisoning themselves," says biologist and workshop leader Jessica Wolf. "While caution is necessary, you can learn to safely forage for many delicious mushrooms."
Wolf is offering wild edible mushroom workshops Nov. 16, 17 or 18 at Wildwood Forest in Yellow Point.
Workshops participants will have the opportunity to take a close look at samples of edible wild mushrooms and their look-a-likes during a show-and-tell session. Afterwards, they will stroll through the forest in search of specimens growing in their habitat.
For people who are also interested in learning the values of local plants for food and medicine, a second workshop will be offered which combines both plants and mushrooms.
"Foraging for wild food is like a treasure hunt — you never know what you will find when you head into the woods," says Wolf.
The workshop cost is $45 per person. For more information or to register, visit Jessica Wolf's website or call 250-327-6931.
To help preserve special wild places, $100 from each Wildwood workshop will be contributed to The Land Conservancy of BC.
— Submitted