THE BLACK TRUMPET ( Craterellus sp. ) is one my favorite wild mushrooms for the table. Like its cousins in the chanterelle family, it's earthy with a touch of fruity sweetness. On the West Coast, most pickers look for them in the coastal hills of northern California and southern Oregon, where they hide among the leaf litter of forests dominated by Douglas fir, tanoak, and madrone (with a smattering of decayed redwood for good measure). But they can be found elsewhere... One of the great pleasures of mushroo
Hey Washingtonians, I’ll be giving several slide presentations across the state this October about wild foods, foraging, and my books. Come by and say hello! October 5: Renton Public Library , 11am. October 8: Methow Conservancy First Tuesday, Merc Playhouse, Twisp , 7pm. October 9: Chewelah Public Library , 6pm. October 10: Kettle Falls Public Library , 6pm October 16: The Reach Museum, Richland , 7pm. October 17: Connell Public Library , 6pm. Lastly, on October 20 I’m hosting a Fall Foraged Dinner at
West Coast woods from NorCal to BC are loaded with oyster mushrooms right now—and it's nice to see the excitement they're stirring in foraging communities. Lately I've been seeing photos of oysters all over online message boards and myco groups. Morels have traditionally commanded most of the vernal ink among mycophagists, but for a majority of us west of the Cascades the oyster is really the local fungus of springtime. I start looking for oysters ( Pleurotus sp. ) in lowland forests as soon as the temperat