Mushroom season: two guided walks, a free show, and the no-picking rule
Two guided fungus walks in regional parks, a free mushroom show at the museum, and the one rule about picking. Checked this week.
The fall rain has brought the mushrooms up, and for a few weeks the forest floor around Victoria is worth walking slowly. The easiest way to learn what you are looking at is to go with someone who knows. Here are the guided walks and the one big show left this season. Every date and fee below was checked on the organizer's own page on October 29.
Fungi Fest at the Royal BC Museum, Sunday, November 1
The South Vancouver Island Mycological Society's annual mushroom show fills Clifford Carl Hall at the Royal BC Museum, 675 Belleville Street, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is free. Expect hundreds of identified mushrooms laid out on tables, and experts on hand to answer questions. If you found something on a walk and have wondered about it since, bring it in and they will identify it.
There are free talks in the Conference Hall through the day: Elora Adamson on DNA sequencing and the unique mushrooms of BC at noon and 2, and Melanie Hesz on foraging and mushroom identification at 1 and 3.
Marvelous Mushrooms, Witty's Lagoon, Sunday, November 1
The same afternoon, a CRD Regional Parks naturalist leads a beginners' mushroom walk in Witty's Lagoon Regional Park in Metchosin, from 1:30 to 3. It is for all ages, and the brochure lists no fee and no registration. Meet at the Teaching Shelter off the Lagoon Trail. Park in the main lot off Metchosin Road, take the main trail and turn left onto the Lagoon Trail, which takes about ten minutes on foot. BC Transit's 54 and 55 both get you there.
The walk is about 800 metres on gravel and soil with a steep stretch, so leave the stroller at home. Leave the dog too: CRD asks that pets stay home for its nature programs. Walks run rain or shine. If the weather looks bad enough to cancel, call 250-360-3656 for a recorded message.
Fabulous Fungi, Francis/King, Sunday, November 15
For adults who want to go past the basics, Andy MacKinnon and Kem Luther, local fungi experts and authors, lead an intermediate identification walk with a CRD naturalist in Francis/King Regional Park in Saanich, from 1:30 to 3. It is 18 and over, and costs $8 plus GST. Space is limited and you have to register by November 13 at crd.ca/parks-events. The route is about 800 metres of boardwalk and compact trail with a slight incline, and it is wheelchair accessible.
If you want to keep going
The South Vancouver Island Mycological Society, the group behind Fungi Fest, runs its forays for members. Membership details are at svims.club.
Look, don't pick
In the CRD's own words, "harvesting and removal of natural park features, such as mushrooms, berries, roots and leaves, is prohibited in CRD regional parks." That covers Witty's Lagoon, Francis/King, East Sooke and the rest. The Province is just as clear about provincial parks such as Goldstream: it is illegal to pick mushrooms in a provincial or national park. So in the parks, take photos and leave the mushrooms where they are.
Pass it on