Growing up in Humboldt County, there is a plethora of fungi growing in the magnificent Redwood forest. I was curious of the idea of mushroom hunting in college when my professor said that her plans for the weekend were to go mushroom hunting. Initially I thought she was a little cooky, but wanted to know more…
It was a dewy morning, and I was out for my morning walk. It had just rained the day before, and I was under a trail of Pine trees. I looked underneath trees and saw the most wonderful array of reds and whites-mushrooms. I was so shocked to see the “Mario” mushrooms in my backyard. I snapped a few pics on my phone and headed home to investigate. Turns out, the mushrooms were Amanita Muscaria or fly agaric. These red and white mushrooms are the most commonly portrayed mushroom in culture. You can look more into that.Their influence on different culture goes way back. I just liked the look of the fairyland mushroom and found out it has hallucinogenic properties. I dare not eat it! Here are some of my favorites:
The mushrooms pictured above are found in Humboldt and Trinity counties.
It’s such a fun activity to look for mushrooms with my children. After it rains(which is a lot), we go out under certain types of trees and look for the hidden treasures-mushrooms! We take pictures of them and then get out our mushroom books to identify them. Here is the Mushroom Book
We are beginner mushroom hunters and I am not, I repeat, not eating them. One day if I had the confidence not to kill my whole family with my finds, I might try it. For now, this is the resource I use to look up my finds. Do you eat mushrooms? Did you know there were so many?
At home, we use a special kind of kit to grow mushrooms and eat them. My son especially loves to watch the process and checks on it daily. Your kids might enjoy it too.
Natalie's Naturals 