Bowen Island Foray
Bowen IslandJoin us for our annual spring foray to Bowen Island! We'll be on the walk-on sailing from Horseshoe bay at 11:25am. Pack a lunch and weather appropriate clothing and footwear. A hand lens might be useful, but won't be necessary. The foray route is tentatively planned to loop around Killarney lake. The group will assemble outside the library at Snug Cove.
A Mushroom Feast for the Wild at Heart
Italian Cultural Centre 3075 Slocan St, Vancouver, BC, CanadaLive cooking show and intimate six-course tasting dinner at the chef's table In this live cooking show and intimate six-course tasting dinner, mycologist and kitchen wizard Willoughby Arevalo will pair local wild and cultivated mushrooms with seasonal produce, allowing each type of mushroom to shine in preparations honoring their unique qualities. This Spring feast will focus on Morels, Shaggy Manes and Oyster Mushrooms, with foraged spring greens and other vernal delights. Participants will sit in the kitchen at the chef’s table, experience the ritual of preparation and may even be a part of the action. While the food is cooking, Willoughby will elaborate on important aspects of each mushroom species such as their identifying features, medicinal properties, ecology and more. Be delighted and surprised by the diverse flavors, textures and aromas while you learn how to recreate the recipes at home. Feel free to bring a bottle of wine. Register here: https://italianculturalcentre.ca/blog/events/mushroom-feast-wild-heart/
Earth Day at Everett Crowley Park
Everett Crowley Park 8200 Kerr St, Vancouver, BC, CanadaVMS members are gathering again for this year’s Earth Day at Everett Crowley Park, providing public mycology education and inoculating pollinator-friendly native shrubs and nurse logs with fungi. This revitalized landfill site has taken on a new life as a rewilded natural green space for wildlife and people, and is Vancouver’s largest off-leash dog park. Partnered with the Vancouver Park Park Board, Wildcoast Ecological Society will be leading a salmon berry planting along the banks of Kinross Creek, and the Environmental Youth Alliance will be giving away native plants. There will also be an interpretive walk of the park, and Vancouver Public Library will be on hand hosting its many books on natural history. We are looking for extra VMS volunteers to help with our booth and to assist families in inoculating native shrub plantings with mycorrhizal spores and nurse logs with myceliated wooden dowels. For more information and sign up: Cody Labossiere (cody@netc.it) John Ames (johnrmames@gmail.com)
Still Moon Arts Society Streamkeepers meeting
Slocan Community Hall Slocan Park, Vancouver, BC, CanadaMycologist/artist Willoughby Arevalo and environmental artist/community organizer Carmen Rosen will present on fungal biology and ecology in Renfrew Ravine and the Still Creek Watershed and their upcoming mycelial sculpture projects Mycelial Connections and Fruiting Bodies in Renfrew Ravine. If weather is conducive this event may include a foray into the ravine.
Cancelled – Galiano Island Foray
Galiano IslandDue to BC Ferry schedule changes, there will not be enough time for a meaningful foray this weekend. If ferry service is restored by the Victoria Day long weekend we reschedule. Otherwise, perhaps we'll make the trip over in the fall. Apologies! There will be a foray to Galiano Island (reached from the Tsawassen ferry terminal) to be led by Kent Brothers & other members on Saturday May 5, weather permitting. This is a full day foray. You don't need to take a car onto the ferry -- we’re walking on and walking off. We suggest you park in the lot just before the causeway -- they shuttle you out to the ferry terminal and back. The ferry leaves Tsawwassen at 9:30 am (almost an hour later than in previous years), arriving at Galiano at 10:24 am. If you don’t see us on the ferry, we will be waiting just up the hill from the ferry dock on Galiano Island under the big trees until everyone is off the ferry. The return ferry leaves Galiano at 4:50 pm (almost an hour earlier than in previous years) and arrives at Tsawwassen at 5:45 pm. There is only one ferry that will […]
VMS Meeting May 8 – Emma Harrower
The Usual: VanDusen, Floral Hall 5151 Oak St, Vancouver, BC, CanadaOur next meeting is May 8th, 7:30pm in the Floral Hall at VanDusen Botanical Garden. Emma Harrower will present "Long-distance Dispersal and Speciation in the Cortinarius violaceus Group". Emma is a recent PhD graduate from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Her interest in Cortinarius mushroom taxonomy began in Vancouver where she was fascinated by how many mushroom species there are, and how poorly understood they are. This talk willexamine the evolution and biogeography of a beautiful (and easy to identify) subgenus within Cortinarius.
Growing Oyster Mushrooms on Upcycled Materials
Italian Cultural Centre 3075 Slocan St, Vancouver, BC, CanadaOyster mushrooms are some of the quickest, easiest and most satisfying mushrooms to grow – and they aren’t picky eaters! In this hands-on workshop we will grow them on one or more types of agricultural or urban waste products, creating delicious, nutrient-dense food-medicine. Each participant will make their own fruiting kit to take home, capable of producing at least two flushes of mushrooms. Participants will learn the life cycle, medicinal properties, identifying features and natural habitat of oyster mushrooms, and how to care for their mushroom kit, ensuring continued harvests. There will be an explanation of how the spawn was made, to give a more complete picture of the cultivation process. The workshop will conclude with a tasting of sautéed oyster mushrooms. Info and Registration: https://italianculturalcentre.ca/blog/events/growing-oyster-mushrooms-on-upcycled-materials/
Herbarium Workshop at UBC
Beaty Biodiverstiy Museum 2212 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada“From field to fungarium: making collections that expand our knowledge”. This is a workshop being developed with Prof. Mary Berbee to review the purpose and achievements of great herbaria, and to go over the proper procedures for making collections of our local fungi for deposit and contribution to the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. It will likely be no cost, but space will be limited and there will be registration; it will be for VMS members only. If you are interested, please email info@vanmyco.com to get on the mailing list.
VMS June Meeting
The Usual: VanDusen, Floral Hall 5151 Oak St, Vancouver, BC, Canada
VMS Meeting June 12 – Mark Haden
The Usual: VanDusen, Floral Hall 5151 Oak St, Vancouver, BC, CanadaOur June 12th meeting is at 7:30pm in the Floral Hall at VanDusen Garden. Mark Haden will present "Psilocybin: Reflections of past and future research" and lead a discussion on the topic. Mark is Adjunct Professor at the UBC School of Public and Population Health and Executive Director of MAPS Canada (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies). He has provided public education on drugs and drug policy for over 20 years, and worked with such entities as the Justice Institute of BC, the Vancouver Police Department, and has been invited to speak all over the world. In 2013 he was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for drug policy reform work.