Local mushroom hunters host presentation at West Springfield Public Library

Oct. 17, 2018 | Stephanie Trombley
stephanie@thereminder.com

WEST SPRINGFIELD – While many may think that nature takes a step back during the fall, few know that mushrooms are in full bloom during this time. Ryan Bouchard and Emily Schmidt of The Mushroom Hunting Foundation are out to show the community why mushrooms are so important and the benefits of hunting for them. On Oct. 16, Bouchard and Schmidt educated a group at the West Springfield Public Library on fungi.

Schmidt and Bouchard share a passion for mushroom hunting and find joy in educating the public on the benefits and fun of doing so. The duo began by teaching classes under the name “Southern New England Mushroom Hunting.” Realizing their mission had expanded beyond their local footprint, they became the “Mushroom Hunting Foundation.”

Bouchard explained, “We realized that we are actually trying to change things, trying to make mushroom hunting well known and better understood as a part of American culture. We want people to realize they don’t have to be terrified of mushrooms anymore! Science has advanced far beyond that. We want to share the extreme enjoyment that we’ve experienced, and we want our society to reap the benefits of this hobby: adventure, health, knowledge and a deeper appreciation for the web of life in the forest lands around us.”

Bouchard has been interested in mushrooms since his childhood. “In a museum when I was twelve, I saw a poster for David Arora’s book Mushrooms Demystified and thought it looked really cool. I ended up getting it for Christmas that year, but that giant book was over my head at the time. Years later, my girlfriend and I attended a Rhode Island Audubon mushroom class taught by Joe Metzen and that’s what really got us started.”

Bouchard continued to utilize existing tools to better understand mushrooms. By reading “Mushrooms Demystified” and the “Audubon Mushroom Guide” by Lincoff, he was able to develop his hobby into a career. “Books are a mushroom hunter’s most important tools. In time, I got to meet the authors of those books and study with them in person! But I began to feel that America needed a mushroom book explicitly for beginners, something that directs people toward the easiest, safest edible mushroom species, but without skimping on explaining the science of it. Learning a bit of mycology, the science of fungi, is how you do this hobby safely,” Ryan said.

This conclusion has led Bouchard to develop a career as a mushroom hunting teacher alongside Schmidt and to write his own mushroom guide, “Gourmet Mushrooms of the Northeast 2019.” The work does not follow the typical formatting of a book, taking the shape of a calendar. The first portion of the book is a 2019 calendar, providing information on the mushroom seasons. The second half gives readers a background on mushroom science, safety and recipes. It is a full-color book featuring photography exclusively from New England.

Bouchard explained, “I designed it to be the best introduction to safely enjoying wild mushrooms. It focuses on the mushroom species that are ‘safe for beginners,’ which are easy to recognize and can’t be confused with anything dangerous. It is oriented toward the beginner; however, even experienced mushroom hunters will find that ‘Gourmet Mushrooms of the Northeast 2019’ has plenty of great tips and interesting material.”

Bouchard is proud of the book and recommends it to anyone just starting as a mushroom hunter. “It is fun and colorful, but scientific and safety-oriented. I carefully designed it to be the absolute best introduction to the topic, so that you too can enjoy the wild world of mushrooms.”

During their workshops, Bouchard and Schmidt present a slideshow class utilizing local photography. As Bouchard described, “It will show you the astonishing mushrooms of our own area,” They then teach guests how mushroom hunting is safely conducted, the rules of mushroom identification and the rules of cooking wild mushrooms. “We try our best to bring the adventure of mushroom hunting right into the room,” he said.

Schmidt and Bouchard have a shared understanding of the benefits of mushrooms, and are happy to teach them to locals. Bouchard shared, “Their nutritional benefits are being researched. They are much better for us than was once believed. Eating a whole range of mushroom species gives the immune system different building blocks to work with, and certain ones are being researched for their cancer-fighting potential.”

While the benefits and science of mushroom hunting are interesting, Bouchard hunts them for other reasons. “I think the main benefit of mushroom hunting is that it gets you out into the woods, enjoying the outdoors instead of the digital world. It helps if you are finding and observing strange life forms that you’ve never seen before.”

For those interested in cooking, mushrooming hunting can be an overlooked additional hobby that adds a range of new flavors to dishes.

Bouchard explained, “Wild mushrooms offer an amazing range of tastes and textures, they blow the supermarket mushrooms away! But you have to find them yourself, and that’s half the fun. It’s like a treasure hunt, and on a good day it’s like another world out there. Many of the tastiest species require living trees to grow, so they can’t be cultivated, they can only be found in the woods. And the woods of New England are pretty great.”

Worried that mushroom hunting may be damaging to nature? Bouchard reassured, “Picking mushrooms does not damage the fungus that produces them, the mushrooms are merely its fruit. For those of us who love nature, this is a huge relief. We can do what we do without being destructive.”

For those interested in exploring the hobby of mushroom hunting, Bouchard recommends attending one of the Mushroom Hunting Foundation’s local events to see what they are all about. To see upcoming events or to inquire on hosting a workshop at your business, visit www.mushroomhunting.org. His book, “Gourmet Mushrooms of the Northeast 2019” can also be purchased on the website.

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