Beginners’ ID for Local Edible Mushrooms
Quimper Grange will present a program by Olympic Peninsula Mycological Society president, Lowell Dietz. Lowell will show and describe basic identification features of our local edible mushrooms, what to take with you when foraging and how to forage safely. Attendees who own field guides will be able to identify six local edible wild mushrooms. Those who intend to eat wild mushrooms will be encouraged to join a Mycological Society. Wild mushrooms are flavorful, nutritious and much safer when foraging is done with a group of experienced mushroom hunters.
As a child in an old order Mennonite community, Lowell was fascinated by puffballs and by the white fuzz that ate the inside out of creosote treated railroad ties. He joined the Kitsap Peninsula Mycological Society in the late 1980s. Lowell started cultivating mushrooms on wheat straw and sawdust-- a byproduct of his and his wife Audree’s carpentry business-- about 12 years ago. The Olympic Peninsula Mycological Society, where he serves as president, is an organization dedicated to making foraging as safe as possible. Lowell promotes mycology as a hobby and mushroom cultivation as a business or for fun. He will have on hand for sale his Blue Cap Oyster Mushroom growing kits.
Lowell cultivates mushrooms in Sequim and can be reached on line at dietzfarm.com. He and his wife have owned and operated Dietz Construction, an interior finish carpentry sub-contracting business, since 1976.
The program starts at 7:30 pm and is preceded by a potluck dessert/fingerfood social half-hour from 7pm to 7:30pm. Suggested donation: $5-$10. For further information contact: Charlotte Goldman at 385-3455. Quimper Grange rents space. Call Jo Yount at 385-0456/774-6618.
It was a full house at the Grange on Monday night, October 3, with featured speakers Jennifer and Barclay Calvert of Port Townsend’s Nourishing Life Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine. The evening’s topic, “Your Home Chinese Medicine Kit: Using Ancient Knowledge to Stay Healthy,” drew dozens of listeners eager to learn simple, effective methods for staying healthy as fall approaches and temperatures drop.
The Calverts kept up a lively pace as they discussed the uses of over a dozen Chinese herbal remedies for everything from the common cold to burns and boils. Next, we learned how to locate four particularly potent acupuncture points, and about their impressive range of application. An introduction to the art and science of moxibustion rounded out the evening, as Barclay demonstrated how to light a moxa stick with a candle. Moxa strengthens the body’s core energy and fortifies the immune system. A friend and I both went home with moxa sticks and I immediately put one to use in treating a slow-healing foot injury.
I’ll soon be heading to the Food Coop or to Wild Sage to stock up on “Yin Qiao Pills” and “Release the Exterior” pills. I learned that they are both great for warding off colds before they get a firm foothold in the body. It
makes sense to add a few time-honored remedies to the medicine cabinet and sail through the coming winter without a hitch. Artemis Celt, ND, www.deitycentral.com