The Best Edible Mushrooms of Sonoma County: With Environmental Notes on Role in Ecosystem

The mushroom season follows the rains so the season will be starting very soon. We have about 3,000 species of fungi in Sonoma County and approximately half are edible. Learn which are the best for the dinner table, where to find them and some culinary tips for enjoying them.

Because their natural role in the environment is a major clue to their fruiting habitat, understanding a small amount of Biology will often yield better results in hunting them. Join us for an evening slide show and learn about the strange world of wild mushrooms.

Darvin DeShazer is a mycologist, a local science teacher, and scientific advisor for The Sonoma County Mycological Association (SOMA), a non-profit group dedicated to learning about local mushrooms and educating the public about the vast and diverse world of fungi.

His expertise in mushrooms stems from more than 35 years in the field and a personal library of over 1,000 mushroom books. His love for hunting mushrooms has resulted in over 8,000 color photos on MushroomObserver.org.

He assists local hospitals and veterinarians as the north bay identification expert of poisonous mushrooms and is a consultant for the Bay Area Poison Control Center and the University of California Agricultural Extension Service.

Darvin has written keys to over 3,000 species of fungi and coauthored several publications about fungi, including ‘100 Edible Mushrooms’ which is currently available at Amazon.com. He teaches workshops in mushroom identification, truffle ecology and fungal microscopy.

For more information, see www.lagunafoundation.org

Or contact Anita Smith, Public Education Coordinator, (707) 527‐9277, x 110

anita@lagunafoundation.org