I latterly attended a forage workshop on wild mushroom-shaped cloud , and for the preceding week , I ’ve been enjoying my own samples of the assortment of fungi . huitre ( cultivated ) , chanterelles , wimp of the woods , twisty - latex milky , older man of the woods , hedgehog , indigo Milk River cap , shaggy - stalked bolete and more oddly named delicacies , all of which are pleasant-tasting sautéed in some butter and olive oil , with just a sprinkling of salt . Chewing these morsels of the forest , the workshop experience survive on . Karen Lanier
This shop on violent mushrooms illustrate many reasons why workshops are the best way to learn and to teach land - establish acquisition .
Immersion Is Effective
The old saying hold true : “ Tell me and I forget , show me and I remember , involve me and I understand . ” workshop like the unity on wild mushroom cloud led by Tim Hensley and Jane Post ofForest Retreatsengage all your gage while taking you off from your twenty-four hour period - to - 24-hour interval environment . You live eating a repast of wild and home - grow foods , mind to the quiet of the woods , reek the musty terra firma , training your eyes to tell apart subtle modification in the colour and grain of the forest base , pick out a mushroom , and challenge your muscles to climb up a gradient to reach it . You are immersed . You ca n’t aid but get involved . You ’ll commemorate , sympathize and apply the knowledge because it is an unforgettable , hold up experience . Of course , repetition helps . Over and over , a workshop participant picked a mushroom-shaped cloud that had already been name , try out to guess what it was and was corrected by Tim . This story repeated with each of us , and we each began to think for ourselves a small more each time .
You Slow Down & Get In Sync
A central component to the experience of attending a violent nutrient hideaway , or any other nature - base encyclopedism experience , is the change of stride . Time to get oriented , wander around a little , or just sit and be still greatly raise the idea ’s ability to become curious . The agenda can be flexile , especially if it reflects the lifestyle of the teacher . At Forest Retreats , it feels as if schedules and clock do n’t exist . presentment are casual , discussions and query are advance , and the day flows in a natural rhythm . It ’s not necessarily easy to adapt to this if you derive from a more regimented rate , which is why the spaciousness of some amorphous prison term is welcome .
Workshops Teach Real-World Skills
workshop like this one provide extremely worthful service beyond convey noesis of how to describe organism such as waste mushrooms . There is a purpose much unspecific and less touchable than what could be see from books . I ’ve often thought mushroom cloud identification is a accomplishment I want to master , and after attending this shop , I get laid that is an unrealizable goal . I can rub it off my bucket list , because I will never reach it . That ’s OK , I ’m in well company . Tim Hensley has hunted wild mushrooms for decades and often react to questions such as , “ What kind of mushroom-shaped cloud is this ? ” or “ Is it edible ? ” with “ I do n’t live . ” Thank good for his honesty . Tasting a questionable mushroom could down you in the hand brake room , or worse . As Tim taught us , a guide book is just a guide , not a definitive authority .
Wisdom Comes Through Experience
A real - world skill this shop teach : Caution is the best companion . If in question , do n’t try it . Hesitation can be a good thing . Caution and tending to finespun details can make the conflict between a delicious , nutritious , sustainable local meal made of sautéed chanterelles , or severe abdominal cramps from feed a manual laborer - o - lantern mushroom cloud . As an bring layer of refuge , our instructor examine each of our bags before we head menage , identifying and rechecking that everything we took is eatable .
You Interact To Understand The Land
Paying attention to your nation and cultivating an intimate relationship on a daily base can devote off . Summer might seem like an odd time of year to find mushrooms abundant . Spring and gloam provide well conditions , with cool temperatures and more moisture . However , there are some mushroom , such as chanterelles , that like Confederate States of America - facing side . Tim noticed with a few good rains that the mushrooms were popping up in the middle of July , and he took a prospect by scheduling a shop on myopic notice . Since he is affectionately known as the Mushroom Man in the central Kentucky part , his meshing is vast and his workshop attracted enough novitiate forager to make it a go . Knowing the place and observing the change over time provides an priceless insight that can then be shared in an educational endeavor .
Our group of novice mushroom hunters left lashings of prissy , level-headed , meaty fungi mightily where they were , because we just did n’t know whether we could eat them or not . We tuned into the data we could get from our environs , rather than just from a book or even our teacher . Why do n’t these racy mushroom-shaped cloud have louse nibbles like most of the other mushrooms do ? Why are n’t the beetles and squirrels eating them ? peradventure they know something we do n’t . perhaps we can learn best by spend more time in the woods with all the teachers there .


Karen Lanier

Old man of the woods. Photo by Karen Lanier

Oyster mushrooms. Photo by Karen Lanier

Photo by Karen Lanier

Chanterelle mushrooms. Photo by Karen Lanier
