FFSC Events Archive

Picking is not usually allowed at the park, however, we've arranged to use the facilities at the ranch house to cook any edibles that we may find, at the end of the foray. While there may not be an abundance of mushrooms, it will be a great opportunity to enjoy the unique biome that is Quail Hollow, and also to observe some of the first spring wildflowers in bloom.

Happy hunting!

- Cass Fuentes

Minister of Local Forays

The talk will discuss recent scientific projects from the Santa Cruz Mountains that involve measuring the ecology, traits, and identity of fungal spores that are caught from the air and from rainwater. We'll also see beautiful images of spores and their sporocarps that will be used for the Santa Cruz Mycoflora project.

Biosketch: Dr. Sharifa Crandall is a fungal and plant ecologist. A proud banana slug, she obtained her PhD from UC Santa Cruz in Environmental Studies, her Masters in Forest Science from Yale University, and her Bachelors in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley. She is a California endemic and grew up hiking and exploring the forests of the northern and central coast. Sharifa is obsessed with all things spore and enjoys taking photos of fungi under a microscope. In her spare time, she forages for edible mushrooms with her daughter and experiments with new recipes for candy caps.

More info on our Wine & Mushroom Event page.

We have opened this to the public for this one event. Usually, you must be a FFSC member for you and your family to attend.

Learn more about our Albion Long Distance Forays.

Langdon Cook is the author of The Mushroom Hunters: On the Trail of an Underground America, winner of the 2014 Pacific Northwest Book Award, and Fat of the Land: Adventures of a 21st Century Forager, which the Seattle Times called “lyrical, practical and quixotic.” Cook has been nominated for a James Beard Award (2016) and a Pushcart Prize. His writing appears in numerous publications, and he has been profiled in Bon Appetit, Outside, Salon.com, and the PBS TV series Food Forward. Cook lives in Seattle with his wife and two children.

Start the evening with a private tour and sample appetizers and enjoy an amazing multi-course mushroom and wine feast with a group of like-minded fungiphiles.

Details:

• 5:00-6:00 PM Gather in the Auditorium. Mycologists, Noah Siegel and Christian Schwarz will lead private tours

• 6:00 - 9:30 PM Chef Evan presents the 6th annual Mushroom Dinner. Wine pairings by Frank Virgil Owner and Winemaker of De Vincenzi Cellars

• Live Music by George Heagerty and Never the Same

WHERE: Room #3, Louden Nelson Community Center, 301 Center St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Visit the Holiday Potluck page for details.

For more info, visit the Albion Long Distance Forays page.

This class is full.

Rick Kerrigan was born and raised in California. He holds three degrees focused on mycology, including a doctorate from University of California, Santa Barbara (1989). His mentors include David Arora and Dr. Harry Thiers. Kerrigan has published many peer-reviewed and symposium papers on Agaricus, and a small volume on Agaricaceae of California, Volume 6 (Mad River Press, 1996). Pre-2016, he had introduced and named 11 or so new species or subspecies of Agaricus. He has also been awarded several US and international patents on new mushroom varieties and technologies. Rick has worked in the mushroom industry since 1991 at Sylvan, Inc., a mushroom spawn company. For most of that time he directed the company’s US research effort and led the strain development team.

Kerrigan's new book, Agaricus of North America, was released in September, 2016; it will, among other things, introduce and name more than 40 new species, subspecies and varieties of Agaricus.

Fun, fun, fun! We will have an FFSC table reserved. If you haven't been here before, check out their FB page or website. Casual, have a million beers on tap; you can also pick up food from next door Carpo's or The Fish Lady.

This class is full.