As far as we know… which of course isn’t a whole heck of a lot (you are visiting Amateur Mycology after all) we are the first to find blonde morels in Colorado this year. We have video evidence for those of you who do not believe, which we will be posting soon along with pictures! They were found at about 5,000-5,500′ in elevation yesterday. The soil temperature was ranging from 49-53 degrees F in the areas they were found (we for some reason can’t remember exactly where). We are using fairly cheap digital candy thermometers to read the soil temperatures around the general area, as well as directly in the vicinity of the mushrooms. So for all of you in Colorado, hope for a little rain and get out there looking! I think we got a little rain this afternoon….

While driving through Littleton, Colorado James and I came across a park that had many different species of mushrooms growing in it. What first got our attention was large fruiting of Agaricus in the area, and as we were working on the Colorado Agaricus Project, this park was an interesting find. Unfortunately for us, most of the Agaricus found in the area were the yellow staining, foul smelling and poisonous Agaricus xanthodermus (the bane of most Agaricus hunter’s existence) and the giant mushroom of culinary disappointment, Agaricus bernardii. However, in one corner of the park, a cottonwood stump had been chopped to just above ground level. This stump had Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus pulmonarius) growing out one side, and Velvet Foot Mushrooms (Flammulina velutipes) out the other! Luckily for the Amateur Mycologists, we are able to culture these fungi in sterile lab conditions, as well as establishing them on cardboard for a more ‘natural’ form of storing the mycelium, making them the newest members of the Amateur Mycology Culture Library. Remember… the Amateur Mycology Culture Library page has an updated list of species in cold storage, and make sure you check back soon to see a full explanation of cardboard/stembutt culture from the exact oyster mushroom cluster pictured above!

SALIDA, CO- October 1st marked the beginning of Colorado’s newest mycological society, The Arkansas Valley Mushroom Club. James and I were lucky enough to get to introduce Amateur Mycology at their first meeting with our presentation on applications for mycelium beyond mycophagy. We also brought along with us 10 species of mushroom for the identification table that we found in Denver. Ellen Jacobson from the Colorado Mycological Society gave a wonderful introduction to fungi first, and then we progressed into my presentation on mushrooms as medicine, finishing with James lecture on mycoremediation. This meeting was held in the Salida Public Library and these three lectures were free for anyone who wanted to attend. Irv Broudy did an amazing job planning the first meeting for the Arkansas Valley Mushroom Club. It was absolutely spectacular. Everyone out there in Chaffee County who is interested in mushrooms should definitely check out these meetings and get to know these wonderful folks. Irv and his wife were such amazing people and we couldn’t thank them enough for letting us stay in their spectacular home. The cook and taste afterward was absolutely delicious! We hope to go up next year and plan some forays in conjunction with the Colorado Mycological Society and the Arkansas Valley Mushroom Club, so check back soon to see any updates or for contact information for the AVMC or CMS.

Clitocybe nuda, otherwise known as the wood blewit or the bluefoot mushroom, is fairly rare here in Colorado favoring more temperate climates of Europe and North America. This week we found quite a few of them in Denver. It was amazing to see a fairy ring 30′ in diameter fruiting these beautiful purple mushrooms, and the best part is they are edible! The French, the Dutch, and the English cultivate it for export all over the world. In fact, just recently I was in Whole Foods and noticed they had bluefoots imported from France. The good news is we also have this mushroom as a part of the Amateur Mycology Culture Library, and is destined to be an integral part to our mycoagriculture projects next year! I tried cooking some of the ones I found in Denver in a stir fry this evening and they were absolutely amazing. They also kept their wonderful purple color, which gave wonderful contrast with red bell peppers and snap peas. Delicious!

While working in The Amateur Mycology Lab this week, we noticed something very interesting: our contaminated petri dishes that we had attempted to clone a turkey tail mushroom (Tramates versicolor) had begun to crawl across the areas with bacterial contamination! Not only that, but it seems that the mycelium is favoring areas where the bacteria has set up shop. Fungi never cease to amaze me!

Welcome to the brand new home for the Amateur Mycologists. We are an organization that focuses on applications for mycellium beyond mycophagy (besides just eating mushrooms, what other ‘super powers’ do fungi have?). The environment around us is altered everyday through our negligent actions, and we need to lead the charge to save our planet. Our mission is to repair our environment through fungi… and have fun while doing it! This website is dedicated to all who share this passion or are just interested in learning about these new green technologies. As of now, just to give a quick update, we are culturing around 30 different species that are native to the Rocky Mountain region. These mushrooms will be used for all of our up and coming projects to remediate land in the state of Colorado. Check back soon for a list of species, as well as more info about what’s happening with ‘the troop’ this fall!