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.

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!