10/28, Sunday afternoon. Oregon Mycological Society's annual fall mushroom show is held again at World Forest Center. $5 entrance fee. I enjoyed the food samples, but didn't like the long line. Difference recipes were showcased today at different times. After 4pm, crowd thinned out, and I was able to eat a bit more of the soup and the egg custard. I inquired about cooking chicken-of-the-woods. Yes, quite a few vendors, and two tables for ID-ing mushroom with microscopes, and various intricate tools.
I went to all 3 talks at 1, 2, 3pm (the schedule was not published ahead of time), each about 30-40 minutes. The first is by Faye, a pharmacist at Oregon Poison Center. One useful phone #: 1-800-222-1222 which leads you to Poison Control Center. Milk thistle is useful if you digest some poison. Induce gag is not recommended, especially when taking charcoal.
2nd talk is mushroom id basic. Good to refresh.
3rd talk is by Peter McCoy, owner of Radical Mycology, on cultivating shitake. He recommended this PDF of Best Management Practices for Log-Based Shiitake Cultivation from Cornell's mushroom info sheet. Peter talked through the process, showed us the tools used to grow mushroom (saw dust), inoculate shitake on clean logs (oak is the best, next alder and maple), wax the end and holes to keep the moisture, and reduce other infection. Then, wait for 18 months, soak and fruit.
