SEQUIM — It’s a fabulous fall for fungi, thanks to rainy days, and the Olympic Peninsula Mycological Society’s president said Sunday’s mushroom show will be wild and a little woolly.
The Olympic Peninsula Mycological Society Wild Mushroom show opens at noon Sunday at the Sequim Elks Lodge, 143 Port Williams Road, said Sequim mushroom farmer Lowell Dietz.
The fungus fest, which will continue until 4 p.m., is free and open to the public.
“We expect a huge amount of mushrooms this year just because the weather has been so wet,” Dietz said, adding that this year, up to 300 species are expected to be displayed.
“Chantrelles are big and beautiful,” said the impassioned Dietz. “And this is going to be a major matsutake year here.”
The North Olympic Peninsula is a fungus paradise that has more than 5,000 species growing in its lowland and mountain forests.
“I know of 3,000 edible varieties. Six taste good,” Dietz said with the laugh.
“You’re risking your life, but it’s a thrill. It’s the culinary equivalent of sky diving.”
The show will exhibit many mushrooms that will be picked today and Saturday before the show, and attendees are encouraged to bring samples of fungi they’ve found to be identified.
The society — which has members in both Clallam and Jefferson counties and often conducts mushroom shows in Chimacum at the Tri-Area Community Center — emphasizes learning what the edible mushrooms look like compared with their “poisonous look-alikes.”
Mushroom education
Attendees at Sunday’s show can view displays of wild mushrooms that grow on the Peninsula, learn the similarities between edible and poisonous mushrooms, learn about propagation projects and how to preserve displays — and purchase mushroom books.
Dietz grows blue cap oyster mushrooms in Sequim and said the show will include a cultivation display.
Mushroom-growing kits will be on sale for $20. Experts will be on hand to answer questions.
Sequim dentist James Deckman is the show’s chairman for 2010.
The society, founded in 1977 as the Jefferson County Mycological Society, is a nonprofit volunteer organization dedicated to learning about and enjoying mushrooms and their environment.
Today, members hail from Joyce to Brinnon, and most live in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley.
The society is open to anyone and schedules six meetings a year to promote the safe enjoyment of wild mushrooms.
Two annual outings
A guest speaker usually addresses the gatherings, and at least two outings a year are scheduled.
Mushroom hunters comb the Cascade Mountains in the spring for black morels, snow mushrooms, pink-tipped coral and boletes, and then in the fall search the eastern Olympic Mountains for golden chantrelles, russulas, boletes, hedgehogs and matsutakes.
Annual society dues are $15 per family or $10 per individual.
Check out the society’s website at www.olymushrooms.org or phone Dietz at 360-477-4228.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.