August 30 — September 2, 2013. Castle Mountain in the beautiful Westcastle Valley, SW Alberta.
Pick and learn about Alberta wild mushrooms. Which ones are edible, poisonous, or medicinal? Talk to and learn from the experts. Immerse yourself in the Kingdom of Fungi!
Attend our annual “Great Alberta Mushroom Foray”, where we bring in expertise from around the world to help identify the fungi collected. Become a “Citizen Scientist” for the Alberta Fungal Database project – we all collect, our expert mycologists identify, we photograph, then enter our specimens into our database for this work-in-progress to add to our ever-expanding list of what fungi grow in Alberta.
In 2012, the Society provided key scientific support in the creation of an inventory of fungi in Elk Island National Park in cooperation with Parks Canada. In other years, this fungal biodiversity study has taken place at Hinton, Kananaskis, Grouard, Tsuu T’ina First Nations Reserve, Lac La Biche, Foothills Model Forest, et al. In 2013, we will explore the Castle Mountain area in SW Alberta. This is a complete fungi immersion weekend, offering Mushroom Identification courses, lectures by eminent mycologists, yummy wild mushroom tastings, and the opportunity to become fully involved in all things fungal.
Long Weekend Activities
- Daily forays in varied habitats
- Evening lectures from local, national and international experts
- Tastings of edible mushrooms prepared by our chefs
- Beginners “Introduction to Mushrooms” course included
- OPEN HOUSE to the community from Noon to 2:00 on Monday, Sept 2, for local folks to come in and look at lots of wild mushrooms or bring their own in for identification.