Hello Fungiphiles!

Just wanted to post a little update: We have our 2023 class schedule live now! Head on over to the classes page for full details. Shiitake logs are popping off new buttons, stinging nettle has raised its young stingy shoots from the ground, and other friends such as creasy greens, day Lilly, sheep sorrel, violet, comfrey, and jewel weed are all waking up a bit early this year!

We have added ramp seeds to our store, and yes, you can grow them in a regular garden too! If you are wanting to help establish a new patch of ramps, or help regenerate an old, planting by seed is one of the easiest methods to re establish, or establish ramps in a given area. With proper conditions and a little patience, in about 5 years (sometimes even less!) you will have your own patch to harvest from, and to share with the future generation. This year we have over 16,000 ramp seeds that we will be sewing, selling, and sharing with our communities, in an effort to be proactive about our love for ramps! As long as you are educating and practicing sustainability, there is no reason that we should feel guilt about correctly and reverently harvesting ramps for our tables. Ramps are hands down one of our all time favorite foods and each year we gleefully look forward to ramp season. Additionally We have added a link to NC State Extensions ramp planting article in our menu under the “Log, Planting & Mushroom info” for anyone looking for a handy reference on how to best start your ramp patch.

A quick word of caution: When ramps are in their youngest stages, they can have some toxic frequently mistaken others, or look-a-likes. Please always to be 120% sure of what you are eating, and when in doubt, ask someone who knows!

Also with this early spring, snakes are early too! be sure to exercise caution when frolicking in the forest for our dear friend the copperhead snake. She loves the same environments that morels and ramps do, so always be on the watch as they are quite venomous, and even worse, you don’t even want to know how much that anti venom costs!! Luckily most people don’t even need the anti venom, but it can take months to fully recover from a bite. The copperhead is typically a docile snake unless it is being stepped upon, so just watch where you are going.

And with that, I’m going to go and sterilize the mushroom lab! We are working on inoculating some red oak rounds with some Hen of the Woods, so if you are looking to add to your mushroom log collection, keep an eye out in a few months as we will have about 12 Maitake logs available to start.

Get outside and don’t forget to eat your mushrooms,

Natalie

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