May 21st Speaker

Patrick Hamilton

Talk Title: "Pay-for Forays"
With Patrick Hamilton

· Meeting date and time: 7:30 pm PST, Tuesday, May 21,2024
· Individuals may attend in-person, beginning at 6:30pm, for mushroom ID, refreshments and social interaction in the Buckley Room of the Randall Museum
· Virtually: At 7:30pm, Patrick Hamilton will be joining the group from Sebastopol for the evening's presentation. Join the Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 891 8438 9640

Patrick asks: Your thoughts about pay-for forays?
Please check one:
Positive: Yes, No?
Negative--Yes, No?
Whatever?

There has been a lot of discussion recently on the pluses and minuses of the explosion in the mushroom world of folks charging to take others on forays. I will address that. I've done over 200 of them.

I teach my forayers how to identify mushrooms. I teach about the habitat, including trees, plants, and even geology if some are interested. These people rarely want to join a mushroom club to learn. They want to know only one thing on their day with me: Can I eat this? My very first organized foray was when I went on a pay-for foray over 30 years ago with David Arora and the Late Great Larry Stickney. Let's talk about these forays.

About:
Patrick was nick-named "Mycochef" by a late and dear mushrooming buddy and has been a guest mushroom chef and foray leader at many, many, fungal gatherings from Alaska to the Queen Charlotte Islands, from San Diego to Marin County, all over Mexico, down into Costa Rica, at the Breitenbush mushroom gathering, and been a guest chef at Telluride Mushroom Festival.

He currently leads forays for a living through his own company called Patrick’s Wild Mushroom Adventures https://www.mycochef.com/home/, and for ForageSF https://www.foragesf.com/

For years Patrick has been an active member of the SOMA board. He also was the executive chef for many SOMA Camps. He is currently their Foray Coordinator, which doesn’t begin to tell the tale of the leadership he provides for the organization. He was also a foray leader and chef for the MSSF years ago.

He has picked mushrooms commercially and has first-hand knowledge of the commercial hunting and gathering community and its culture. With 40 years beneath his belt, if there are mushrooms out there, he'll find them!

May 2024
May 21st Speaker Patrick Hamilton Talk Title: "Pay-for Forays" With Patrick Hamilton · Meeting date and time: 7:30 pm PST, Tuesday, May 21,2024 · Individuals may attend in-person, beginning at 6:30pm, for mushroom ID, refreshments and social interaction in the Buckley Room of the Randall Museum · Virtually: At 7:30pm, Patrick Hamilton will be joining the group from Sebastopol for the evening's presentation. Join the Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 891 8438 9640 Patrick asks: Your thoughts about pay-for forays? Please check one: Positive: Yes, No? Negative--Yes, No? Whatever? There has been a lot of discussion recently on the pluses and minuses of the explosion in the mushroom world of folks charging to take others on forays. I will address that. I've done over 200 of them. I teach my forayers how to identify mushrooms. I teach about the habitat, including trees, plants, and even geology if some are interested. These people rarely want to join a mushroom club to learn. They want to know only one thing on their day with me: Can I eat this? My very first organized foray was when I went on a pay-for foray over 30 years ago with David Arora and the Late Great Larry Stickney. Let's talk about these forays. About: Patrick was nick-named "Mycochef" by a late and dear mushrooming buddy and has been a guest mushroom chef and foray leader at many, many, fungal gatherings from Alaska to the Queen Charlotte Islands, from San Diego to Marin County, all over Mexico, down into Costa Rica, at the Breitenbush mushroom gathering, and been a guest chef at Telluride Mushroom Festival. He currently leads forays for a living through his own company called Patrick’s Wild Mushroom Adventures https://www.mycochef.com/home/, and for ForageSF https://www.foragesf.com/ For years Patrick has been an active member of the SOMA board. He also was the executive chef for many SOMA Camps. He is currently their Foray Coordinator, which doesn’t begin to tell the tale of the leadership he provides for the organization. He was also a foray leader and chef for the MSSF years ago. He has picked mushrooms commercially and has first-hand knowledge of the commercial hunting and gathering community and its culture. With 40 years beneath his belt, if there are mushrooms out there, he'll find them!
Mycena Newsletter - May 2024