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Photo by Christopher Lugo/Staff The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center’s farm manager Joey Kyle will give a lecture on foraging for wild foods Tuesday, July 12, at The Mountain.
For those interested in foraging wild plants and mushrooms, look no further than the Center for Life Enrichments lecture with Joey Kyle, co-manager of The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center’s farm.
“I think this class will be a good introduction to wild mushroom identification,” Kyle said. “Hopefully, we will cover the basic ethics that go behind picking up wild mushrooms, as far as abiding by laws, honoring ancestors and people who have lived here long before us and given us knowledge to the point of knowing which ones are edible and which ones are not. Then, hopefully, you walk away with the skills of being able to identify 10 to 15 good wild mushrooms that grow in the area, along with being able to identify the two in North America that if you eat them, they will kill you. So, those are very important to know so people are safe.”
Kyle said the class is all about safety when it comes to eating wild mushrooms.
“I want to make sure that people walk away not afraid, but respectful,” Kyle said. “We want to make sure we are not eating something we are not 120 percent sure about. This area is just a good place to get started with mushrooms and a good time of year, as well.”
Along with being the co-manager of The Mountain’s farm, Many Hands Peace Farm, Kyle also sells wild greens and mushrooms that he harvests at the local farmers market in Highlands.
“Last week, I found 10 pounds of Chanterelle,” Kyle said. “These are mushrooms that I’m going to turn around and sell at the farmers market and I will also feature them in our Forest to Table Dinners. Chanterelles are our signature summer mushrooms. That would definitely be something we cover in the class.”
With mushrooms not having a lot of calories, but a lot of nutritional value, Kyle said they are a great food to add to your menu.
“Mushrooms have a significant amount of protein and vitamins,” Kyle said. “Shiitake is one of the only vegan sources of Vitamin D. The mushrooms that I’m going to teach how to find all have unique flavors and you can’t even grow them. There are a lot of mushrooms that we have cracked the code and we can grow them, like Shiitake, but Chanterelles are only in the wild.”
According to Kyle, not only do the mushrooms taste amazing, but they are very medicinal.
“There is a lot of research coming out of Asia and Eastern Europe showing specific mushrooms and how they can complement our health system,” Kyle said. “For example, we have a mushroom that grows around here called Turkey Tail. It’s a little wood decomposing mushroom that is very good for your immune system and one of the studies that I’ve seen is that for a person that has cancer, and their immune system is shot, they are given a Turkey Tail treatment after chemotherapy and their immune system just bounces back a lot quicker. Mushrooms are not the cure-all for all ailments, but they are a great compliment to other holistic medicines.”
Since Highlands is mostly a rainforest, Kyle said it is a prime environment for mushrooms to flourish.
“From May to October is a good time for mushroom picking, but you can find some edible mushrooms every single month of the year,” Kyle said. “Recently, I’ve been looking at the rain gauge and we are getting a little pitter patter here and there, but nothing like a big rain. That is what it’s been lacking. These mushrooms have a lot of pent-up frustration and are ready to pop up.”
Five years ago, Kyle said he knew virtually nothing about mushrooms, so he looks forward to educating people and letting them know that is not too late to learn about fungi.
“I went to a public school, and they didn’t teach me jack-diddly about fungi,” Kyle said. “For some of us, we may know a little about plants, but fungi is a new thing. What I think helps me is that five years ago, I didn’t know anything, so I can understand where people come from if they don’t know anything either, and I can teach the important things that can get them started.”
Foraging for Wild Foods and Medicines in Southern Appalachia is scheduled for July 12, from 9 a.m., until 1 p.m. at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center. For more information, visit the CLE’s website, clehighlands.com.
- By Christopher Lugo