Imagine yourself way back in January, embarking on a trip to the 50th annual Fungus Fair at London Nelson. Perhaps you convinced a skeptical friend to join you, only to find a line wrapped around the building. And facing a choice between fungus and friendship, trudging back to your car, consoling yourself with a pledge to start earlier next year.
If you too are wondering when mushrooms became all the rage, Far West Fungi, a regional specialty grower, is stepping up with two exciting days’ worth of answers. Far West’s Kierra Garrone and Erin Raser are the planners behind the inaugural Santa Cruz Mountain Mushroom Festival, slated for May 4-5 at Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton.
Garrone and Raser represent the generation following in the footsteps of Far West founder John Garrone, who started out selling mushrooms out of a Volkswagen bus at a San Francisco Farmers’ Market in the ’80s. Today Far West’s eight-acre mushroom farm in Moss Landing produces about 25,000 pounds of mushrooms per day. Yet the family passion for mushrooms extends beyond the culinary into multiple realms of health and sustainability.
So, it makes perfect sense that Far West is stepping onto the events planning stage—and that during our conversation I would learn words like “myco-curious” and “shroom boom.” I was also surprised to learn that the $50 billion-plus global mushroom market is expected to expand at a rate of almost 10% from 2022 to 2030 in response to the booming culinary and medicinal demand.
The planning duo, who are also sisters in law, said they spent the past year traveling to multiple conferences, seminars and trade shows around the country, taking note of the best people and practices. The resulting list of presenters, experts, teachers and performers scheduled along five stages is expansive.
Truly, there are many sides to the humble fungi. Flavor, sustainability and health benefits are familiar. But mushrooms also have medicinal, therapeutic and even spiritual value. With subjects ranging from “thinking and being with fungi” to a mushroom mixology lab and a panel on psychedelics, it was hard to choose where to focus.
So, let’s lead with the news, the latest advances in mushroom research. Allison Feduccia, PhD, is a neuropharmacologist, psychedelic researcher and educator. Her list of credentials is too long to list here, but her talk about Psilocybin Therapy for Mental Wellness promises a look at how psilocybin-assisted therapy and microdosing are revolutionizing our approach to mental wellness.
Interest in medicinal mushrooms, including but not limited to psilocybin, is a big shroom boom topic, and the festival provides multiple opportunities to learn more.
On the food front, Maria Finn—author of “Forage, Gather, Feast, Recipes from West Coast Forests, Shores and Urban Spaces”—imparts a wealth of mushroom wisdom. Her new book explains how to find and what to do with the delicious foodstuffs you can dig, snip or catch. But her message is less about living off the land than encouraging a relationship with nature in what she calls ecosystem-based living.
Finn wisely notes, “nature has its own systems; we’d be better suited to adopt them than to impose ours onto nature. Nature knows what we need when we need it. Mushrooms come out in the fall, providing a rich source of vitamin D when the sunlight dwindles.”
When asked to name her favorite place in Santa Cruz to forage, she mentioned the beaches north of Davenport are great for seaweed season, happening now from May through June.
And then there’s urban foraging you can do right in your neighborhood. Unpicked fruit trees in a neighbor’s yard are off limits without permission, but if they’re hanging over the sidewalk, they’re technically legal, although asking is recommended.
Maria recommends foraging; it’s free and available to everyone, it’s good exercise, and the food is good for you unless you pick the wrong thing. She left me with an important tip: if you do decide to forage, make sure you get your picks checked by an expert before you eat them.
Zooming back out, Kierra and Erin described the upcoming event as a maker’s fair in a music festival format, where DIY and music are two big themes. Navigating the festival grounds, you’ll find everything from hands-on mushroom cultivation workshops to tantalizing cooking demonstrations.
So, whether you’re a seasoned mycophile or a curious newcomer, the Santa Cruz Mountain Mushroom Festival promises a weekend of discovery, community and celebration. After all, in the world of mushrooms, there’s always more to explore.
