Lecture Series: The Joy of Foraging Morels with mycologist and wit Gary Lincoff

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/1/8/e/4/event_192606372.jpegThe IMA is honored to present an evening with Gary Lincoff!

World renowned and much-loved mycologist and forager, Gary Lincoff did not write a mushroom book... He wrote THE mushroom book... The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms.

Lincoff, who teaches botany at The New York Botanical Garden and leads weekly foraging trips through Central Park and beyond was perhaps the only New Yorker who didn't worry about provisions during the hurricane, and that's because the Beach plums were ripe and Lincoff and his beautiful partner Irene are never unaware of what is fruiting at any given time. That's why he's joining us in Chicago this Spring to highlight the best offerings our woods and fields have to offer!

Gathering edible wild food is a wonderful way to forge a connection to the earth, Lincoff says, and mushrooms are the ultimate local food source; they grow literally everywhere, from mountains and woodlands to urban and suburban parks to your own backyard.

In Chicago, Morels are the toast of Spring, and Mushroom guru Gary Lincoff escorts you from the mushroom’s earliest culinary awakening, through getting equipped for mushroom forays, to preparing and serving the fruits of the foray!

He has led mushroom study trips and forays around the world, and he is a featured “myco-visionary” in the award-winning documentary Know Your Mushrooms.

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Lincoff's other works include "Toxic and Hallucinogenic Mushroom Poisoning: a Handbook for Physicians and Mushroom Hunters", "The Mushroom Book", "Wild Mushrooms of Telluride", Simon & Schuster's "Guide to Mushrooms", and the "Eyewitness Handbook: Mushrooms".http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/1/c/9/a/event_192607322.jpeg

His latest book, The Joy of Foraging can be found here:
http://garylincoff.com/?page_id=2644

The IMA is comprised of mycologists and laypeople from all walks of life who share a common interest in the study of mushrooms. Individual members often have specific areas of interest and expertise, including mushroom foraging, taxonomy, cultivation, mycoremediation, mycorrhizas, medical mycology, yeasts, lichens, food spoilage, fermented foods, plant diseases, symbioses with animals, and edible, poisonous, and entheogenic fungi.

If you are new to mushrooming, joining a mushroom club will give you the opportunity to learn about the fungal diversity found during the annual cycle in Chicagoland and how to identify species properly and safely. Whether you’re an experienced mycophile or are new to the Kingdom of Fungi, we welcome your knowledge and companionship.

For non-IMA-members, there is a $5 suggested donation to attend our lecture series events. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please join us! Membership in the IMA is only $20 per year and includes participation in our monthly members-only forays. While our lecture series is open to the public, forays into the woods are limited to members only. This is because the IMA is a scientific and educational nonprofit that holds a scientific collector's permit to pick wild mushrooms for research and education. That's why only club members can come on forays. Club members also receive a great digital monthly newsletter with articles, recipes, research, art and information on additional events. You can become an IMA member at any IMA lecture series event, or by clicking here http://www.illinoismyco.org/home

North Park Village Nature Center is located at 5801 North Pulaski Road, Chicago, Illinois 60646. From the intersection of North Pulaski Road and West Ardmore Avenue, go east into the North Park Village Campus. Drive past the booth, you do not need to stop. At the T-junction, turn left. Then take a quick right. You will see the forest of the nature center on the left. Shortly you'll arrive at a parking lot on your right as you approach the front of the nature center building. The road between the parking lot and the main entrance may be blocked, but the center will still be open and accessible.