Mushroom Season & Salish Sea Stories

October 14th 2023

The forests and meadow edges of our island are showing us mushrooms everywhere this season.  Children have a special affinity with these plant friends that is a joy to be around!

We heard a story this month about a young girl named Keiko whose grandmother is Japanese. Oba-san loves to come from Japan to visit Keiko in her home near the Salish Sea during the Fall rains when mushrooms grow. Grandmother holds Keiko's hand and has her carry the small basket as they walk through the forest looking at the wide variety of colors, sizes, shapes and smells of mushrooms.  Grandmother knows how to identify mushrooms very well from her years of experience--she knows which ones are tasty to eat, which make good medicine, and which are best to just look at in awe.

We don't eat mushrooms with the children at VWP but know there are many wise island folk and cultures that know how to identify mushrooms well and enjoy eating them at home or making medicine from them.   One book we like to look at for identification help and beautiful photos is Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest by Steve Trudell and Joe Ammirati.

We hope you get a chance to wander in the land of mushrooms with your child this season!