Hello from the mushroom wonderland of Gulf Coast Louisiana!

[Elliot Moondrake]

Greetings fellow mycophiles!

I hail from a wonderful area so full of very diverse species of our fungal friends, south Louisiana. I am a 40-something male and grew up here between the marshes, bayous, swamps and prairielands of Acadiana. Acadiana is the region of south Louisiana occupied by the French Acadian people (more commonly known as Cajuns). As you all probably know, the Cajun people are fun-loving hard-working folks. They are well known for their love of drinking and dancing, funny accents and very well known for their spicy and rich foods.

I grew up in the suburbs however and many people wonder why I do not have the thick cajun accent. Well, I didn't work the crops or hunt or trap for a living. How I sometimes wish I DID have that background! My family name is not cajun but my mother is full-blooded cajun. See I was raised on Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and the Brady Bunch. That's my excuse anyway! The Beatles and the Dead were playing on my turntable instead of Zydeco and Two-stepping French accordians.

Ironically, I grew up as a picky eater! I would pass on the crawfish and seafood gumbos as a kid. (Boy was I missing out!!) My mother doesn't like mushrooms so they were sadly lacking from the foods I enjoyed. My perspective began to change (*smile*) after a friend took me out hunting for a certain dung-loving species, but we were not interested in fine dining. Anyway, that was in the 1980s but those crazy days definitely provided the spark for respecting and wanting to know more about mushrooms.

Fast-forward to the present. Funny what growing up does to ones taste in food! All that wondeful seafood and awesome gravies with rice and the spices finally started appealing to me with the cayenne peppers and bell peppers and sassafrass leaves. The beef, pork, chickens, deer and duck and rich gravies DID catch up with me however. My CHOLESTEROL and BLOOD PRESSURE levels slowly climbed until I found myself in my 40s and having some scares!

My diet had to change and I discovered shiitake. I also discovered the wonders of reishi. So here I am coming full circle again with my fungal friends. I'm growing a few logs of shiitake and plan on some reishi too. This brought me back into the mushroom research and kindled a new desire for them.

There are SO MANY mushrooms around here from spring to fall! I now live outside of town in a mostly rural area and the rains pop up so many different mushrooms. South Louisiana has many different habitats from prairieland with cattle and rice and sugarcane to marsh to mixed woodlands and swamps. I love heading into north Louisiana weather permitting into Kissatchee National Forest and other nearby Long-leaf Pine forests and see many different species out there too.

BUT given the background of Cajuns and Food, one would think there would be a rich mushroom gathering history but I find it just about non-existant (other than the younger folk experiementing with the dung-lovers). A google search for mushroom societies in the area comes up with very little.

So I would like to LEARN more about gathering edibles and medicinals, but I am not sure where to turn except online.

There's my story and introduction. I hope I didn't bore to many of you fine folks. Despite the season more or less coming to an end now for winter, I know I will have QUESTIONS and need GUIDANCE because I want to explore this wonderful world of wild mushrooms.

Sincerely,

"Elliot Moondrake"

[ladyflyfsh]

Wow...all I can say is, I want to come visit you! Gulf States Mycological Society http://gsmyco.org is the only one that comes to mind. I live in SW Florida (Sarasota) and there are no clubs around here either although I do know of one in Gainesville that is getting going. I know your area is good for lots of mushrooms as well as the FL panhandle. I'd check out the site link I posted above. They do forays and your area would apply. Welcome to the group here. Try and get some good books and feel free to post photos and ask lots of questions. It's a different world down here when it comes to mushrooms so many northerners won't have a clue, but ask anyway.

Mary

[Dave W]

Hi Elliot! Interesting to hear that there's such fungal diversity in S. Louisiana. Looking forward to seeing some of the mushrooms you find down there.

I have visited New Orleans once. Of course, I really enjoyed the food. Back home, I came up with my own recipe for Crawfish Etouffee that uses wild mushrooms. I use dried boletes to enrich the stock made from the boiled crawfish shells. Then I puree the mushooms and some veggies to make a thick sauce. One trick to make these rich foods a little more heart-friendly... sub olive oil for the butter. Olive oil actually makes a nice roux.

Haven't used my old turntable for awhile... but the CD or the cassette player in my car plays Beatles, Dead... or maybe even Clifton Chenier.

[Elliot Moondrake]

Thanks guys!! You have already made me feel very welcome. Oh and thanks LadyFlyFish for the link. I saw on another page that this club existed but that link was dead!

[theplanets]

Welcome Elliot!

I'm quite envious that you have such a great environment for mushroom picking! We are in winter mode in Canada so there's not much out there.

I, too, have just recently started so I look forward to seeing some of the fungi you can find down south.

[Feral Boy]

Same here in the Midwest ... but we occasionally find oysters to tide us over until ... MOREL MADNESS!!!

Welcome & have a very mushroomy new year!