The Nungurner Fungi Walk, Fungi Flan and Fungi Latte was attended by 50 people including many children clearly fascinated by fungi for foraging advice, growing and eating mushrooms for health last Friday.
Funded by Parks Victoria Youth Volunteering Fund for Nature in collaboration with Nungurner Primary School, Nungurner Landcare, the Fungi Walk was led by Natasha Vorogushin from Tash Can Cook based in Morwell and were also treated to Fungi Flan and Fungi Latte grown and produced by Sena Gotzepeli from Down Under Mushroom.
Natasha is a co-founder of MYCOmmunity a not-for-profit organisation aimed at increasing community awareness about fungi and making scientific training, equipment and resources available to citizen mycologists. She is not naive to the dangers of her favourite pastime.
“If it’s something I haven’t come across before, I’ll research and leave it until I can ID it. We always say, if in doubt, go without,” Natasha said.
Walkers experienced how fungi are such a pivotal part of our existence.
“Without fungi we would just simply not exist, they help to break down all of our trees and plant matter in the environment as well as even animals that are decomposing – fungi are a recycling tool for our planet,” she said.
The diversity of fungi along Nungurner Jetty Road was captured by six-year-old Spencer Forbes, already a keen photographer saying, “The more I look the more I see”.
Fungi are under threat from disturbances such as climate change, land clearing and invasive species, yet very little is known about Australian native fungi.
Only five per cent of the estimated 250,000 species have even been described. In most cases their life cycle, including generation length and frequency and triggers of fruiting, are not well understood. Only a handful of native fungi have been assessed under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
After the walk back at the Nungurner Primary School, Sena, of Down Under Mushroom, growers and producers in Lucknow, presented Fungi Flans and Fungi Latte for the hungry horde, also keen to learn about the benefits of Down Under’s Brain Food, sleep and gut health drinks as well as Grow Your Own Mushroom Kits. Sena practices permaculture and is a qualified horticulturalist.
“This Nungurner Collaboration looks forward to ongoing seasonal Fungi culinary, botanical, medicinal, nature journalling and growing your own mushrooms workshops and events in association with FLOAT and Lakes Entrance Community,” one of the organisers of the event and EcoArtist with EcoArt Systems Australia, Catherine van Wilgenburg said.
IMAGE: Fungi Flan and Latte, Sleep and Gut health drinks by Sena Gotzepeli, of Down Under Mushroom. INSET: The diversity of fungi along Nungurner Jetty Road was captured by six-year-old Spencer Forbes. (PS)
