Monday Mushroom Walks

Each Monday from November 11 - December 23, 2024
from 12:30PM to 3:30PM

Take a guided tour of the MCBG Mushroom Collection! The Gardens is home to more than 160 species of wild mushrooms during fall and winter. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of some types of fungi. Normally hidden underground, these reproductive structures lie dormant until the rainy season, when they sprout above the earth. 

Enjoy an introduction to mushroom identification followed by a guided walk with Naturalist and Mycologist, Mario Abreu each Monday from November 11 through December 23. Mario will begin with an approximately 45-minute introduction followed by a 2-hour guided field walk that involves standing for long periods of time, and venturing off the main trails. Please remember, mushrooms found at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens should stay at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens... DO NOT PICK OR COLLECT from our botanical collection!

THE DETAILS

• Registration is limited, advanced reservations are required.
• Walks gather at the main entry for a 45-minute introduction followed by a guided field walk.
• Walks available on Nov 11, Nov 18, Nov 25, Dec 2, Dec 9, Dec 16 (led by Jill Surdzial), and Dec 23.
• We recommend bringing along a refillable water bottle, a notebook, and a pen.
• Be prepared for the weather with appropriate layers and wear good walking shoes.
• If you are sick, please stay home. 

WORKSHOP REGISTRATION

Class size is limited! Registration for this walk can be made in advance online (click the appropriate link below) or at the Gardens' gift shop. A waitlist will be kept if the classes fill. If we have any cancellations, we will contact you in the order the waitlist responses were received. Please note, all registration fees are non-refundable unless the walk has been canceled or rescheduled by the Gardens. Click the links below to reserve your space on the walk.

SOME WALKS FULL – If your desired date is taken, please CLICK HERE to be added to the waitlist. If we have any cancellations, we will contact you in the order the waitlist responses were received.

Walk Registration ............................. $30 per participant and includes Gardens admission for the day

Member Walk Registration ............ $20 per current MCBG Member (verify membership to activate discounted rate)

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS

Mario Abreu retired from the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens as the Plant Propagation Supervisor, Natural Areas Coordinator, and Collections Curator after 20 years. Mario holds degrees in Natural History, and Liberal Arts and Science. He has interned for the California Department of Fish and Game Mesocarnivore Assessment, Denver Botanical Gardens Applied Plant Conservation Program, and the College of the Redwoods Plant/Lichen Herbarium.

Mario has led guided mushroom walks at the Gardens for more than 18 years and Mushroom Identification classes for the past 15 years. Additionally, he has provided mushroom walks for the California State Parks/Mendo Parks New Year’s Day Event, Visit Mendocino County Mushroom Festival Events, and private tours.

Mario is a passionate natural history volunteer docent for the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, California State Parks, MendoParks, Dorothy King Young Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, and the UC Berkeley Sudden Oak Death Blitz Citizen Science Program. He also finds time to manage natural history displays at the Ford House Museum in Mendocino that include wildflowers, mushrooms, and the local Ecological Terrace Staircase and its associated Pygmy Forest plant community. 

Jill Surdzial will be leading the Monday Mushroom Walk on December 16. She was hooked from the moment she learned that edible mushrooms grew in her yard! She dove deep into the mushroom books, took a mushroom identification class at the local college, joined mushroom clubs to learn from the experts, and got out into the forest to observe and collect. Jill has been avidly hunting mushrooms since 2016 and enjoys learning about all the different ways that mushrooms can be used and all of the interesting people she has met who are also enamored with mushrooms. Jill is a member of numerous mushroom clubs and helps run the Mendocino Coast Mushroom Club. She finds fungi truly fascinating and is eager to help others learn about and develop an interest in mushrooms.