Linda Gilpin, left talks with a group during a presentation on mushrooms of Central Oregon at the East Bend Library Wednesday. (Dean Guernsey/Bulletin photo)

For mushroom collectors in Central Oregon, the fall of 2019 will be one for the record books.

Wild mushrooms are growing like gangbusters in the forests around Bend, thanks to cooler and wetter weather, according to Linda Gilpin, a local mushroom expert.

“The weather has been smoky and dry in recent years, but this year, it’s been cool and wet like it was 10 years ago. I had forgotten what it was like,” said Gilpin, one of the founding members of the Central Oregon Mushroom Club. “I have been out a fair amount, and everyone is coming home with baskets full and enough (mushrooms) to eat.”

Mushroom hunters in Central Oregon have a brief window of opportunity to collect their bounty. The season starts in September and continues until the first hard frost — a period of about six to eight weeks.

Morel mushrooms, which appear only the spring, provide a few extra weeks of harvesting when the snow melts.

Local mushrooms include porcini mushrooms, popular in Italian and French cuisine. White chanterelles, considered a delicacy in many cultures, are also growing in large numbers in Central Oregon, Gilpin said.

Mushrooms are the fruit of the fungi, which feed off woody matter underground. Some fungi serve the critical function of decomposing dead material, returning nutrients to the soil, while others are in a symbiotic relationship with plants and trees, providing extensions to root systems. Fungal root extensions connect the community of plants and trees with each other.

In Central Oregon, good hunting spots are rarer than in the western part of the state, so knowledge of the best spots are closely guarded by mushroom hunters, Gilpin said. She advises looking in areas with mixed conifers, fir trees and pines, especially near creeks or springs.

“Part of the hunt is learning how to read the forest, figuring out where they grow,” Gilpin said.

Gilpin, who has taught mushroom courses at Central Oregon Community College, said hawk’s wing mushrooms are also plentiful this year. Large numbers of these have been finding their way into her fall meal plans.

“If cooked very slowly over 20 minutes, it loses all its bitterness,” said Gilpin of the hawk’s wing mushroom.

Because some mushrooms are poisonous, Gilpin advises first-time foragers to read about local mushrooms, or attend a mushroom identification course.

“Don’t eat anything unless you really know what it is. If you are not familiar with mushrooms, go buy chanterelles, morels and lobster mushrooms, then you have a clear idea of what they look like,” Gilpin said.

The bounty of this fall’s mushroom harvest will be on display at the Sunriver Fungi Fest and Mushroom show, scheduled for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Sunriver Nature Center. Wild mushrooms will be displayed, labeled and organized. Edible mushrooms will be available for sale, as well as mushroom hunting tools. Tickets for the festival cost $10 for adults and $5 for children 4 and older.

Reporter: 541-617-7818, mkohn@bendbulletin.com