About Cyn

Recent posts

• Comment on Cyn's answer…

  0 0 I just realized that my links don't work because I put parentheses around them, so here they are again: http://www.northwestmushroomers.org/links.htm http://forestry-dev.org/cgi-bin/matchmaker/MatchMaker.asp (I forgot to mention: to get started with MatchMaker, select "MatchMaker"-->"Make a New Match") Also another book recommendation because it's fun to read and has good ID info for morels: "Morels" by Michael Kuo. Happy mushrooming! Cyn commented about 1 year ago

• Follow Following 1

  I would like to go foraging for mushrooms (morels and whatever else in season) any tips on where to go and how to get started?

  1 0 The very best way to get started is to join a mushroom club! The Northwest Mushroomers' Association has a great website with links to other area mushrooming clubs (http://www.northwestmushroomers.org/links.htm). Many organizations have organized forays, which is a great way to get acquainted with local mushroom "spots" and to learn ID and habitat tips from experienced mushroomers. It helps immensely to have an experienced mushroomer along to help you on the first few forays, as even basic ID can be a tricky for some species and even safe, easy-to-ID mushrooms such as morels, oysters, and chanterelles have potentially poisonous semi-look-alikes that could fool a novice forager. For ID, a good website is the mushroom matchmaker (http://forestry-dev.org/cgi-bin/matchmaker/MatchMaker.asp)-- this is a program where you can input characteristics of a mushroom you've found and it generates potential matches, though it's a bit tricky to use if you have never used mycology terminology. The "Bible" of mushrooming in the West is David Arora's "Mushrooms Demystified", a huge book that you probably don't want to lug around in the forest but that is a great source of info. David Arora's "All That the Rain Promises (And More)" is a good pocket guide, but it lacks a lot of common PNW mushrooms. "Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest" by Steve Trudell and Joe Ammirati is a wonderful field guide (assuming you're in the Pacific Northwest)- while it doesn't have a great key it has great photos and descriptions of the majority of mushrooms you'll find around Western WA, at least. As for where to go, that depends on what you want to find. You can probably find some delicious edibles in your lawn, in your neighbor's mulch, or at a local park... But for other species a trip up to the mountains or into the coastal woods is in order. The spring and fall are the best times to mushroom, though some species can be found in the summer and a few "snowbank mushrooms" can be found in late winter... So if you go on some unsuccessful forays this summer just keep in mind that when the rain starts up and the temps drop in the fall, you'll have more mushrooms than you know what to do with! So anyways, get some good books, join a mushrooming club or find a knowledgeable friend, and soon you'll be enjoying the almondy richness of Agaricus augustus, the chicken-like taste of Laetiporus conifericola, the apricot scent of Cantharellus spp., and so on. The PNW is such a great place to forage!!! Just please do your research first- while few mushrooms are deadly many can make you miserable, and it's just not worth the risk... When in doubt, throw it out! Cyn answered in Food & Drink about 1 year ago Answer, comment & read 5 more answers »

• Follow Following 1

  Have you tried Google Chrome? What do you think of it?

  0 0 I switched to using Chrome almost exclusively when I still had my old, slow computer. Chrome would load in seconds, while if I wanted to use Firefox or IE I would have to open the program and then fix a cup of coffee, stretch, and look out the window for a few minutes before the browser would actually open. Chrome also seems to work flawlessly with video/music streaming, and the search bar/address bar is convenient. While it takes a little bit of getting used to, it's definitely fast and worth using if you have a slow computer. Now that I have a new computer, though, I mostly use Firefox because I love the bookmarks toolbar and Adblock. Cyn answered in Science & Technology over 2 years ago Answer, comment & read 9 more answers »

• Follow Following 2 Favorite Star Trek episodes? Cyn asked in Entertainment & Film over 2 years ago by Cato the Younger Younger & 5 other answers by Renée , Violet DaGrinder…

• Follow Following 1

  Why do you call yourself a vegetarian if you eat fish or chicken?

  12 1 I am a mostly-vegetarian pescatarian who enjoys fishing and clam digging. Occasionally I do just say "I'm a vegetarian" to make things simple- for example, at a restaurant, if I'm attending a conference or function where I am asked to specify a meal preference, or to a person I've just met. Two main reasons: One, I don't want to eat all kinds of fish, so if I just say I'm a vegetarian no one will offer me some farmed shrimp that I really don't want to eat. Two, it's simpler/commoner- more people know what a vegetarian is than a pescatarian, and usually I don't want to get into a discussion about food preferences. In other situations, for example if there are already some vegans/vegetarians/people with some kind of other food preference in the conversation or if I know the people I'm talking to, I'll elaborate a bit. It's kind of like being a vegetarian with an asterisk... If you want to know more, I'll fill you in with the details, but in most cases no one needs/wants to know that I eat 97% vegetarian and 3% non-vegetarian food- they just want to know if I want the regular burger or the veggie burger. Cyn answered in Food & Drink over 2 years ago Answer, comment & read 8 more answers »

• Follow Following 1

  What are some good indoor plants that do well in the NW?

  0 0 All the plants mentioned so far are great! I'd also like to suggest Zebrina/Wandering Jew. This plant grows fast, is very hard to kill, and tolerates a range of indirect lighting conditions. It's one of the only plants that thrives in my east-facing window that is underneath a porch roof. Grape ivy and philodendrons (as already mentioned) are the others that I've found success with in low-light corners even in the winter. Cyn answered in Whatever over 2 years ago Answer, comment & read 9 more answers »

• See all of my 3 Questions , 4 Answers and 1 Comment