GRASSLAND FUNGI MONDI + SEASONAL LUNCH WITH MONICA WILDE + CO
Schedule
Mon Sep 22 2025 at 10:00 am to 04:00 pm
UTC+01:00Location
Guardswell Farm, PH149QZ Kinnaird, United Kingdom | Perth, SC
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Monday 22nd September | 10.00 to 16.00 | £130
Join Monica Wilde, Matthew Rooney and Neville Kilkenny for a day of focussed fungi identification skills. This takes place in the ancient, grassland habitat around Guardswell Farm - which is a very special habitat, as most traditional grassland has been destroyed by intensive or chemical farming. In 2020, we found over 70 grassland species when surveying the farmland. This is a unique opportunity to study grassland fungi species in one location.
We will spend the morning out looking for fungi and collecting specimens. After a lovely lunch, we will lay out and discuss all the fungi encountered. We will cover how one identifies them, which are considered the best edibles (or medicinals) and the perils of collecting those that aren’t. We will take you through using mycological keys, look at spores through the microscope and discuss identification at the spore level. We will also demonstrate easy chemical identification techniques.
There are several tutors so we can work in groups, so everyone will have plenty of time to ask questions and enjoy the day. Your tutors have a wide range of experience between them.
Book Tickets Here | https://www.guardswell.co.uk/events-calendar/grassland-fungi-mondi-seasonal-lunch-with-monica-wilde-co
Matthew Rooney is a botanical and mycological surveyor, and foraging teacher. He grew native British mushrooms commercially for 25 years and, with his brother, discovered a British reishi mushroom Ganoderma lucidum var. Rooney. Matthew also teaches mushroom cloning and cultivation techniques. He is especially keen to promote rewilding mushrooms to preserve and increase their native range. He is a member of the British Mycological Society.
Neville Kilkenny trained as a mycologist under Professor Roy Watling at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh where he is a Research Associate. He is a member of the British Mycological Society, The Fungus Conservation Trust, and an honorary life member of The Danish Mycological Society. His main focus is conservation, understanding the diversity and ecological needs of fungi, and educating people regarding their role in our ecosystems and in our everyday lives.
Monica Wilde is a foraging teacher and research herbalist. She teaches the medicinal mushroom segment on the Royal Botanic Garden's Herbology Diploma course and lectures for the UK Medicinal Mushroom Conference. She is a founding member of the Association of Foragers, a member of the British Mycological Society and a Fellow of the Linnean Society. Monica is also the author of 'The Wilderness Cure', a book recording a year of living only on wild food and our relationship with nature.
Accessibility
It’s a very steep hill and the foraging part involves a lot of walking, including uphill. That would not be suitable for anyone walking impaired but the rest of the day is in the large open area where we identify the finds and have the talks. So a walking impaired person could take part in that section of the day but would find the foraging walk a struggle because of the terrain that the mushrooms inhabit.
Photo credits : Lisa Ferguson
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Where is it happening?
Guardswell Farm, PH149QZ Kinnaird, United Kingdom, Perth, United KingdomEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
