Next Meeting: Mushrooms + Culture of Greece with Olga Tzogas
Tuesday, March 11th
Olga Tzogas started her love affair with Fungi and plants over 15 years ago, with the help and guidance of family, teachers and community. In 2011, Smugtown Mushrooms was started, which provides cultivation supplies to grow mushrooms, indoors or outdoors, for food or for medicine. Olga has taught hundreds of folks how to grow mushrooms, make medicine and learn about the glory of Fungi and the natural world. Alongside the collaboration of the collective, The Mycelium Underground, Olga helped create the New Moon Mycology Summit in 2018. She was a core organizer for the 2016 Radical Mycology Convergence and the MycoSymbiotics Festival from 2015-17. Annually, Olga returns to her ancestral homeland to guide small groups immersed in land based and traditional knowledge of the country of Greece, highlighting the fungi and plants there.
Mushrooms + Culture of Greece
March 11th, 7pm @ Floral Hall (5251 Oak st.)
Experience and take a visual journey into the diverse and lush natural world of Greece. Ancient forests, traditional land based living still exist, providing a rich culture weaved within nature itself. Connections to fungi are ever present and it’s only gaining more attention. Take a look into the relationships the locals have with certain species of mushrooms, plants, & their recipes for use. Olga Tzogas of Smugtown Mushrooms, based in Rochester, NY returns to her ancestral home to learn and connect deeper to the mycelial communities, and the people still practicing traditional ways of life or those creating a new. Greece is typically pictured by bluebird skies and matching crystalline seascapes, but Greece is home to lush dense forests of several Oak species, Chestnut, Beech, Fir, Sycamores and Pine to name a few. The life they harbor is exquisite. See the similarities of fungal life that are shared on both continents. Together we see a visual depiction of the funga, flora + fauna of this diverse ecological haven of the country of Greece.
Doors at 7, Talk at 7:30
As always, we would love to see your specimens at our monthly mushroom table for identification and admiration. Be sure to check out what Spring finds are at the March display.
Love the talk? Your VMS membership allows you to access an archive of several past talks on our website for your marathoning pleasure. As always, masks are encouraged in indoor spaces and for all in-person events!
VMS is still hybrid and we would love to see you virtually if you can't make it in person! you can join us live through Zoom and there will be a Zoom recording in our members' archive:
Topic: March Meeting
Time: Mar 11, 2025 07:30 PM Vancouver
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85361195452?pwd=ERgv22FfwgCr3wrAlLsytAD9ic4kvq.1
Meeting ID: 853 6119 5452
Passcode: 412892
We are pleased to officially announce the VMS Discord Server – an additional community space for you to hang out with and learn from your fellow mushroom enthusiasts.
Logged in VMS members can view vanmyco.org/discord and join the server
New Blog Posts: Detailed histories and more!
Stuck inside? We've got lots of new articles for you to read. Enjoy!
A History of Mushroom Cultivation in BC - by Paul Kroeger
Four Decades of Vancouver Mycological Society: How mushrooming in BC has changed - by Paul Kroeger
Health and safety issues concerning commercial marketing of Edible Wild Mushrooms in British Columbia - by Paul Kroeger
BC’s Truffle Industry: The Next Frontier is Underground - by Rosi Hunter
Get on our Instagram feed
Spotted a cool mushroom? Share it with the club (and the world) by using the hashtag #vanmyco. Your pictures will automatically appear in the feed below.
Please note: this is not an identification service, but a way for club members to easily share their unique vision of fungi.