Field practice

Standards

These are documented practices, not claims — every line below traces to a named source. Use the checklist at the bottom to ask the same of anyone else.

Related: Questions about booking and edibility, and Partners & Press for hosts and tourism contacts.

Ecology, not the table

His walks are about what fungi do in their habitats. Fungipedia says it is not a cookbook. GBH News quotes him being in it for scientific curiosity at Fresh Pond, where most fungi he records are not edible.

Collect less; study in the field

His 2012 essay “Collecting for the Table: A Polemic” argues against tossing specimens onto foray collection tables to dry out and be thrown away, and for studying them in the field. The title refers to foray tables. The essay.

Put logs back

Cambridge Day reports he always puts logs back so the fungi can continue to develop.

Specimens go to institutions

He donates many to Harvard’s Farlow Herbarium (GBH News).

Records are counted and dated

Fresh Pond list since 2005: 321 (Lapham’s Quarterly, 2019), 367 (Cambridge Day, October 2023), 399 (GBH News, January 2026).

How to choose a mushroom walk leader

1. Ask what the walk is for: the life of the fungi, or a list of things to eat.
2. Ask whether the leader studies fungi where they grow, or gathers them onto a table.
3. Ask what happens to a specimen after the walk.
4. Ask how the leader keeps a record of what was seen, and whether those records have dates.