North Idaho Mushroom Club (NIMA) Mycological Association

Happy Spring to all Fungi Enthusiasts! We are only 5-6 weeks away from morels and other spring mushrooms in North Idaho and Eastern Washington! Our first spring meeting is April 1st at 6pm. Members should check their email for details and a new meeting location. If you are interested in joining our educational group, please reach out and we will get information out to you right away! See you soon!!

Our October, 2025, club meeting will be on Wednesday, October 1st, @ 6:00pm. Open to the public! Membership information will be shared at our meeting. We will be meeting at the Q’emiln Park Trailhead Shelter at 12361 W. Parkway Drive, Post Falls, ID 83854. Our club educator, Tim Gerlitz, will discuss Matsutake mushrooms and more! Please bring in as many samples of fungi from our area as possible for display table identification. See you there!!!

Fall is coming!! Tim Gerlitz is featured in the upcoming December issue of Homecooked Magazine showing off a Cream of Morel Soup recipe!!!! Here are a few pics from the photoshoot…

When you find Calypso orchids in the forest, you know the ground temperature is great for morel mushrooms. And you are probably in a good environment to find them. Keep your eyes open. They should be blooming in several weeks Tim. 

Morels are still 2-3 weeks out. We have had fantastic rain this spring, which is a very good indicator for a big flush of one of our favorite mushrooms. Now we need to wait for the ground temperature to get up into the 50s. Never fear, morels will be here!! tim

What a great club meeting last night! Many new members and thanks to Chuck and Sarah for taking on the prez and vice-prez roles!!! Morel mushrooms are a few weeks away. Be sure to share your pictures and I’m happy to verify any questions about whether or not you have found morels if you text me your GPS coordinates. Lol looking forward to seeing everybody next month for the mycophagist presentation !! Tim

Morel Presentation this Wednesday, April 2nd, at 6:00 pm, Q'emiln Park Trailhead Event Center, 12361 W. Parkway Dr. Post Falls, Idaho. At our April North Idaho Mushroom Club meeting, I'm going to deep dive into morels and try to solve the mystery of these delectable and edible mushrooms. I will also talk about other spring mushrooms to include corals, the 'false morel group', spring boletes and more. Hope to see you there and though it's a bit early, if you find any fungi out there, (maybe snowbanks?), please bring them in for the display table. Cheers!! (4 -6 weeks to go before the big harvest begins!). :0) Tim

We are 6-7 weeks away from early morels in North Idaho and Eastern Washington! Woohoo!! We hope to see you at our upcoming North Idaho Mushroom Club meetings in April, May, and June. Stay tuned for more information about our upcoming April meeting! Tim

Check out this great story from the BBC about the importance of mushroom hunting in Lithuania’s Dzūkija National Park. They even have a statue of a boy with a full basket! (Photo by Harry Taylor)

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250106-the-national-park-that-draws-mushroom-hunters-from-around-the-world

We had our wonderful annual Survivors' Potluck last night. There was a lot of amazing food from pastas, soup, and risotto to homemade treats. I was finally brave enough to try an Amanita muscaria...cookie. A big thanks to club member Tony for sharing the season's last yellow chanterelle's. He beat the season-ending hard freeze by just a few hours. Have a happy winter/holiday season, and hope see you all at our club meetings next spring!