Since the beginning of autumn, mushrooms are back in forests and meadows everywhere in France. In the Deux-Sèvres, the town of Praille-la-Couarde celebrated its 29th edition of the Mushroom Festival. This Sunday, October 16, a festive day was thus organized at the Pèleboise house of La Couarde
, with in particular an ephemeral exhibition on the varieties of mushrooms, but also several stands and activities offered to the public. But the main attraction of the day was undoubtedly mushroom picking in the morning. The opportunity for mushroom lovers and novice pickers to learn, alongside mycologists (mushroom specialists).
Daniel and Christine, both retired, had a good harvest. “We have about a kilo of mushrooms. We are satisfied!“, smiles Daniel. Among the edible species present in Deux-Sèvres, we mainly find the Cèpe de Bordeaux, the bay boletus, the blushing Amanita and some Chanterelles. But without a seasoned eye, it’s not easy to spot the right strains. “Nearly 90% of the mushrooms that were harvested by people this morning are not edible“, assures Michel Hairaud, president of the Mycological Society of the Argenson massif
. Hence the disappointment for some, after showing the contents of their baskets to the experts.
A scarcity of species
If most people can hardly taste the fruits of their picking, the event has the merit of raising awareness among the general public. Hugo is not yet ten years old, but he now knows how to recognize a boletus: “below it is spongy, above it is brown and the foot is often white.” For the mycologist Michel Hairaud, the challenge is also to warn about climate change, and the depletion of fungal species. “Yesterday, we counted about 120 species that we were able to exhibit. But twenty years ago, we would normally have had about 300 different species. And that is linked to the scarcity of living species. There are also invasive species in fungi. We see more and more tropical species appearing“, develops the specialist.
After a summer marked by a severe drought, the season was late to start this year
. “The season in which mushrooms can be studied is shrinking like a trickle. A few decades ago, we traditionally had a season start at the beginning of September. There, we have seasons that are reduced to two or three weeks sometimes“, he adds. So many effects of global warming. In 2023, the town of Praille-la-Couarde will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Mushroom Festival.