The Outside Story: Why do some mushrooms glow in the dark?

Mycologists have speculated for centuries about the reasons fungi produce light. Here’s the story of some that do.

Mycology is the scientific study of fungi. Meg Madden is a local artist with a passion for this science, sparked while out on a hike with her young daughter during March of 2020, the early days of the pandemic lockdown.

Mushroom expert Meg Madden is back at the Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell to lead another of her popular mushroom exploration walks.

Mushroom grow kits can be found online and in the gardening section in many stores. Available varieties include oyster, lion’s mane and shitake, along with familiar varieties such as white button and portabella.

ORWELL — Interested in mushrooms that grow in the wild? On Sunday, Aug. 22, starting at 1 p.m. at Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell, join naturalist, mycologist, and professional photographer Meg Madden for a curiosity walk along the hiking … (read more)

When the pandemic locked it all down last March, Meg Madden and her almost 10-year-old daughter, Daisy, started going out into Battell Woods behind their house in Middlebury.  “We got to see the entire forest wake up, species by species,” said Madden, an … (read more)

The baby is beginning to have strong opinions.  At the moment, his preferences manifest themselves most in the matter of food. For the first four months of his life, for a variety of health reasons, he subsisted upon a pre-digested infant formula called N … (read more)