Notes about your surroundings.

MUSHROOMS: The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a couple of activities planned for the county in the coming week. On Saturday, the group will hold a “fungus foray” into the Rancho Mission Viejo area. The purpose of the trip, which is open to the public, is to collect mushrooms for display at the wild mushroom fair to be held the next day, Feb. 12, at the Museum of Natural History and Science in Newport Beach.

The fair will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will include displays, demonstrations and lectures on common Southern California fungi. At 11 a.m., Mike Wells of the Oregon Mycological Society, co-editor of “Wild Mushroom Cookery,” will give a step-by-step demonstration on the cultivation of oyster mushrooms. For $3, participants can take home a specially treated “log” that will sprout the edible mushrooms.

At 2 p.m., Wells will give a cooking demonstration using wild mushrooms. A 50-cent ticket will allow participants to taste the samples. Admission to the fair itself is $2, free for children under 12.

The public is invited to bring wild mushrooms to the fair for identification. The museum is at 2627 Vista del Oro. For information on the fair, call (714) 640-7120; for information on the Saturday foray, call (213) 292-1900.

Locally, wild mushrooms can be found in the days following a rain. The best places to look are in the county’s hills and canyons, especially under tree canopies and in meadows.