Coffee and Creek: Glen Lake Nature Preserve

(update, March, 2022)

[I wrote this blog post before the local mushroom and foraging groups of social media had amassed numbers of fungi thirsty forest tramplers. I never harvested mushrooms here because I believe that a "preserve" should be just that. A place to "preserve", and not to take. Nevertheless, it has been years (possible since this original blog post) since I have seen any edible or medicinal mushrooms here. ]

Glen Lake Nature preserve is a tiny little nature preserve (roughly one acre) tucked away in Decatur, Georgia. As it is currently my backyard, I have been lucky to visit this little stand of woods almost every day over the past year and I am constantly impressed by the secrets it reveals. There is a healthy layer of topsoil and I have seen more variety of fungi here than any other patch of woods in the metro area. This preserve is an example to me of how badly our birds and other animals need refuge in our ever growing metropolitan expansion. I have seen barred owls, nesting bluebirds, raccoons, possums, and salamanders in banks of the creek in this preserve. In the back of the creek there is a rock dedicated to a young man whose ashes are spread here. I can definitely see why he must have loved it so.