Do you forage for edible Fungi?

[y0dsa]

Caught the habit from my granny who learned from necesity during WWll. Have also done one of those short courses in mycology.

I also don't manage to get out into foraging areas nearly often enough, and my one and only attempt to grow some failed miserably.

Favourites round here are parasol and giant puffball. Overall all time favourite is chanterrelle. Best 'others' are cep, beefstake, oyster, hedgehog and cauliflower. Hmm. That cauliflower was divine... maybe its an all time fave?

Those trompet de mort look scrumptious!

 

[maddave]

No - Fungi have little or no calorific value and at best are a food "additive" Plus if you get it wrong you can die an agonising and painful death. i'll stick to foraging MEAT!!

 

[Javapuntnl]

Yes I do, I forage for mushrooms when ever I can. I only have little over a dozen mushrooms in my repertoire (edible fungi I can identify without a doubt) but it provides me with plenty of great meals. Any extras I either give away to friends (who trust my judgment, so far not too many...) or use them as a barter with local chefs, a basket of chantarelle or the like makes them quite generous come dinner time.
So far this year has been crummm... here in Massachusetts (USA), spring was cold, followed by an incredibly wet June and first half of July and then two months of heat with no rain. It finally rained this Sunday, hope to be able to get out there soon, Hens should be coming up at last...

Jacob V.

 

[Oblio13]

Oblio13, would you mind putting some names to those shrooms there?

Top pic: Bearded tooth, Purple-spored puffball, a variety of corals, Black Trumpets, Chanterelles, and in the center, Chicken-fat Suillus.

Second pic: Sulphur Shelf.

Third pic: Lobster, Chanterelles, Black Trumpets.

Fourth pic: Hen of the Woods.

Fifth pic: Oysters.

 

[Tony]

What i tend to find is that i learn (re-remember) a number of them and then over the next couple of years that i don't collect any, or take a lot of notice i've forgotten most of it when i turn my attention to them again.

I know what you're saying Dave about the calorific value of them but they do perk up a meal sometimes and there's some proof that they can contribute to health, if not so much calories.

 

[gregorach]

There's a lot more to food that just calorific value. Most herbs have essentially no calorific value either, but people seem to forage for them quite a bit. I think we're just seeing the famously British almost superstitious terror of wild mushrooms here... There's plenty of green stuff out there that'll kill you stone dead too, remember. Personally, I find many mushrooms far easier to ID than plants.

I think a mistake a lot of people make is trying to learn too many at once... Yes, there are a lot of edible fungi out there, but when you narrow it down to the ones that are (a) really tasty, (b) fairly common, (c) easy to identify, and (d) available in your local habitat, you're probably down to a half dozen or so. Learn to identify the 3 or 4 best options absolutely reliably, and stick with them until you're never going to forget them. Then you can move on to learning others.

Sure, you can take the books and have a play from time to time, but don't get caught up in trying to ID every single 'shroom you see - you'll be there forever, and you'll never remember any of them. For example, we often see posts asking for IDs on various LBMs (Little Brown Mushrooms)... What's the point? They're not worth bothering with anyway, even if they weren't an absolute nightmare to ID. Ignore them completely unless you really want to be a serious mycologist.

 

[Bushwhacker]

I'm not a massive fan of mushrooms to be fair, I don't mind eating raw or pickled mushrooms but can't stand them cooked.

 

[Javapuntnl]

Oblio13,
Are those corals edible? ....guess they are otherwise you would not have listed them, never knew...

Jacob V.

 

[stuart f]

We are lucky, in that we have the services of Gordon Simpson,a grand old fella and a mycologist, now retired from service with the Forestry Commission, to keep us right but I never seem to get the time to learn much when we run these events

Gordon usually makes it clear that in fact; ' Most fungi are edible, it's just that some are only edible once!'

anyway; I would love to learn more one day.

R.B.

Hi RB,i have also been out with Gordon on a foray a few years ago at Kielder forest,the bloke has got a wicked sense of humour,he had me chortling all day.

Cheers Stuart

 

[Oblio13]

Oblio13,
Are those corals edible? ....guess they are otherwise you would not have listed them, never knew....

They are.

... Learn to identify the 3 or 4 best options absolutely reliably....

What he said. I'd also add that there are lots of mushrooms that don't taste good, and there are lots of mushrooms that will make you wish you hadn't eaten them, but there are only a few that are actually life-threatening. And they're easy to learn. So: Learn the deadly few, learn the "beginner" edibles that can't really be mistaken for anything else, and go have one more reason to enjoy being outdoors.

 

[Gabe]

I keep an eye out everyday when I walk the dog. I find tons and tons of fungi, alot of which is edible according to my book, however I've never been brave enough to test how accurate my book is!!! Pity as I love mushrooms.

 

[sandsnakes]

This is a thought provoking subject.

I have thought long and hard about wilderness food and have decided to leave it where it is, I look but dont touch. The reason is simple, more woodland and natural environment is being lost every day. The areas I have acess to are used by others and it is so easy to over glean an area. Part of my appreciation of bushcraft is the knowlege that I am not unthinkingly 'gleaning out an area' of natural resources. Often i will hump in my own fire wood (pallets burn wonderfully!), pre-chopped in a sack. Some may consider it a bit extreme, but try finding unmolested woods and forest in the South East.

Look, appreciate, identify and let it live its life cycle.

I have put down other things to concentrate on, but its not true. I think a lot of us just let it live and appreciate that its just there unharmed.

Sandsnakes

 

[Tony]

Good view Sandsnakes

I think that's one of the great things about fungi though, if you treat them right and harvest them correctly you don't do any damage, you'll get more and more coming back.

 

[demographic]

I do, but to tell the truth its not that often that I eat what I see and often leave it as I'm not quite sure enough to eat many of them.

Its not as if I don't have enough books on the subject but would like to learn more.

Does this Gordon Simpson chap still do the courses or whatever it is? Kielders not to far from me.

 

[Mikey P]

No - Fungi have little or no calorific value and at best are a food "additive" Plus if you get it wrong you can die an agonising and painful death. i'll stick to foraging MEAT!!

What?!?

Protein (inc essential amino acids), Vit B, minerals (K, P, etc). Admittedly low in carbs, so not great as easy energy, but lots of positives nonetheless.

 

[big_swede]

I do indeed forage fungi. Sometimes the fungi is all you need for a decent meal, like my lappland fungi soup:

 

[stuart f]

I do, but to tell the truth its not that often that I eat what I see and often leave it as I'm not quite sure enough to eat many of them.

Its not as if I don't have enough books on the subject but would like to learn more.

Does this Gordon Simpson chap still do the courses or whatever it is? Kielders not to far from me.

Hi Demographic,he must still do forays as i found this link,i don,t know if he still does Kielder though.
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/...odlandParkChopwellWoodMainCarParkFungalForays

I hope this helps.
Cheers Stuart.

 

[Colin.W]

I listed myself as a yes now and then. I gather them when I remember to take a bag other that the dogs dodo bag when they're outI do have a very informative book that descibes habitat, geographical location rare or common even goes into spore size in microns (but my ruler only does inches and mm's ) there are a few I gather mostly, not far from my ex is a nice old beech woods where we get dryads saddle and the fields around here we get ink caps (get them before the edges start to go black) and horse mushrooms with a few puffballs in the field on the way to the woods where I excercise our dog

 

[demographic]

Hi Demographic,he must still do forays as i found this link,i don,t know if he still does Kielder though.
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/...odlandParkChopwellWoodMainCarParkFungalForays

I hope this helps.
Cheers Stuart.

Thanks for that, I'll see what turns up.

Regards Scott.

 

[Hoodoo]

Most definitely. And my favorite is the morel.