Mushroom foraging is damaging our woodland?

[FerlasDave]

I heard this on the radio coming back from scotland today, I dont really know enough about it to have an opinion but Im sure some of you guys might.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/oct/24/wild-mushroom-foraging-hurts-forests

 

[JonathanD]

Has to be said that I have never seen people collecting mushrooms by me in all the years I've been going out, until this year. I must have seen at least 15 different people collecting fungi in the last eight weeks. And the evidence that they have been collected too.

 

[FGYT]

you can tell teh years the y River cottage or other prog shows making slow gin for example by the fact all the sloes in the area for miles disapear very quickly and far to early for a good taste which is annoying if your waiting for the right time

luckly ive a couple of private areas i can get some when they are ready

same goes for any FAD thing one Telly

ATB

Duncan

 

[Retired Member southey]

There were a few chaps out with baskets in the little stand of woods i fell asleep in last week, I think its something thats becoming a bit more fasionable after the HFW cookery and the Mearsy type programmes showing you that you can do it,I wonder how many heed he warnings though,

 

[FerlasDave]

I must admit, this year I have noticed alot more fungi out myself but not really knowing which ones to eat and still not seeing the ones I can ID then I just leave them alone.

 

[JonathanD]

I must admit, this year I have noticed alot more fungi out myself but not really knowing which ones to eat and still not seeing the ones I can ID then I just leave them alone.

You and me both. Although it doesn't help when your guide book has some incorrect info. Peglers Easy Edible Mushroom Guide is one to be avoided.

 

[Retired Member southey]

As i have stated before, I easyly identify the mushrooms i eat by the handy sticker containing a coded info text mae up of bars of various lengths and thickness, but i wonder if with the increase of people foraging for mushrooms, is it upto the amount of people who have been collecting in past decades, im sure there were more people collecting 20 or thirty years ago, so is this an increase after a decline, if so is there really anything to worry about?

 

[Melonfish]

I'll be honest i've never quite seen so many mushrooms out then this year, its been a completely bumper year for them. my one spot for picking fieldies last year i got one decent sized shroom. this year there's been 3-4 times where i can pick and each time there's been upto 5-8 very nicely sized ones. and thats inbetween the council cutting the grass.
shaggy ink caps sprouting all over the shop, heck i've seen my first ever panther cap (or false panther) this year (still none of those fly agarics tho) and a whole arrangement of different kinds.
bumper year for them this year so i don't see we've made much of a dent.

 

[JonathanD]

Foragers may even help to spread pores about.

 

[Shewie]

I think the increase in eastern european settlers in this country may also be a contributing factor. Some of their cultures have always foraged edibles from the woods around their villages, it's only the more westernised societies like ours that have let these skills lapse and fade into memory until recently.

 

[_mark_]

I think the increase in eastern european settlers in this country may also be a contributing factor.

This is the case around the New forest apparently?

 

[stovie]

Personally I think 30 "bushcrafters each putting in £1000 toward a pocket of woodland would do more damage than any varient number of 'shroom buffs...

It's just a fad blip...if its not RM, its HFW and if not him JO and his italian chum, or anyone else...

 

[_mark_]

Personally I think 30 "bushcrafters each putting in £1000 toward a pocket of woodland would do more damage than any varient number of 'shroom buffs...

You mean....?
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63416&p=767202&highlight=#post767202

 

[stovie]

You mean....?
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63416&p=767202&highlight=#post767202

just an observation...:tapedshut

 

[royce22]

I think the increase in eastern european settlers in this country may also be a contributing factor. Some of their cultures have always foraged edibles from the woods around their villages, it's only the more westernised societies like ours that have let these skills lapse and fade into memory until recently.

This could be the case. A woodland near me has signs up during the shroom season in English and Polish saying not to pick more than 1 kilo pp

 

[demographic]

Is there any scientific evidence that this is doing any harm? Or is this worry a Daily Mail style kneejerk reaction to those pesky Eastern Europeans?

 

[_scorpio_]

as i heard on autumn watch people aren't just collecting the edible ones. they collect everything and then sort out what they think they can eat later, which is pretty stupid and a waste.
however, these people who are going out and picking the wrong things or picking things too early (for example a whole tree of green elderberries that i had my eye on disappeared to create some form of half edible sludge by a neighbor, who threw the whole lot away when i told him they were poisonous if unripe) will know they have got it wrong and i think a lot will give up, but there will probably still be loads of people planning to do it properly next year after a bit of googling and these people, after a bit of trial and error, will probably become very good at it and mean a lot more people doing what us lot do in the future.

 

[xylaria]

If you read the article it is more a worry about commercial pickers than taking a kilo for personal consumption.

It is normal practice for mushroom buffs to pick one of each type they encounter so it can be properly IDed at home. A commercial picker will clear a forest of a few prize species, which is a far cry from the practice of amateur foragers