So many cramp balls!

[whats wrong with you all]

when you get them cut them in half there's a species of weevil (i think) that spends its larval phase in cramp balls eating them, they scrape loads of dust out everywhere (had one in my jacket pocket for a month it wasn't pretty) and when you come to use it you just find a fat grub in the middle no lovely concentric rings

Hmm might cut mine in half just to check. Cheers for that!

 

[Bushwhacker]

when you get them cut them in half there's a species of weevil (i think) that spends its larval phase in cramp balls eating them

You're correct.
I'm led to believe that they're not all that common either, so it's a reason why harvesting more than you need is not such a good thing.

 

[Geoff Dann]

One thing to keep in mind is if they're dense sounding when you tap them and purple or brownish they're best left alone until they've released their spores. When they turn black and sound hollow when tapped and are light in the hand they're ready to take a spark easily.

I could fill sacks with fresh ones and old ones! I had no idea this species was so much less common further north. It is so common in Sussex that it makes Birch Polypore look rare.

 

[whats wrong with you all]

I could fill sacks with fresh ones and old ones! I had no idea this species was so much less common further north. It is so common in Sussex that it makes Birch Polypore look rare.

It's strange, I've never once seen Birch polypore where I've been out.

 

[FGYT]

i'm sure that duncan intended this comment to be taken slightly less than literally, winky smiley and all that, but i still feel that it's worth commenting on.

if you collect cramp balls (or any kind of fungus) for your own use then as long as you have collected them from land where you have a right to be, apart from land which is covered by the CROW act (unless it was previously common land and/or you are are on a pre-existing footpath), or unless that land is subject to a local bye-law prohibiting the collection of funghi, then you are doing nothing at all wrong. as soon as you pass them on to someone else, regardless of any money exchanging hands, you are guilty of theft. if you're unsure then iirc the 1976 theft act is the relevant act with the 1981 countryside act (i think), the CROW act, and local byelaws possibly updating and/or over-ruling the theft act.

HTH

happy hunting

stuart

unless your a German lady living in the new forest and argue youve been selling them for 20 yrs so get let off the Forestry commission prosecution

or you do have permission to pick them on private land


ATB

Duncan

 

[shaggystu]

unless your a German lady living in the new forest and argue youve been selling them for 20 yrs so get let off the Forestry commission prosecution.....

i've missed this one, don't suppose you have a link do you?

the problem i have isn't with people picking and selling them (breaking the existing laws), it's in the fact that new bye-laws are being introduced into areas where commercial picking has become an issue. bye-laws which prevent you or i from collecting the odd 'shroom for our own table. it seems to be another area where personal rights are being squashed due to the actions of business. and i do have a problem with that.

as you quite rightly pointed out, if you have permission to forage commercially then there's no issue at all. i just tend to assume (probably incorrectly) that people are generally talking about foraging from land where they don't have explicit permission to do so.

bit of a bee in my bonnet about this one at the moment, sorry

stuart

 

[FGYT]

i've missed this one, don't suppose you have a link do you?

the problem i have isn't with people picking and selling them (breaking the existing laws), it's in the fact that new bye-laws are being introduced into areas where commercial picking has become an issue. bye-laws which prevent you or i from collecting the odd 'shroom for our own table. it seems to be another area where personal rights are being squashed due to the actions of business. and i do have a problem with that.

as you quite rightly pointed out, if you have permission to forage commercially then there's no issue at all. i just tend to assume (probably incorrectly) that people are generally talking about foraging from land where they don't have explicit permission to do so.

bit of a bee in my bonnet about this one at the moment, sorry

stuart

No problem i understand i always end up shouting at the telly when River cottage is on and they do a wild forage and make no mention of the fact that uprooting is not allowed unless permission. Which they probably have but make no mention of it or distinguish for the average viewer that they have now moved to a private bit of land to dig up some roots where as the previous footage foraging has obviously been done on public land etc

this is the woman they have ahd to give up i think the main argument was that they knew she was doing it on a small scale over a long number of years and failed to do any thing about it so when the eventualkly decided to enforce teh law the ygot turned down and now she has the licence to pick them

http://www.wildmushrooms.co.uk/food/meet.php

 

[shaggystu]

No problem i understand i always end up shouting at the telly when River cottage is on and they do a wild forage and make no mention of the fact that uprooting is not allowed unless permission. Which they probably have but make no mention of it or distinguish for the average viewer that they have now moved to a private bit of land to dig up some roots where as the previous footage foraging has obviously been done on public land etc......

you're not alone there duncan, much as i do enjoy huge furry-whippingstool's programs they do fall foul of that usual TV problem, they're meant as entertainment first and education second. the media displaying a lack of social responsibility, who'd 'a thunk it
the ironic bit of course is that the river cottage handbooks are about as good a reference as you can find for the purposes of clarifying the law on foraging, and they're not too bad as field guides either

thanks for the link

stuart

 

[Tony]

He he, Shelly's had to put up with the spore mess a few times, I had them all laid out once drying and what a mess that made had a bag of them burst on the living room carpet as well and they had spored before hand...all good fun

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

Keep looking, we do have them locally. Mind you, they are a lot scarcer than they have been in recent years :bluThinki .

You tease Phil . ive seen plenty of dead Ash but out of luck so far.

 

[Geoff Dann]

It's strange, I've never once seen Birch polypore where I've been out.

Do you not have birch trees in wales?? :-D

Everywhere in Sussex you find birch (which is pretty much everywhere) you will also find birch polypore.

 

[Geoff Dann]

i've missed this one, don't suppose you have a link do you?

the problem i have isn't with people picking and selling them (breaking the existing laws), it's in the fact that new bye-laws are being introduced into areas where commercial picking has become an issue. bye-laws which prevent you or i from collecting the odd 'shroom for our own table. it seems to be another area where personal rights are being squashed due to the actions of business. and i do have a problem with that.

as you quite rightly pointed out, if you have permission to forage commercially then there's no issue at all. i just tend to assume (probably incorrectly) that people are generally talking about foraging from land where they don't have explicit permission to do so.

bit of a bee in my bonnet about this one at the moment, sorry

stuart

She's called "Mrs Tee" and the ruling is a sick joke.