Picking and eating Wild Mushrooms

[RGF1]

I have taken several "classes" yes even the AMC one a number of years ago on picking and eating wild Mushrooms none really mad m comfortable enough to pcik and cokk them on my own . I love them But I have never been comforatble enough to do it on my own. I am wondering if any one can recomend a good book with some very good clear photos I have two but I am not sure of all the images some are ok others are sort of generic looking . A really good class course or such would be intersting also . If some one Knows what they are doing and has some good advice or photos I would love to hear aboput it .I need something to do on my now shorter hikes . or evn just to pass time out side. .
Thanks
Rick

 

[sweeper]

Check out/do a search on Monadnock Muchroomers Unlimited.

I did a foray with them last fall

Low tech contacts

603 352-0510 Al David (Pres)

PO Box 1796, Keene NH 03431

 

[onestep]

I can't recomend a good book but I'd suggest finding a good teacher.

When I was very young my mother use to take my brother and I with her to pick mushrooms. I hated it then... today I wished I'd paid attention.

Onestep

 

[Mike]

As an amateur, I like and use "The Audubon Society Guide to North American Mushrooms".

Remember, there are OLD mushroomers and BOLD mushroomers but no OLD/BOLD mushroomers!

 

[Peakbagr]

I used to go mushrooming with my grandfather when I was young. He'd only pick one type of mushroom, the one he was SURE was OK. Lots of stories about eating the wrong type.

Years later, I had the chance to speak with a professional mycologist. He pointed out that there are many edible, and harmless mushrooms that are readily identifiable as safe. There are also deadly varieties that under different conditions, times of year, moisture, soil minerals, and habitat, that look almost the same.

Some of the Amanita family make you sick. Others make you violently sick and you get the poison out of your system before serious damage can be done. There's one little cutie that tastes nice, but its symptoms don't manifest until the toxins have been absorbed into your body. You start to die 24 hours later.

Bottom line, I don't get to go mushrooming often enough to be safe, so unless its something like Morels, or going out with an expert, I don't pick them any more. He scared the heck out of me.

 

[rhihn]

I second the idea of getting expert advice first. One suggestion is to join one of the Mycological Societies of North America. Here is a web site for you:

http://www.mykoweb.com/na_mycos.html#NY

 

[MattC]

I recently picked up "The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants, Mushrooms, Fruit and Nuts" by Katie Fletcher Lyle. Lots of good color photos, information and even recipes. The section on mushrooms is about 15 pages long and there are two pages of mushrooms in the photo section. Morels, puffballs, oyster mushrooms and others. I second the above advice about getting expert help if you're out to do some really serious mushrooming.

Matt

 

[Nessmuk]

puffballs

Like others have said, seek the advice of an expert. In the end only you can assume your own personal responsibility to eat or not eat what you find. Eating unknown fungus can be a deadly experiment. I am NOT that expert.

Having said that, every resource I have found in print and other's people's experiences, says that all puffballs are edible. Puffballs are relatively easy to identify and are not easily confused with other fungi, making them a good target for your table. You eat them before they form spores, while still soft and creamy white inside. I found a nice one in my backyard a couple of days ago. I sliced it into 3/8 inch slices and pan fried it in butter until golden brown. It was yummy and I'm still here to tell the story.

 

[dudley]

I've never taken a class, nor do I belong to a club, but I've learned a great deal from the Audubon field guide that Mike mentions above.
Full color photos, good discriptions, and comparisons to similar looking shrooms.
Best field guide I own. I can read it for hours.
Like many others, my interest in mushrooming began with an interest in the psilocybes. I never did collect any of those, but now I'm always on the lookout for choice edibles, and this time of year there are some good ones.
The King Boletes are out now. If you're lucky enough to find one they are the tastiest mushroom on earth. You'll be hooked for life.

 

[Stan]

Here is a link that has a good bibliography plus field lectures that may be of interest.

Edible wild foods

I picked mushrooms with my grandmother many years ago and the taste and memory still linger fondly but I wouldn't try identifying them on my own. Survival literature generally regards the risk of picking the wrong mushrooms outweigh the nutritional benefit but, assuming correct identification, they certainly can be a morale booster around any campfire meal.

 

[dudley]

There seems to be a lot of "the fear of the unknown" here.
A mushroom won't strike out at you like a timber rattler or chase after you like a swarm of yellowjackets. You have to make some really bad choices to pick, taste, cook, injest, poisonous mushrooms.
Mushroom fatalites that I have heard of all involved immigrants who picked and ate mushrooms that they assumed were the same ones that they had in the "old country".
If you are interested in 'shrooming, get a good field guide (the Audubon) and go for a walk in the woods. I.D. the ones you can, skip the rest. With a bit of experience you'll be able to pick out some choice edibles. Oysters, chanterelles, morels, boletes, and more, are all fairly easy to I.D. once you know what to look for. If you're not sure leave it alone.

If nothing else you'll be able to put a name on that hiking photo that previously just said "a fungus"

 

[jjmcgo]

This might be a good place to mention that many people have a mild to not-so-mild allergic reaction to mushrooms. Watch for symptons of stuffiness or itching 15 minutes to an hour after eating foods with mushrooms.
Many people eat mushrooms and don't make the connection.
This is particularly likely to happen to you if you have had extended antibiotic treatments and if you have or have had tinea, athlete's foot, ringworm, jock itch and/or nail fungus.

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

Nessmuk wrote:

Puffballs are relatively easy to identify and are not easily confused with other fungi

As long as you can tell them from the deadly Amanitas.

About Puffballs:
"There should be no trace of yellow or brown (which will spoil the flavor) and especially no sign of a developing mushroom with a stalk, gills and cap (see page 9). Amanitas, when young, can resemble small puffballs, but cutting them open will quickly resolve the question."

 

[dewoods]

More on Puffballs

"False Puffballs" a.k.a. "Earthballs" are not edible, but can be easy to spot. These species of genus "Sclerocerma" have a thick, pitted skin and the flesh is harder than the "true" puffballs. The ones you can eat have a texture rather like a marshmalow, or perhaps a bit more firm. Scleroderma species will be harder than an apple when young.

As others have mentioned, the center of an edible puffball must not show developing spores (yellowing or other discoloration) and the cross-section doesn't have developing gills, stem, etc. that would indicate an Amanita button.

 

[SAR-EMT40]

I have eaten puffballs for years including when out camping because it is such an easy mushroom to spot. Key in its identification is, if you are not familar with them is to cut them in half. The cross section should be solid with no voids of any kind and pure white. You cannot make a mistake if this is done. At least it has always worked for me and I eat a lot of puffballs. More importantly, my wife and boys eat it sometimes when I cook them, so I don't take chances.

A little butter or olive oil and you have a pretty good treat.

The other things to mention to people looking to try this taste supplement is that people have been known to eat mushrooms in one country and move to another country and eat the same mushroom and get very sick from them. Also eating a new mushroom for the first time is something best done, at home, and a little at a time. People have gotten sick from edible mushrooms after eating them for the first time.

Also note that I labeled it as a taste supplement. At one point I thought that with all the mushrooms out there that you might be able to actually survive on them (or at least starve slower ) if you knew which ones to eat. Alas, from what I gather (no pun intended ) most, if not all mushrooms, have very little to no actual nutritional value, so while they may taste good and add flavor. They are not a real substitue for food. Just an enhancer.

Keith

 

[woodstrider]

Warning

I don't eat anything that I can't positively identify- and that includes food from resturants. In the wild I am very careful.

Seriously, remember that news report about a family that ate some wild foraged mushrooms that all died? They had alot of knowledge and had been foraging for mushrooms for years. It only takes that one mistake.

Besides, I'd much rather have a snickers bar.