View Full Version : Do you forage for edible Fungi?
I was thinking over the weekend about how many people i know that actually forage for fungi to go in the food they eat. So, do you forage for fungi to eat? If you do it would be great to know what you go for and what you don't (and why)
If you don't it would be good to know why you don't, is it lack of knowledge (this is why I avoid a lot of them) or no time, or even no habitat near you to find them.
I've got one particular log that year on year grows jews ear and a field where we can go for puff balls et we don't do it that often, but i know we should, we're getting more and more berries each year but not fungi, It would be good to change that.
So, let us know what you're like with your fungi :D
Asa Samuel
28-09-2009, 10:32
I don't forage for fungi for two reasons, a lack of knowledge and a lack of habitat :(
I've went for 'No, but I'd like to', although recently I've been keeping an eye out for likely shrooms. I've read a few books and vistited a few websites, but I honestly think that without having someone with you that knows their stuff, who can answer your questions on the spot, it's very hard.
My post here (http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45928) shows my confusion over IDing Chanterelles, Oysters and the like.
The habitat around Loch Eck should be teeming with 'shrooms of many different types as the environment is very diverse -: forestry pine, oak woodland, beach, birch, grasslands, marshy and dry. However due to, I think, my lack of 'getting my eye' in, I'm sure I'm missing loads. Either that or there just isn't that many about.
Yes, but only when there is no mistake.ie puffballs etc.
Melonfish
28-09-2009, 10:47
i've seen a fair bit around but my lack of knowledge is a bit of an issue.
i can recognise some species. in fact found a lovely young shaggy ink cap the other day but it was all on its lonesome in a hedge and thus i couldn't do say a mushroom omlette with it or owt.
would love to regularly go out for stuff, i do regularly see birch bolette and other tree based fungus but i've never had the pleasure of coming across any field mushrooms, chanterelles or anything else considered largely edible.
other then jews ear, but then i wouldn't consider it edible by human standards.
VirusKiller
28-09-2009, 11:04
I voted "No, but I'd like to". Like other posters, I don't have the knowledge to feel comfortable doing it for all, but the most recognisable fungi, so this is going to be an aspiration for some time.
I know where to find plenty of jews ears but they just don't appeal to me! Trying to find a god supply of boletes and chanterelles has eluded me since moving back to UK, very frustrating! On the other hand, since I am now confident with Amethyst Deceiver, I know where to get plenty of them and nearby is a patch of puffballs that I hope will show themselves in the next month or so. I need some good boletes though, I have very few left from Germany that I have eked out for over two years now! :(
lack of knowledge is my reason, i would love to go mushy picking with somebody that knows there stuff.. just haven't got a clue what's edible...
That is the beauty of the organised meets such as Middlewood, Rough Close and Swift Valley. People attend that have a decent knowledge in all things fungal and there are one or two that are pretty much experts, although they'd never admit so themselves. You can learn a lot with somebody else showing you the ropes.
robin wood
28-09-2009, 11:41
Not as much now as in the past due to locality but still have a field near my workshop that is reliable for horse mushrooms every year. I know a few spots for St Georges and parasols. When I was in a woodland in Kent I used to dry large quantities of Boletus badius every year.
I like oysters which are simple and unmistakable to recognise, not a fan of other brackets like chicken in the woods or jews ear.
I went for "no but I'd like to"... I've been foarging for mushrooms to try to learn to identify some of the ones we get around here and I find the whole topic fascinating.
I don't forage fungi for food though, and that's because I don't trust my knowledge enough to not kill me.
I've had some confident IDs so far, and successfully identified one that grows reliably in our back garden as the inedible Yellow Stainer, which was a shame, but until I've actually had an experienced micologist take me through it and point out just what's meant by cucumber, aniseed and so on in the world of fungus. Some of it's just so subtle it's nigh on impossible to figure out alone and stay safe.
Given time though, I'll be foraging for sure.
Toadflax
28-09-2009, 12:06
I voted for regular foraging, because I do go out mushroom hunting quite regularly in the Autumn every year (though in practice, I don't actually eat that much, due to lack of confidence in identification of more than 3 or 4 species).
Geoff
MartiniDave
28-09-2009, 12:12
No, I don't. More to do with a primitive fear of picking the wrong thing and doing a real mischief!
Dave
rancid badger
28-09-2009, 12:43
I find literally dozens of fungi when I'm out and about in Chopwell wood, as well as other places but I would never even consider trying to eat any of them.
I have been involved in several fungal forays here ( one coming up soon ) and(according to our expert) the vast majority of fungi found during these events are either inedible or downright lethal!
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:rolleyes:
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.
Cyclingrelf
28-09-2009, 13:06
Yes, but only occasionally as I'm more likely to pick them up while hunting for something else.
gregorach
28-09-2009, 13:58
These days I don't seem to find myself in the right habit often enough, but if I'm in the right place at the right time then mushroom foraging is always on the agenda. It just seems wrong to know that there's a wonderful seasonal resource there for the taking for a very limited time and not use it. A wild mushroom feast is one of the highlights of Autumn for me. If I'm in good hunting grounds, I'll also dry as many as I can be bothered cleaning - it's great to be able to add a handful of dried boletes to a winter stew..
It's one of our favorite pastimes.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c116/Oblio13/IMG_1201.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c116/Oblio13/IMG_1162.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c116/Oblio13/IMG_1016.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c116/Oblio13/IMG_0342.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c116/Oblio13/IMG_0231.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c116/Oblio13/IMG_1155.jpg
VirusKiller
28-09-2009, 19:10
That's just awesome...
can u take me the next time u go.. hee hee
Oblio13, would you mind putting some names to those shrooms there? The large clusters you are holding you look interesting, on a recent trip to Maclachlan MacLachlan of the clan Maclachlan's castle by Strathlachlan :D try saying that when you've had a few.. we saw something like that growing out of a poorly sycamore.
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!
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!! :D
Javapuntnl
28-09-2009, 23:48
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, 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.
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
29-09-2009, 12:22
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
29-09-2009, 13:14
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
29-09-2009, 14:02
Oblio13,
Are those corals edible? ....guess they are otherwise you would not have listed them, never knew...
Jacob V.
stuart f
29-09-2009, 17:14
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:rolleyes:
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,
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.
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
30-09-2009, 09:13
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
Good view Sandsnakes :D
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
30-09-2009, 21:18
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.
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!! :D
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
30-09-2009, 21:41
I do indeed forage fungi. Sometimes the fungi is all you need for a decent meal, like my lappland fungi soup:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2656/3969299949_3fc4831a8b_o.jpg
stuart f
30-09-2009, 21:43
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/ourwoods.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/EnglandTyneandWearNoForestChop wellWoodlandParkChopwellWoodMa inCarParkFungalForays
I hope this helps.
Cheers Stuart.
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
01-10-2009, 22:31
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/ourwoods.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/EnglandTyneandWearNoForestChop wellWoodlandParkChopwellWoodMa inCarParkFungalForays
I hope this helps.
Cheers Stuart.
Thanks for that, I'll see what turns up.
Regards Scott.
Most definitely. And my favorite is the morel.
http://faculty.gvsu.edu/triert/images22/4morels1b.jpg
http://faculty.gvsu.edu/triert/images5/morels2b.jpg
http://faculty.gvsu.edu/triert/images5/morels3b.jpg
http://faculty.gvsu.edu/triert/images22/mushroom_knife1b.jpg
http://faculty.gvsu.edu/triert/images19/morels1c.jpg
http://faculty.gvsu.edu/triert/images19/morels2c.jpg
http://faculty.gvsu.edu/triert/images19/morels3c.jpg
gregorach
05-10-2009, 17:20
Now that's just showing off! ;)
Now that's just showing off! ;)
And here I thought I was showing restraint. :lmao:
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.
I dont touch them at the moment as I dont know what I am doing, but plan to go on a course soon, which is why I went for 'No but I would like to. Will probably try to find a couple of courses based near me before I take the advice quoted above & try to reliably identify just 3 or 4 that grow near me and are woth the effort (& risk?) of eating. Good skill to have but I want lots of lessons before I jump in
John Fenna
11-10-2009, 11:36
I am afraid to say - I am afraid that I am very poor at fungi recognition, which makes me afraid to be adventurous with fungi, just looking out for the ones I realy know and trust as I am afraid of poisoning myself,
I'm afraid this is one area of foraging I realy need to work on!
I know where to find plenty of jews ears but they just don't appeal to me! Trying to find a god supply of boletes and chanterelles has eluded me since moving back to UK, very frustrating! On the other hand, since I am now confident with Amethyst Deceiver, I know where to get plenty of them and nearby is a patch of puffballs that I hope will show themselves in the next month or so. I need some good boletes though, I have very few left from Germany that I have eked out for over two years now! :(
The Amethyst Deceivers are up all around my local woods now, We had a wild mushroom risotto just last night. Found a couple of Ceps to add in as well.
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
I tend to agree with you about reducing our impact which is why I rarely pick mushrooms unless they are in plentiful supply.
Yesterday I picked over a pound of shrooms but it was less than ten percent of the available crop.
Matthew.Passmore
11-10-2009, 13:42
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!! :D
They do contain some protein and lot of vital minerals to keep the brain working well, but I tend to stick to meat too :-D
I can't eat 'shrooms on their own; don't like the texture, don't mind the flavours as long as they are in something else.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43456575@N03/4000541751/
Just a few of the best ones for the pot...
Sooooo much fun to be had poring over books and identifying all the little odd little things I find when I'm out looking for the ones I want to eat :) And the more time I spend out picking and identifying the more confident I feel... There are so many beautiful things in the forest as well as the edibles too :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43456575@N03/4001307524/
I went for, yes – rarely. The truth is I used to do it every year but not anymore. Ever since I moved to UK I foraged only once and that was back in Czech Republic. That was good year.
I was bringing home so many mushrooms every day my granny didn’t know what to do with them anymore. After a week we only kept caps as they taste better and discard stems. We dried most of them for winter.
Not really, just for mushrooms, I am not knowledgeable enough about fungi to go looking around for anything other than a standard mushroom/ Horsemushroom or Puff ball.
Probably end up in Intensive Care :lmao:
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!! :D
Here Here Dave
I faroage occasionally when I dont fall out SWMBO over it like last timw when I taking pictures more than anything else as we seemed to have missed a lot as they were looking pretty bad. (was months ago though).
Ryecroft
18-04-2010, 22:16
I voted No but would like to, as most on here.
I did go on a days course once, but there was so much to try and remember, still too nervous to identify anything other than ink caps!
The course was excellent and will do again when I get the time, highlight of the day was the guinea pig who volunteered to try a 'magic 'shroom' and was very happy for the rest of the day, and closely watched by his wife :lmao:
I do remember that the one that smells like old dog poo is not worth even going near, let alone cooking!:D
Harvestman
18-04-2010, 22:28
Yes, often. BUT, you have to know what you are doing, or else you are in trouble. I will only eat it if I am 100% sure that I know what it is.
There are false death cap in some parkland near me. They are edible, and quite good, or so I understand. However, they resemble the Death Cap (as per their name), so even though I am sure they are the edible false death cap, I won't eat them. I've been wrong before.
A quote I heard recently (possibly on this site):
"All fungi can be eaten, but some of them only once".
Wont say i forage for it but when it gets about time for a meal i usaly look in the biotopes where i know the food that will complement my basic food should grow. Or else i just eat what comes along the way as the day passes, NOT FUNGEE as it "ALWAYS" has to be prepared.
He he "judes ears" we call them "Judas ears" but i guess he was a jude :P I found them to be perfect for tenderfoots, and for all who lives in the nature doing winther.
Identifaction, cant be mistaken.
Habitat, cant be mistaken.
Season: autum, winter, spring.
Polution: Lives on trees so i consider them safe from heavy metals. (no confirmation please advice).
Conservation: Easy to dry.
My first and most trusted fungi.
-- Regards ananix
rover-spejderen.blogspot.com (http://rover-spejderen.blogspot.com)
fred gordon
30-05-2010, 14:38
Yes I have done quite a few times but you have to be very sure of ID. Few things are better that cooking freshly picked fungi in the open with a little butter and garlic. Hmmmmmm
Survival Bill
07-06-2010, 15:42
I used to hunt for mushrooms but the more I learned the less I wanted to take the chance with ones that I thought their was no way to make a mistake but their are bad ones that are so close and hard to tell the difference that I just wont take the chance anymore its just not worth my life....