Do you forage for edible Fungi?

[Tony]

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

[Asa Samuel]

I don't forage for fungi for two reasons, a lack of knowledge and a lack of habitat

[Nagual]

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 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.

[tjwuk]

Yes, but only when there is no mistake.ie puffballs etc.

[Melonfish]

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]

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.

[spamel]

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!

[gsfgaz]

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...

[spamel]

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]

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.

[BigShot]

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]

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]

No, I don't. More to do with a primitive fear of picking the wrong thing and doing a real mischief!

Dave

[rancid badger]

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

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]

Yes, but only occasionally as I'm more likely to pick them up while hunting for something else.

[gregorach]

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..

[Oblio13]

It's one of our favorite pastimes.

[VirusKiller]

That's just awesome...

[gsfgaz]

can u take me the next time u go.. hee hee

[Nagual]

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 try saying that when you've had a few.. we saw something like that growing out of a poorly sycamore.

[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.