Foraging
Many people enjoy foraging, and this time of year is full of delight for them. Blackberries, sloes, elderberries, hazel nuts, and sweet chestnuts are just some of the bounty that can be collected.
Wild mushrooms are a different proposition. We have seen many people poking around at ground level for delicious treats. One French man we met showed us the basket of chanterelles he had gathered and was going to freeze. Chanterelles are often associated with beech and birch trees, and can be found between May and November.
Unless a person has been brought up to identify fungi, it is wiser to avoid gathering and cooking them. It is far too easy to make a mistake which may turn out to be deadly.
Left to right: Panthercap (Amanita pantherina) Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) and False deathcap (Amanita citrina) from 'Mushrooms' by Roger Phillips
The grey spotted Amanita (Amanita excelsa) grows in mixed woodland and can be seen from July to October. It is edible and very common but must be thoroughly cooked before consumption. It has a strong mushroom smell when cooked.
It is not safe for amateur foragers to attempt gathering is because it is difficult to distinguish from the poisonous Panthercap (Amanita pantherina) Panthercap is not abundant and grows in most types of woodland, particularly beech, from July to November.
Confusingly, the edible Blusher (Amanita rubescens) looks similar to the Panthercap. It is common and widespread, and grows in mixed woodland from May to November. Although it is reputed to be very tasty, it must be thoroughly cooked to the destroy the poison (!) it contains, which is only destroyed by heat.
Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) is the striking red ‘toadstool’ with white spots, often seen in fairy tale illustrations and paintings of the autumn countryside. It is both toxic and hallucinogenic, but not usually deadly, unless a great quantity is eaten (more than ten) It can be found from August to December in mixed woodlands, particularly favouring birch woods.
The common name of Fly agaric comes from the mediaeval practice of breaking off pieces and putting them in milk to kill flies. Reindeer and red squirrels eat them and suffer no ill effects, though maybe that’s why reindeer fly.
Fungi seem to be a recurring theme on my blog. I have written about them here and here and here and here.
When I was doing my volunteer thing on Saturday one of the ladies said that somebody had left with a whole basket of gathered fungi. I don't think I would trust myself to ever know the difference lol
ReplyDeleteI certainly wouldn't. I can't even eat cultivated mushrooms without feeling ill soon afterwards.
DeleteI once went on a woodland tour with a mushroom expert called Patrick Harding. Though he knew so much about fungi, he was exceedingly cautious about eating his quarry. And this was after working for many years as a mycologist. It was his life's passion. Sadly, he is now dead - but not from mushroom poisoning!
ReplyDeleteI admire and respect experts like him.
DeleteUntil I saw those red spotted fungi growing here after a very wet summer brought out many species, I thought they were just a fairy storybook fantasy thing! What a treat to find they were real.
ReplyDeleteJoy at last!
DeleteOh lord. Those mushrooms looks scary. Like aliens.
ReplyDeleteI prefer my mushrooms small and brown ones in tesco plastic boxes. Haha!
Their forms and colours are fascinating, but other-worldly. Like aliens, as you say.
DeleteNo foraging for me- I would not trust what I picked-I would be afraid I would poison myself. I'm shopping in the supermarket!! I've seen some pretty unusual mushrooms this year too.
ReplyDeleteThe more you look, the more you see. As the season changes and grasses die down, fungi are more noticeable.
DeleteI’ve forged wild berries, figs, pomegranates and nuts but never mushrooms. I’m not that knowledgeable and would kill myself. Now in the state of Oregon, psychedelic mushrooms are legal. No thank you!
ReplyDeleteWhy do people seek such fantastic things as psychedelic mushrooms? Like is extraordinary enough, if you know how to look.
DeleteWe had a terrible case in Victoria when three people were murdered with poisoned mushrooms and a 4th was hospitalised for ages. It wasn't an accident.. the woman was gaoled for life
ReplyDeleteBut now I ONLY pick up mushrooms from the supermarket.
Her case hit the headlines around the world. However did she hope to get away with it?
DeleteI know nothing at all about mushrooms, so buy mine from the supermarkets. I did once buy a "mushroom box" for ex hubby as a gift, it contained soil, and spores I guess since mushies don't have seeds, it grew dozens of mushrooms which he loved cooked and eaten on toast. I see mushrooms growing in my garden, big white ones that look just like the supermarket ones, they're probably the same variety and okay to eat, but I leave them for the birds and worms just in case they aren't.
ReplyDeleteI love mushrooms but I would never forage, I don't know enough about them to know which are safe and which are deadly. I do love to come across the fly agarics though, they're like the mushrooms you see in storybooks.
ReplyDeleteFly agaric are enough to make you believe in fairies.
DeleteLikewise. I must go and see if are near the duck po d again.
Delete"For food, for fun, for poison, they are a help to man" Gary Snyder. I have been on fungi walks with experts but would never ever trust my judgement on which of them to eat.
ReplyDeleteYou sent me on a trail after Gary Snyder. I am so ignorant.
DeleteI will gladly take their picture but I don't know enough about them to pick any to eat. I would likely pick the wrong kind
ReplyDeleteI won't even touch them but am sad when I see beautiful specimens carelessly destroyed, 'just because.'
DeleteI am pleased I don't like mushrooms, so no risk to me. But as a child we used to pick mushrooms, which my parents ate fresh and cooked, or dried on a string. There were only two types we saw, button mushrooms and a wide flat mushroom, and they were fine to eat. I would not have picked any of the mushrooms you've featured.
ReplyDeletePeople used regularly to pick field mushrooms, but I'd never trust my judgement. I can't eat mushrooms at all, now.
DeleteI only know how to recognize one mushroom that is safe to eat. And it's one that is hunted by so many people in the spring that I hardly ever see it. It's called a morel. However I do go once a year to this lovely place called Kingwood Center and on display are hundreds of ceramic fungi. They were all made in the early 1920s and are true to size.
ReplyDeleteThat display sounds wonderful. Aren't people clever?
DeleteI wouldn't even dare consider eating any of them.
ReplyDeleteI don't eat mushrooms of any kind, and certainly not ones I find outside. these are really attractive little guys, great photos and info... I don't even eat flowers or berries that everyone says is good to eat.. of course who knows whom and what the people are picking when I buy them in the store? hummmm maybe I will give up eating. my brother has always said, whomever was the first human to drink cows milk was a brave person. ha ha
ReplyDeleteLikewise.
ReplyDeleteI hunt for mushrooms in the grocery store because I'd be the guy that found some outside and them "accidentally" killed all the neighbors!
ReplyDeleteThat would be my fear, too.
DeleteVery interesting and no foraging for me -Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteNor me!
DeleteOne of my sons likes to forage mushrooms and is fairly knowledgeable, but my heart is in my mouth whenever he says he's found some edible fungi and I certainly would never eat any myself 😀
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x
I can understand your concern. I would feel the same.
DeleteDad used to pick mushrooms all the time. He would send us kids out to pick mushrooms. However, the knowledge didn't stay with me. An informative post.
ReplyDeleteNot like riding a bicycle then, which you never forget!?
DeleteMy Uncle Mario foraged for mushrooms and could identify which to gather and which to leave. I think he learned from one of his uncles. As far as I know the skill wasn't passed on.
ReplyDeleteI think it's something you have to learn at someone's knee.
ReplyDeleteI photographed fungi today! Even those which I'm almost positive are ordinary field mushrooms I wouldn't dare eat!
ReplyDeleteIt's not worth the risk.
DeleteFungi are fascinating. And not something to mess around with if you don't know what you are doing.
ReplyDeleteThey are so interesting. Their role in the forest is so necessary.
DeleteThank you for this information about the mushrooms. Oh goodness, I would dare not to eat one that I forged from the forest. I enjoy watching shows where people are surviving on the land as they know how to forge for their foods and healing needs.
ReplyDeleteI admire and respect those who live off the land - I'd probably perish quite quickly. 😁😳
DeleteWith one exception, I will never touch any wild mushrooms. That one exception, which I only ate once, was the morel mushroom, Which my aunt who served it to me. It grows in certain parts of the United States. Supposedly, it doesn’t look anything like any of the poisonous mushrooms. On the other hand, I love cultivated mushrooms I can see why some people would take the risk as respects the Wild mushrooms.
ReplyDeleteI used to love mushrooms (cultivated) but can't tolerate them now, so no chance of me eating wild ones! 😟
DeleteI find fungi endlessly fascinating, but I'd rather photograph than forage them! xxx
ReplyDeleteI agree, Ann.
DeleteWow this is so fascinating. I don't know enough about forging to pick something and eat it.. I'd be too afraid of accidentally poisoning myself.
ReplyDeleteIt's too easy to get it wrong . . .
DeleteIf I had some woods around me and I wanted to go foraging I would learn what everything looked like and what was ok to eat.
ReplyDeleteI still wouldn't trust myself . . .
DeleteInteresting but scary too
ReplyDeleteYes!
DeleteI am always fascinated with fungi. Thank you for sharing not only the photos but also information.
ReplyDelete😊
DeleteI do enjoy mushrooms but I would never forage.
ReplyDeleteI will stick with purchasing them from my local supermarket.
All the best Jan
That's the safest thing to do.
DeleteI LOVE looking out for fungi though the only one I've liked eating is the golden chanterelle deep fried in batter!! I've got a few finds to share on my blog soon too!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing your discoveries.
DeleteId love to forage fungi to eat but don't know enough. We ate field mushrooms only and were amazed when we encountered european tourists collecting bright yellow ones that grow in pine forests and they were amazed that no one here eats them.
ReplyDeleteEuropeans, particularly from Eastern Europe, seem well-educated in mushroom identification. There are a lot of Eastern Europeans in our area.
ReplyDelete