Mushroom foragers

[katsdar]

I will be stalking this thread. I love foraging but don't know anything about wild mushrooms. My sister's Chinese SIL used to go get some kind of fungi off willow trees here in Arkansas. They didn't look like mushrooms but were very good to dry and use.

X2, here in N. Ga it is getting ginseng time and you can go hunt for it in certain area. My son and I are planning on going this year.

 

[duluthralphie]

Welcome Everyone, Thanks for joining.

I Wish I knew which Bolettes were good and safe and which were not. Most of the ones we find our overly ripe and wormy or rotting. We do spore tests to see if we have the right ones. BUT not knowing we do not eat them.


As far as "Mushrooms with Gill's go, they are way down my list of shrooms to pick. I have a book for beginners that has rule number 1 and the repeat it over and over " Never eat a mushroom with gills".

I am so new at this I have trouble differentiating a gill from a false gill. I know they should separate easy, but every gill and non gill seem to come apart easy. Someday I hope to learn.





UglyChick I love the name, but I want you to know when I was young there was never such a thing as an ugly chick. And if there was it just meant I had not drunk enough beer yet.


I would love to go foraging were some of you live, you have more mushrooms than I have here in the frozen sand dune I live on.

 

[room onthebroom]

Years ago I stumbled upon a perfect morel on the edge of a forest in West Virginia. It was beautiful! I'd never seen one in person before & I've never seen one since. DH's relatives were pretty po'd that I hadn't picked it & brought it back.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Ralphie: I will help you with your newly found mycological passion.

Below is the very delicious Chanterelles I found two weeks ago on a camping trip. I made an omelet with Pastured Hen eggs. (What else would I make?!) LOL. I guess a nice steak would be good too. Smell slightly of apricots. Delicious mild mushroom taste.




This was last summer. A huge chicken of the woods or Sulphur Shelf. The harvester was a novice though. And really all that is good is the outer rings. It gets pretty fibrous on the rings closer to the host. Tastes like chicken. Texture like chicken. Really delicious.



These have become a favorite Mid to late august harvest here. Lobster Mushrooms. They smell and taste a bit like seafood. Sauteed in Garlic butter of course. Easy to see in the woods. Easy to identify. There has been some question of their toxicity as this can be variable with their host apparently. We've had no troubles. They are best picked early. You want them firm like a raw potato. Older ones are soft and spongy...and well... blech.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

My next mushroom I want to get down now that I got the Chanterelle covered....is BOLETES. I'm sure I have a ring that grows down by the coop. But I'm uncertain ...and therefore will not try yet...

 

[Alaskan]

I thought none of the Bolettes were super toxic... So with all of them you could just nibble, and if it tasted good and not bitter then you were good.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I thought none of the Bolettes were super toxic... So with all of them you could just nibble, and if it tasted good and not bitter then you were good.

alaskan...I'm always 'chicken' on the first nibble.

 

[theuglychick]

I thought none of the Bolettes were super toxic... So with all of them you could just nibble, and if it tasted good and not bitter then you were good.

I've read in my field guides that most are edible, just not palatable. Some people seem to be sensitive to them and get the runs and horrible cramps.

 

[duluthralphie]

I thought some of the Bolettes were toxic. I am not sure if I have a Bolette or not yet. I am doing spore tests and using checklists before I eat a new one.


The WWD, aka to most people as a spouse, is in the hospital. She has C-diff. I have been told I have to watch myself closely or I could wind up there with her. I am currently disinfecting the entire house. (just what I wanted to do when I should be getting ready for winter).

I have 2 puffballs and a small part of a Hen in the fridge. I have never eaten Hen, so I planned to just eat a small portion to "test" it on myself and the WWD. I was waiting for her to get better to fry it up. Now I am thinking I should just throw them away.

I do not want to have a reaction to a new wild mushroom to be misconstrued as C-diff. The Puffball is no biggie, I just pick them out of the yard every few days. The Hen is another story. Luckily the piece I have is real small, I sent the main part home with my cousin, e has eaten them and loves them.

 

[duluthralphie]

BC what kind of fungi is this? I have never seen them so bright red? Are they edible?





They look dangerous to me. I follow the red is dead rule....