The Foragers' Thread

[slowmotion]

Despite other replies they are definitely not liberty caps. The striations, proportions and proximity are wrong. My random guess is common ink caps, edible unless you drink alcohol!

I've never really tried to identify a mushroom but I've been fascinated by our lawn visitors. It seems to be quite a complex business. If they are Liberty Caps, I'm already in possession of some Class A drugs and I've broken the law just by breaking one off and photographing it.

Here's rather a good clip about how to identify them.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt_vjXiDoxs


The presenter spends the last ten minutes or so showing random mushrooms and patiently explaining why they are or are not Liberty Caps. I imagine you need to go through a similar process with a reasonably large number of other types in order to gain confidence as a forager. An online description of how you die by Death Cap poisoning made a strong impression on me. I don't fancy having a liver that is auto-digesting so I think I'll stick to Tesco and Lidl.

 

[Reynard]

The presenter spends the last ten minutes or so showing random mushrooms and patiently explaining why they are or are not Liberty Caps. I imagine you need to go through a similar process with a reasonably large number of other types in order to gain confidence as a forager. An online description of how you die by Death Cap poisoning made a strong impression on me. I don't fancy having a liver that is auto-digesting so I think I'll stick to Tesco and Lidl.

I'm much the same when it comes to mushrooms i.e. I leave them well enough alone and buy mine in Tesco.

Having said that, I will occasionally pick a Giant Puffball to slice and fry up with garlic. But that's because you genuinely can't mistake one of those for anything else.

 

[theclaud]

I've never really tried to identify a mushroom but I've been fascinated by our lawn visitors. It seems to be quite a complex business. If they are Liberty Caps, I'm already in possession of some Class A drugs and I've broken the law just by breaking one off and photographing it.

Here's rather a good clip about how to identify them.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt_vjXiDoxs


The presenter spends the last ten minutes or so showing random mushrooms and patiently explaining why they are or are not Liberty Caps. I imagine you need to go through a similar process with a reasonably large number of other types in order to gain confidence as a forager. An online description of how you die by Death Cap poisoning made a strong impression on me. I don't fancy having a liver that is auto-digesting so I think I'll stick to Tesco and Lidl.

Svendo beat me to it. Common ink caps don't mix with the fizzy yellow Europish you are fond of. However, Shaggy Ink Caps are very easy to ID and are one of the tastiest mushrooms. It's essential to be aware of deadly mushrooms, but it's a bit silly to pretend it's some kind of lottery. This is the haul from a long stroll last Sunday, and it has kept about four people in very tasty dinners for days.

That said, Death Caps are, in my observation, becoming significantly more common. I collected four very handsome specimens a couple of weeks ago to include in a display at a mushroom festival. The idea is to let people get up close and (with the appropriate prior warnings) touch and sniff things! It was very busy and I must admit I found it a bit stressful having one eye on Death Cap whereabouts for a whole day with children and dogs buzzing about everywhere. I definitely would not eat a mushroom pie made by anyone whose shrooming credentials I had the slightest question about.

 

[theclaud]

I've never really tried to identify a mushroom

Oh yes you have, and this isn't a bad shout.

I think they might be some of the Coprinellus family. They are probably feasting on the roots of a cherry tree

 

[theclaud]

Mahoosive Macro Mushroom.

 

[Reynard]

That'll be a good candidate for stuffing with cream cheese, garlic and parsley and topped with a parmesan crumb...

 

[Poacher]

Cheat alert! Someone gathered these, but I bought them from the Viccy centre in Nottingham.
"Bluebutton bits" - 600gm for £3, a quarter the price of the intact specimens also on sale. Sometimes I shell out full price, but today I decided to take a chance on these. They're Blewitts (Lepista sordida) or just possibly Wood Blewitts (Lepista nuda) which are very similar.
Either way, they're delicious, but not just to humans. Small white maggots are very quick to take advantage of the feast, and I found a few while inspecting my haul. Luckily, bluebuttons freeze very successfully, which also takes care of the wriggly protein content.
Stewed in butter and served on toast, some of these are destined for Christmas breakfast.

 

[Reynard]

I've been availing myself of the late season apples in the community orchard. Picked two baskets of New Rock Pippins this morning - such lovely apples, and if stored well, will keep till May. It's amazing to think this variety was developed shortly after Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo... They're light years better than anything on the supermarket shelves.

On Sunday I picked a basket of Lord Burghley apples - was hoping for more, but the rain had gotten into them, which was a shame. I also picked a basket of medlars. I'm not so keen on the latter, but the parental unit likes them.

It's so odd that hardly anyone picks fruit in the orchard - well, outside of the plums and cherries. I'm not turning my nose up at a good source of free fruit... But I guess these traditional varieties generally aren't sweet enough for most people.

And the walnuts I picked last month? They've finally finished drying, and I ended up almost filling a hessian sack with them.

 

[gbb]

As mushrooms are posted above, just reminds me of times as a kid on old RAF bases, exploring the grasslands around the runways, marvelous dinner plate sized mushrooms. The white flesh was probably 20mm thick, like eating steak, the black undersides would have the most heavenly taste. Smaller ones often found around the married quarters doing a paper round at 6 or 7am

Despite that, I've never had any desire to try anything more exotic, barring puffball, which tbf, I found woody in taste, nothing I'd go back for particually.

I see blackthorn 'sloe' berries are appearing. We get lots round here, It irks me to see all that fruit but don't really see how they can be used in your diet.

 

[Reynard]

There's a bumper crop of sloes this year - the hedges in this neck of the woods are still covered in a blue-purple haze.

I did make sloe jelly once. The result was awfully astringent.

Never repeated the exercise.