The Foragers' Thread

[Reynard]

I'm off to pick some damsons today from a derelict cottage. There are ten trees groaning with fruit, I've been making space in my freezer and getting containers ready. I think we can all agree damsons are delish.

Oooh, damson jam!

I snaffled a pannier full of apples from a tree in a nearby hedgerow. They're some kind of russet variety (not Egremont, I have those in my garden) and a bit on the sharp side, but they'll make a good crumble.

 

[theclaud]

Parasols!

 

[slowmotion]

@theclaud, where did you gain your knowledge of mushrooms? Was it from books or did you have a guru who taught you? I've went foraging in Scotland with a friend who knew their way around. Next day he invited an acquaintance to supper. I was briefed not to mention our mushroom hunting. The acquaintance's brother had been fatally poisoned a few years earlier. I've been a bit reluctant to go solo ever since.

 

[theclaud]

@theclaud, where did you gain your knowledge of mushrooms? Was it from books or did you have a guru who taught you? I've went foraging in Scotland with a friend who knew their way around. Next day he invited an acquaintance to supper. I was briefed not to mention our mushroom hunting. The acquaintance's brother had been fatally poisoned a few years earlier. I've been a bit reluctant to go solo ever since.

A bit of everything. You need to practice IDing stuff, and it helps to cross reference and to talk to people who know more than you do. Parasols are relatively easy to ID, good to eat, and sometimes in huge numbers, so they would be a good place to start around now. Mushrooms are no more difficult to ID than plants, and there are some very common deadly poisonous plants, so if you can pick blackberries, sloes or wild garlic, you can pick mushrooms with the same sort of know-how and precautions. Even deadly poisonous mushrooms can't hurt you unless you eat them, so start looking closely at every mushroom you find. Dig one up, look at it from all sides, cut it, give it a sniff!

 

[nickyboy]

I love the idea of foraging wild mushrooms (hell, I get enough just sprouting up through the lawn in the Autumn). I bet they taste way better than the ones I buy from Tesco

However I know nothing about ID. I could google it but it sounds like a fair bit of upside in terms of delicious mushrooms, countered by an horrific bit of downside in terms of dying from poisoning. Apart from some weird ones, they all look so...well.....similar

Wild garlic though....yum yum

 

[theclaud]

Whilst there are a handful of mushrooms species that are very dangerous, and quite a few that might make you ill, a single species is responsible for almost all the fatalities (in the UK at least). Learn to recognise Death Caps, whether you do it in the field or in a book, and you've eliminated the biggest risk at a stroke (spotted on a recent bike ride):

After that, just try and ID each mushroom you find, without eating it unless confirmed by an expert, until you are confident about recognising a few good edibles and understanding enough to make judgements about what group of mushrooms something belongs to and what you might expect to find where. Once you've got the gist with Parasols, you can spot them from upwards of 50m.

 

[slowmotion]

Whilst there are a handful of mushrooms species that are very dangerous, and quite a few that might make you ill, a single species is responsible for almost all the fatalities (in the UK at least). Learn to recognise Death Caps, whether you do it in the field or in a book, and you've eliminated the biggest risk at a stroke (spotted on a recent bike ride):

View attachment 607818

After that, just try and ID each mushroom you find, without eating it unless confirmed by an expert, until you are confident about recognising a few good edibles and understanding enough to make judgements about what group of mushrooms something belongs to and what you might expect to find where. Once you've got the gist with Parasols, you can spot them from upwards of 50m.

There are quite a few clips on YouTube about Amanita Phalloides (Deathcap). It's almost certainly worth watching each and every one of them. Here's one of them...

[media]
]View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uey7ohDORvI[/media]

( Filming that clip in a graveyard shows a certain gallows humour. )

 

[theclaud]

There are quite a few clips on YouTube about Amanita Phalloides (Deathcap). It's almost certainly worth watching each and every one of them. Here's one of them...

[media]
]View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uey7ohDORvI[/media]

( Filming that clip in a graveyard shows a certain gallows humour. )

Marlow's videos are superb, in my view. A beginner mushroom collector could do a lot worse than consult one of them to check on every new find. I've been collecting mushrooms for years but have added a couple of new ones to my repertoire thanks to his stuff. Poplar Field Caps FTW.

 

[oldwheels]

I have been on a few guided mushroom foraging walks but am still a bit wary. Ones by the roadside used to be contaminated by lead from petrol but I suppose may be better now.
I always remember that all mushrooms are edible. Some are edible only once.
So far as brambles are concerned I never pick any lower than a large dog could lift it's leg over.

 

[Oldhippy]

I am going on a foraging course soon.

 

[oldwheels]

Took this pic beside the Moss Road near Oban on my last foray off island.

 

[theclaud]

Chicken of the Woods!

 

[Chief Broom]

Can anyone ID this one please, found on the Black Isle, Highlands

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Chicken of the Woods!

View attachment 607967

From last year, largest tuesdaylet came home with this.

Quite delicious.

IIRC the only tasty bracket fungus

 

[theclaud]

Can anyone ID this one please, found on the Black Isle, Highlands
View attachment 607980

Scale? Usual disclaimers, but if it's a chunky item and it's in the woods I'd say Shaggy Parasol, given the look of the ring on the stem. Stains red when cut, especially at the base of the stem? It's one to be a bit cautious of for a couple of reasons.