Mushrooms and toadstools

[cyclonic happiness]

Thought I'd start a thread about this subject as, although alot of the country is underwater (again!), it is at least a fantastic time to go mushroom hunting.

I have myself just been out with the dog and managed to collect 1x common puffball and about 1/2 lb of jews ears.

Tomorrow i'm gonna go up to the local woods, hartshill hayes, and hopefully get a load of boletes and some parasol mushrooms and see what else is up there.

Here's today's stash anyway lol!

I thought anyone else who is interested could post their pictures and finds on here!

Edited September 6, 2008 by cyclonic happiness

[BARRY]

Thought I'd start a thread about this subject as, although alot of the country is underwater (again!), it is at least a fantastic time to go mushroom hunting.

I have myself just been out with the dog and managed to collect 1x common puffball and about 1/2 lb of jews ears.

Tomorrow i'm gonna go up to the local woods, hartshill hayes, and hopefully get a load of boletes and some parasol mushrooms and see what else is up there.

Here's today's stash anyway lol!

I thought anyone else who is interested could post their pictures and finds on here!

it's ok if you know what your looking for, bloody dangerous if you don't.

[cyclonic happiness]

it's ok if you know what your looking for, bloody dangerous if you don't.

Yep, been eating them for years.

Just thinly sliced them and fried them off in a saucepan with a clove of garlic and whole pepper corms in butter, then poured it over a nice big steak!!! OH YEAH!

And you are right, you should always know what you are looking for but the ones i have here are about the most easily identified.

The puffball needs a little care, as it can be confused with a cap mushrooms that is still within it's cocoon.

But the jew's ears are easy as they look just like ears and are generally found on elder, they have a strange, jelly like texture when fresh and maybe a little rubbery.

I've only ever found them on elder and we go back to the same elder thicket every year.

Edited September 6, 2008 by cyclonic happiness

[Anti-Mild]

Stick to the easily identifiable ones - cep, jew's ear, morelle, even chantarelle although that one can be confused with the jack o'lantern 'shroom. Apparently the difference is in the gills; jack o' lanterns have straight gills, chantarelles have forked ones.

I might pop out early tomorrow morning and see what I can see!

[PersianPaladin]

Mushrooms make me vomit.

[BARRY]

Mushrooms make me vomit.

nice of you to let us know

[Bottesford]

What about these guys:

Common all over the UK and also easy to grow but more fun to eat!

[cyclonic happiness]

Look a bit like panther caps to me? or Death cap, so i wouldn't be comfortable about picking and eating those.

I was always told that you should first learn to spot the most dangerous ones first before you even think about picking the edible ones.

We only ever pick the ones we know to be ok, morels, puffballs, field mushrooms (altough be careful of the yellow stainer), jews ears, parasol mushrooms and horse mushrooms.

I had thought about learning about other types of cap fungi, but would only ever do so with a qualified expert in mycology.

We've been picking and eating the same mushrooms from the same places for many years now, so know what to look for, but, if there was ever ANY doubt in our minds, we would never even think of eating them.

BTW, the best ever fungi IMO, is the common morrel, season between may and july here, which my mum likens to roast beef when well cooked.

Best to soak them for half an hour before eating to get all the earwigs out lol

[cyclonic happiness]

What about these guys:

Common all over the UK and also easy to grow but more fun to eat!

Tawney grisette? is it?

[Bottesford]

Tawney grisette? is it?

These: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybin_mushrooms

A little more food for the brain than for the stomach!

[Anti-Mild]

Look a bit like panther caps to me? or Death cap, so i wouldn't be comfortable about picking and eating those.

Death caps are green, or at least the cap is - a kind of bogey colour ! I'm less confident about the destroying angel which, to me, looks awfully like a field mushie.

[Pennine Ten Foot Drifts]

These: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybin_mushrooms

A little more food for the brain than for the stomach!

Not sure where you got that pic from, but I'd be surprised if those are Psilocybin - the ones I've ever seen are much smaller and grow individually. Unless that pic is of some cultivated hybrid. The ones in the wild tend to grow no higher than about 3 cms, have a small brown cap with a central point, and as I say, grow individually, (and are of course perfectly legal to pick and eat fresh, they only become a class A drug once they have been dried).

[LadyPakal]

Yes, care is needed - even when picking common mushrooms. As this group found out:

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/822753

[cyclonic happiness]

LOOL, They aren't the types that i had in mind, but it's all interesting :lol:

Does look a little like the tawney grisette.

[Bottesford]

Not sure where you got that pic from, but I'd be surprised if those are Psilocybin - the ones I've ever seen are much smaller and grow individually. Unless that pic is of some cultivated hybrid. The ones in the wild tend to grow no higher than about 3 cms, have a small brown cap with a central point, and as I say, grow individually, (and are of course perfectly legal to pick and eat fresh, they only become a class A drug once they have been dried).

Just a random pic grab off Google Images! But I have seen Psilocybin looking exactly like that when cultivated indoors (in a growing medium in a plastic bag). Fascinating to watch them grow and slowly opening their caps to release their spores.

What you say about legality is no longer true as of a year or so ago. Previously you were right - you could pick and eat fresh mushrooms legally so long as they weren't dried. You could buy them all over the place too.

Now fresh or dry they rank alongside heroin or crack cocaine - although you would not be prosecuted if some were found growing in your garden naturally.

Sounds crazy making posession of a harmless mushroom subject to 15 years jail time - but such is the crazy drug laws of the UK.

[Pennine Ten Foot Drifts]

Just a random pic grab off Google Images! But I have seen Psilocybin looking exactly like that when cultivated indoors (in a growing medium in a plastic bag). Fascinating to watch them grow and slowly opening their caps to release their spores.

What you say about legality is no longer true as of a year or so ago. Previously you were right - you could pick and eat fresh mushrooms legally so long as they weren't dried. You could buy them all over the place too.

Now fresh or dry they rank alongside heroin or crack cocaine - although you would not be prosecuted if some were found growing in your garden naturally.

Sounds crazy making posession of a harmless mushroom subject to 15 years jail time - but such is the crazy drug laws of the UK.

Ah right, indoor cultivated, have never seen them in that environment (honest officer !!!)

And I couldn't agree more re. the crazy drug laws in this country (though I guess that particular conversation must have been done to death on here already ?)

[PersianPaladin]

Yes, care is needed - even when picking common mushrooms. As this group found out:

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/822753

Thats another reason why I avoid mushrooms.

They are after all; just raw bacteria.

Edited September 6, 2008 by PersianPaladin

[Anti-Mild]

Thats another reason why I avoid mushrooms.

They are after all; just raw bacteria.

But not all bacteria is bad, in fact if there were no bacterium at all then we would all be dead!!

I love a good mushroom!

[LadyPakal]

Me too - very tasty indeed. I suspect there are more bacteria in our mouths than on a fungus.

[Rustynailer]

Here is my puffball from earlier today, the extraction tractor driver found it(he is a sensitive soul and moved tons of machine to one side to avoid a huge patch of them)

Drying it to "deactivate" it in front of the fire, as if it keeps growing/maturing and you happen to eat it it will put you off of the taste of puffball(used in flavoring of tinned mushroom soup, sauce, etc.) for around 3-5 years. Its a bit like the first time one gets drunk on a spirit like Pernod:- Never again! So if you pick a puffball eat a bit then dry the rest. Once it has changed(the flesh) from pure white to yellowish/green/creamy color it tastes horrid and will put you off for years

Probably the best tip I have ever given on Net-weather

Russ

[cyclonic happiness]

I've never found a giant puffball, but have always found them a little strange texture wise, a bit like marshmallow cooked.

I'd love to find a big one though.

How big do you think they should be when ideal to eat?

[Chris Knight]

I've never found a giant puffball, but have always found them a little strange texture wise, a bit like marshmallow cooked.

I'd love to find a big one though.

How big do you think they should be when ideal to eat?

Most edible wild mushrooms are best taken as young as possible, to avoid attack by fungus fly maggot, bacteria, other fungi and other hazards such as animal excrement, and contamination from water splash, as well as the ripening process which may render the fungal fruiting bodies less digestible or palatable. If possible, use the fungi as soon as possible after picking. Not only will they taste better, they are less liable to do you any harm. Some fungi are already superinfected with other fungal mycelia, slime moulds and bacteria as they develop and can deteriorate in storage, unless cooked for storage, pickled, dried, or salted.

[Typhoon John]

Has anyone seen any magic mushrooms yet this year? I might go for a walk tomorrow to see if I can find any.

[grab my graupel]

Found this underneath the tree outside my house this morning. Does anyone know what it is please?

[Coast]

Found this underneath the tree outside my house this morning. Does anyone know what it is please?

Azores Hi is your man, but he's on holiday this week. I see that all this wet weather is actually good for something: CLICKY