I decided to take a stroll through the park today since we've been having a few rainy days here recently to go look if any mushroom delicacies appeared. As I wandered through the forested area I saw ahead of me an area that was freshly landscaped and had some nice looking bark thrown on top of it. A few steps into the area and I was surrounded by my tasty little friends . . . Coprinus Atramentarius These particular ones are older and have started to liquefy but there was a smaller, fresher one in the back, unfortunately eaten by slugs, so it gave me hope to keep on scouring the area. A few more minutes later I found what I was looking for A small button starting to appear out of the ground. I collected around a half a pound of these guys in the area and fryed them up for dinner and oh man they were good. I snapped a couple more pictures in the park; i personally find the inky cap family of mushrooms to be quite beautiful once their decaying process has begun.
To note, anybody thinking of eating inkycaps should take the precaution to not consume alcohol with these mushrooms unless you are positive you picked a shaggy mane (Coprinus comatus).
Also today, I managed to find another birch bolete (leccinum scrabrum), second one this season! I have it drying out now all sliced up in the dehydrator. So anxious to eat it lol. (Pic off of google to get the idea of what they look like)
As the rain continues up here in the PNW more mushrooms are going to be popping up and I cannot wait! Oysters are going to be here soon and they are so yummy!
On August 06 2013 21:41 LastWish wrote: Something very fascinating about mushrooms..
What happens when you cosume alcohol while eating the first mushroom mentioned?
Iirc the alcohol can't metabolize because something in the mushroom bins to those sites. So you get alcohol poisoning.
I used to do this with my ex, it was generally fun! Looks like you had some good finds, it was never moist enough for us to find anything before we split. Anyone interested should just go for a walk, gain some familiarity before beginning to identify and pick mushrooms imo. There are enthusiasts in every city though to show you the ropes! Just look for your regilna Mycogical Society
Wow, this was very interesting. I just assume that every mushroom i see growing is dangerous so I kick it as hard as i can, turns out I may be wrong. (but it is fun regardless).
That's awesome. How did you learn which mushrooms are edible and which aren't? I remember my Biology teacher (happened to be mycologist) saying only a small percentage are edible. He told us about this one mushroom growing around campus too that will kill you in a day if you eat it.
I've always wanted to do this! Unfortunately I don't have any mushroom books nor are there any reliable mushroom masters in the area for me to learn from. Do you have a mushroom book you would recommend to a beginner?
What would be the first wild mushroom you would recommend a beginner to eat after identifying?
Yes, you can grow mushrooms inside your house. They don't smell, and they're quite easy to grow. All you need is some dirt and old plant matter (compost) and some spores!
Part of every eastern european kid's childhood, lol. Must be super exciting in the developed world, kind of like drinking well water or butchering own chicken
The season in Sweden started off well enough but since june we've had drought and all my precious fungi shriveled up and died. I'm hoping that it will rain lots now so that the rest of the season isn't destroyed as well.
On August 06 2013 21:41 LastWish wrote: Something very fascinating about mushrooms..
What happens when you cosume alcohol while eating the first mushroom mentioned?
Coprinus mushrooms get their name from a common protein they carry - coprine - Coprine when consumed with alcohol binds to the alcohol and simply burns it up at a rate much much faster than normal making one feel extremely hungover almost within minutes
On August 07 2013 03:43 Mothra wrote: That's awesome. How did you learn which mushrooms are edible and which aren't? I remember my Biology teacher (happened to be mycologist) saying only a small percentage are edible. He told us about this one mushroom growing around campus too that will kill you in a day if you eat it.
On August 07 2013 03:53 Epishade wrote: This looks awesome. I'd also like to know how you know which are poisonous or not.
Can you grow mushrooms inside your house?
Last pic looks like mushroom cloud haha.
On August 07 2013 04:41 hp.Shell wrote: I've always wanted to do this! Unfortunately I don't have any mushroom books nor are there any reliable mushroom masters in the area for me to learn from. Do you have a mushroom book you would recommend to a beginner?
What would be the first wild mushroom you would recommend a beginner to eat after identifying?
Yes, you can grow mushrooms inside your house. They don't smell, and they're quite easy to grow. All you need is some dirt and old plant matter (compost) and some spores!
Tbh, i've just had a fascination with mushrooms since i've been a small kid. Walking around in the forests around my house I just sort of picked up what I found and went searching for its name. After awhile you start recognizing patterns and being able to either a: identify if a mushroom is poisonous or not B: know how to easily describe its features for later naming purposes.
Almost any field guide helps with this; most are split into your normal agarics/polyps/boletes etc.... Boletes are almost the easiest mushroom to identify but unfortunately aren't the most common; a simple lawn shroom (smithii) is pretty fun to go searching for. They're small and numerous, just don't eat them.
The coprinus mushrooms are by far the easiest mushroom to distinguish from others though because if you let them sit out for an hour or so they turn into a black liquid.
Most importantly though, take a spore print. If you don't know what that is, you should probably do more research into what mycology is :D
Also, to the people thinking of growing mushrooms, yes it's easy, but you need an EXTREMELY sterile environment or you're going to get all sorts of different molds going.
On August 06 2013 23:43 Race is Terran wrote: does this get you trippin?
Naw, those will be popping up very soon though as the rain comes on heavier. I found a patch of P. Cubensis just the other day, nabbed like a half oz for the dehydator and the patch didn't even have a dent in it. lol. Don't eat psilocybin containing mushrooms people unless you've gone with someone who's eaten the mushrooms they're picking before. There are way to many psychedelic look alikes that will make your stomach turn inside out it's not even funny.
On August 07 2013 16:12 Mina wrote: Greetings fellow forager!
The season in Sweden started off well enough but since june we've had drought and all my precious fungi shriveled up and died. I'm hoping that it will rain lots now so that the rest of the season isn't destroyed as well.
That's too bad to hear =/. I hope the rain comes soon brother! I've been patiently awaiting since morel season ended.
Today I went into the enchantments for a day hike and while walking along the trail there was a white coral looking blob. It unfortunately wasn't a hen of the woods but still something that caught my eye. -Ramaria botrytis-
It has an extremely fruity flavor to it and was quite tasty actually (first time eating it).
Another bright side to this trip alongside the awesome view and the plethora of fish, there were probably 100 or so acres of thimbleberry bushes. I didnt' snag a pic. . . we were too busy snacking away on them lol. Super tasty berries though and have way more flavor than I expected.
I've always wanted to get into something like this, but I'd always be worried that I'd accidentally eat something that I shouldn't and end up throwing up blood in the woods before seizing up and dying.
Empyrean, if you want to see if a berry is poisonous or not, smush it on your fingers then rub the juice lightly onto your lips. Wait at least 20 or so min and if it's burning a little or has a rash, don't eat it. This works for a lot of berries but not 100% of them. Also, all compound berries are edible As for mushrooms, there are two kinds of mushrooms you can't screw up identifying and that's oyster mushrooms and boletes, but more so oyster mushrooms. Oh and if chicken of the woods grows around you that's a pretty easy one to tell as well. But if you're not sure, don't eat it.
it's really fun man and I encourage everyone to do this; there's so much food you pay tons of money for when in reality you can just find it for a fraction of the price. Plus you get to be outdoors
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