Mushrooms

Wingy

Well-Known Member
It's that time of year again where the mushrooms are popping up everywhere. I've always been interested in picking my own, read loads of books etc, but have lacked the confidence to try eating. The only one I'm really confident with is the giant puffball - very nice.
However today I've just found a load of what I think are either field or horse mushrooms (both edible). Just wondering if anyone out there knows of a poisonous / toxic variety that resembles the above?
I'll post some pictures later
Wingy.
 
Try peeling the skin off, if it peels its edible

Don't use a spud peeler though or you might get false results!
I too often see mushrooms growing and think "I wish I knew whether I could eat that" but like Wingy I don't have the confidence to try anything in case I'm horribly wrong.
 
I know about half a dozen that I am confident in eating and tbh there are very few that resemble the edibles that can do you much harm other than a dose of the squits!!

Shaggy Ink Cap
Penny Bun
Field mushroom
Horse mushroom
Parasol
St Georges
Giant puffball (although you rarely see these round here now!)

Get the Collins 'Food for Free' by Mabey. Follow the guidelines and you'll be fine. Also only try a tiny sample of each you pick 1st as even though they are edible, you may still have a reaction to a wild mushroom.

The ones that I am always dubious about and have yet to have the courage to try are fairy ring champignon as they do look like many other small shrooms!!

Stratts
 
I've found having the 'Rogers Mushrooms' app on my iPhone makes an ID in the field easier.
 
image.jpgimage.jpgView attachment 46718

Pictures of the mushrooms.
1 with key to show scale
2 one of the smaller ones not quite open
3 one of the larger ones more brown underneath
are they field / horse mushroom?
 
Looks like a field or horse, cut it does it bleed yellow? If so its a yellow stainer and should be avoided. Some of the most poisonous are peelable!
 
Looks like a field or horse, cut it does it bleed yellow? If so its a yellow stainer and should be avoided. Some of the most poisonous are peelable!

Thanks, I'd forgot about the yellow stainer - just checked and they don't bleed yellow.
Looks like mushroom on toast for breakfast, see how I'm feeling by dinner time
 
Fungi.

We've had some great parasols.


WARNING: gratuitous fungi pics:

















They are delicious but some people get bad guts or vomiting from these and many other "edible" species.


Remember- some are toxic until well cooked, or interact with other things like alcohol.


Some of the most dangerous are, apparently, delicious and look innocuous: "Young" Amanita phalloides (death cap) can be mistaken for edible species before the veil has separated; Amanita poisoning is a cruel death.


Mabey's and Roger Phillip's books are helpful but won't make you infallible!


Leaving the cap overnight on a piece of paper will yield a spore print:







You can collect the spores; examining them with your handy microscope can aid identification, apparently!




Enjoy, but if in doubt, don't eat.
 
My wife is Czech and over there it's the national sport, we frequently go off with a basket into the woods, my FIL only picks the ones he knows are safe and he has educated out 2 sons on what is good to pick and what is "an eat once mushroom" last Sunday we went out shroom inn near where we love in the UK and my wife found some of the varieties we eat over in Cz, but past their best before date due to worm damage, so she is eagerly awaiting the next time it rains so she can get out the next day , I suspect I'll be making drying frames this weekend so she can have them dried and ready to add to her cooking. Funnily enough you don't get field mushrooms over there and she is always reluctant to pick them when we see them here. It's good fun if you know what you're doing.

Nick
 
Last month I stumbled upon the largest porchino (“penny bun”) I've come across in the wild but sadly it was long past it’s best and very likely had been peed on by any number of dogs given the location. Strange thing about it other than size and that no one had bagged when it might have been a feast for four is it stood alone on heathland that I don’t readily associate with conditions conducive to Boletus edulis.

K
 
Well got myself all convinced they were ok to eat, so mushroom on toast it was going to be.
Sliced them up and found lots of little perforations inside (a bit like an aero chocolate bar) a closer inspection and the buggers were full of tiny maggot like grubs!
So still not tried any :(
 
Well got myself all convinced they were ok to eat, so mushroom on toast it was going to be.
Sliced them up and found lots of little perforations inside (a bit like an aero chocolate bar) a closer inspection and the buggers were full of tiny maggot like grubs!
So still not tried any :(

Wild mushrooms are often and quite quickly eaten by grubs. It's rare to find one that's untouched. However if you slice them up, you can remove most of the little rascals. Some mushrooms are more attractive to grubs than others, but it comes down to how old they are.
 
I am actually going on a Mushrooming course over 4 weekends in Wilts paid for by a very generous customer of mine,and i am looking forward to it immensely.

Martin
 
I've picked quite a lot of chanterelles recently, I love them! Unfortunately its the only one I'm absolutely certain off so tend to shy away from everything else!
 
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