Mushroom treat- Another good haul

[me&thegals]

Woo, good find! Congrats!

I love mushrooms and know we have many exotic kinds that grow around here. I do have a mushroom identifier book but I'm still intimidated. How did you all learn to positively identify mushrooms well enough to be confident eating them.

I'd suggest sticking to things that really HAVE no dangerous lookalikes. There are a few. Some chanterelles; puffballs if you cut them open first (and since they are best sliced and sauteed *anyhow*, you normally *would* cut them open, so would notice if they were actually a newly-sprouted amanita); hedgehog mushrooms (which I just noticed some last week in the provincial forest where I walk the dog, and am having a lot of trouble refraining from nicking 'em for the dinner table LOL); or those blackish funnel-shaped ones that look like dead leaves whose name escapes me at the moment. [e.t.a. - I looked it up, it is Craterellus cornucopioides, horn of plenty or black chanterelle - also known as trumpet of death but is totally not poisonous, I think that name is just b/c it is black]

Beyond that, or if you're not comfortable even with *that*, find a local mushroom group that does classes or does forays for newbies. Best to learn from people, in person, who can point at things and say yes/no, and draw your attention to details, and check your IDs.

Pat

What she said The only one I feel comfortable with is a type taught me in person by long-lived mushroom hunters: Morels. Otherwise, this is one thing I'm not comfortable learning from a book, unless--as Pat says--there are no dangerous look alikes.

I almost harvested what I thought to be chanterelles at a local park this summer since they have no deadly look alikes. Turns out they weren't the ones I thought they were...

Woodwzrd--Funny about mushroom hunters being protective of their spots All the neighbors hunt morels, and everyone asks everyone in that season if any have been found yet, but NOBODY is telling where THEY go

 

[journey11]

Nice!

I found a gigantic chicken of the woods this time last year, but it was on the opposite side of a creek bank and I had no BOAT!

I hunt morels, puffballs, oyster mushrooms, and your chicken of the woods. Never found a chantrelle, but I'd like to! And I love to EAT honey mushrooms, but those I'll probably never be brave enough to id myself.

I got a great book tailored to my region, Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians. To me this is the perfect mushroom id book. They categorize by structure, and even tell you what color spore print to look for (something that can really help you get a positive id), gill structure, habitat, what poisonous lookalikes to expect, etc. It's very thorough! Glossy color photos too. I could look through it and daydream for hours!

There are actually very few deadly poisonous mushrooms, just a handful out of the thousands that are out there. Most of the other poisonous ones just cause severe digestive havoc. But even your Non-poisonous mushrooms may not set well with everyone! My MIL has a sensitive stomach and gets sick on morels if they are not cooked very thoroughly (and all mushrooms should be anyways). Anytime you are trying a new (well-identified) mushroom for the first time, you should only eat just a little to see how it sits with you.

Enjoy your feast, Woodwzrd!

We need some more rain around here. Too dry!!

 

[me&thegals]

journey---Love your avatar

 

[woodwzrd]

Today's bounty. I loaded my little Yuka pack as full as I could and carried 1 three pounder out in my hands. I added a couple pounds to the five pounds DW brought home yesterday to fill my new to me Excaliber dehydrator. I have three pounds sold already to a local food co-op and am waiting on a call back from another tomorrow. When it is all said and done we harvested about 25 pounds and should average about $10 a pound.

DW thinks she may have seen some hen of the woods as well so I am hoping to go back out early next week and do some more hunting

 

[tortoise]

When it is all said and done we harvested about 25 pounds and should average about $10 a pound. ... DW thinks she may have seen some hen of the woods as well so I am hoping to go back out early next week and do some more hunting

Maybe I should have signed up for the mushroom hunting class instead of the edible wild plants class.

 

[journey11]

journey---Love your avatar

Thanks, me too.

Wow, Woodwzrd, that's quite a haul! Morels fetch a high price around here, but I could never part with even one! You know what those babies would go nicely with--my FIL's recipe for venison baked in mushroom gravy!

 

[woodwzrd]

Just a few of yesterday's bounty. I actually fried these up last night.

I picked about 4 lbs. of these honey mushroom buttons. They were growing in a local park. I only picked a very small fraction of what was there. The rest are to small yet to mess with but after a few days of sunlight they should be good to go. Has anyone canned button mushrooms? These dry and reconstitute really well but I would really like to can some as well.

 

[woodwzrd]

took a 5 mile hike this afternoon with my dog and it turned out to be quite lucrative. I found about 20 more lbs. of chicken mushroom, about 6-8 pounds of maitake mushroom, and about 5 pounds of Honey mushroom.

The beauty of it all is I already have about 15 pound sold. What ever doesn't sell by the end of the day Thursday will go in the Excaliber.

DW made pork chops tonight and threw in some of the dried chicken mushrooms from last week and they reconstituted very nicely and added wonderful flavor.

 

[tortoise]

Wow! I am really impressed. This is a good year for mushrooms - they are all over the lawn! Makes me wonder if any are edible!