Mushrooms, Anybody finding many?

[hughmac4]

Great conversation! Nothing edible popping here in SE PA, but should be morel and oyster time soon. Real soon. Thanks for the reminder! I hunt while trail running mostly, and need to remember to keep my eyes open.

Oysters are a challenge here ... the flies will get them real quick if they’re nearing full size, but less in spring.

Sulphers and maitake (chicken and hen of the woods) are my favorites, though. C’mon summer!

 

[padronanniversary]

i always hear of news stories where people eat the wrong mushroom and your liver is toast with no known fix. how do u discern different varieties if they look similar ?

 

[sid]

i always hear of news stories where people eat the wrong mushroom and your liver is toast with no known fix. how do u discern different varieties if they look similar ?

Start with easy ones that have something unique and no look alikes oyster, chanterelles, hedgehog chicken of the woods.

One rule has always helped me, but I'm starting to stray away from it : don't eat mushrooms with gills

I have a shitton of books, and am obsessed since 3 years now, I always wanted to learn but was afraid too, then I finally started.

PS on YouTube watch "learn your land"

 

[101stinfantry]

Morels are about done in my area, though there were lots of them this year.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

i always hear of news stories where people eat the wrong mushroom and your liver is toast with no known fix. how do u discern different varieties if they look similar ?

Death cap and destroying angel, two deadliest mushrooms known to man. They have many lookalikes. This is why they tell you not to mess with little white mushrooms, and little brown mushrooms.

At one time if you ate a death cap or Destroying angel (aka deadly amanita) your only hope was a liver transplant. Some have survived with a transplant. There are lots of interesting stories of tragedy. Now if they catch it early, they can treat you with a drug derived from milk thistle. Many mushrooms can have adverse effects on your liver, especially when eaten in excess. The shaggy mane is really common. I bet there isn't a person here that hasn't seen them on a lawn. They are choice edibles, but if you eat them and have alcohol with them....you are in for a ride.
The death cap is rumored to taste like shit, problem is, one mouth full can kill.

Shelf type mushrooms are easy. If it grows on logs or stumps, you are pretty much golden. There is the jackolantern it's pisen but not known to kill.

Get an Audubon Field guide, and stick with the easy ones.

 

[Precisiondada]

Last time I “found mushrooms” was college...

 

[Loonhunter]

I only masquerade as a dumb ass redneck hillbilly peckerwood.

Don’t be so modest. It’s an award winning portrayal.

 

[Loonhunter]

Anybody here hunt for ginseng roots?
There was that reality show a few years back about it.

 

[sid]

Anybody here hunt for ginseng roots?
There was that reality show a few years back about it.

Never actively looking for them but always keep my eyes open for them .
The problem, here in TN you need a permit to dig them, with permit you can dig 25 roots iirc.

 

[padronanniversary]

Death cap and destroying angel, two deadliest mushrooms known to man. They have many lookalikes. This is why they tell you not to mess with little white mushrooms, and little brown mushrooms.

At one time if you ate a death cap or Destroying angel (aka deadly amanita) your only hope was a liver transplant. Some have survived with a transplant. There are lots of interesting stories of tragedy. Now if they catch it early, they can treat you with a drug derived from milk thistle. Many mushrooms can have adverse effects on your liver, especially when eaten in excess. The shaggy mane is really common. I bet there isn't a person here that hasn't seen them on a lawn. They are choice edibles, but if you eat them and have alcohol with them....you are in for a ride.
The death cap is rumored to taste like shit, problem is, one mouth full can kill.

Shelf type mushrooms are easy. If it grows on logs or stumps, you are pretty much golden. There is the jackolantern it's pisen but not known to kill.

Get an Audubon Field guide, and stick with the easy ones.

thank you so much..... i’ve always wanted to hunting for mushrooms, just hearing of some of the stories made it low priority in my hobbies. another great resource for foraging

 

[Marinevet1]

My buddy Mike has been finding them the last few days..........said he found a couple hundred this morning...........the bag he brought to the local bar, and the treats he served up............Morels.........

 

[Almonz]

We'll be going hunting here soon. They usually start popping up this time of year where I'm at.

 

[smoooth1]

@Foul Mike
I'm a big time mycophile.
I have cultivated them and I used to hunt them.
I've got some around my place, mostly oysters and turkey tail. I am not able to go out and climb these mountains anymore so, no I haven't found anything beyond my 4.5 acres.

Hard to beat the phorid flies to a good flush of oysters.
I had ~500lbs of poplar logs innoculated back in 2014. That was a bad year for me and I lost 95% of them to squirrels and phorid flies.
Me and my youngest daughter enjoyed one good meal off them in 2015.
If I can get my health on the right track I'd like to try again.
Next time I'm gonna cultivate them inside on straw substrate.

If you want to know anything just ask.
I have all of Paul Stamets books, and have a pretty good eye for identification. On Carolina Firearms Forum I was one of the mushroom guys. I've drove halfway accross the state to collect specimens guys would post pics of.

I recommend Stamets books. Also Audubon Field guide for mushrooms, and petersens Field guide for edible wild plants.

Believe it or not daylilies make a fine meal in early summer.

The 5 books on the right (Stamets, Arora, Miller) are Must Haves, as is the Roger Phillips Mushrooms of North America for the excellent color photos to aid identification.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Well I've just discovered my petersens wild plants medicinal and my edibles book are gone. I'm sure momma borrowed one and oldest daughter has the other. I need to crack down on the book thievery.
Anyway I'll show you what you get. With the Audubon Field guide.
It is well worth the money and the standard for positive identification.

Hundreds of color plates.

 

[Loonhunter]

Well I've just discovered my petersens wild plants medicinal and my edibles book are gone. I'm sure momma borrowed one and oldest daughter has the other. I need to crack down on the book thievery.
Anyway I'll show you what you get. With the Audubon Field guide.
It is well worth the money and the standard for positive identification.

View attachment 7065321
Hundreds of color plates.
View attachment 7065325

View attachment 7065326

Buddy, you need help. Professional.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Buddy, you need help. Professional.

You realize it's a conspiracy to keep me from getting banned in the "danger" threads.

I can't help myself.
I never even ate mushrooms till I was in my late 20s. Hated them, and I still won't eat the crappy white button mushrooms. Portabellas are low grade in my gastro requirements.

Sorry I've let you down @Loonhunter
Even Superman has his kryptonite.

 

[Dougie308]

Morels are thick here in MO.

As I remember, there are a few of on here that hunt mushroom. How are you doing?

This AM i checked a known Oyster mushroom stump and there are a few starting out. I will wait on them.

And it is moving on to asparagus hunting too. and ramps and what else do you hunt for in the Spring???

Is it time for Morels? and Oysters, and what else? FM

 

[Barneybdb]

Is this one in the book???

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Is this one in the book???

View attachment 7065489

That is the Knotty Burl mushroom.

 

[Blutroop]

Do y’all find morels every year? I found morels after two forest fires back to back up here in Alaska but wasn’t able to find anymore the following year at either spot. I’ve yet to find any in the woods without a forest fire. We still got snow on the ground so I know it’s to early anyways.

 

[Blue Sky Country]

Dang, I am surely a late participant to this quite palate-enticing thread.

Question: Has anyone ever considered growing the edible ones you have collected in the wild so you can basically have your own abundant supply right in your yards? Set up a couple of old damp logs and get a spore print from the crop of your choice. Where my father's family hails from, close to the Mongolian border, winters are long and rough so every house there are built with a kang, or furnace room. An anthracite burning oven is stoked 24/7, (from a firebox outside the building to prevent exhaust from entering the living quarters), with pipes circulating hot gas throughout the rest of the structure, including under all of the beds. In the particular space in the corner of the room where the warm air from the kang mingles with the cooler air from the rest of the building, many folks set up mushroom logs or planks which are always stocked with perennial species that yield fast and repeat harvests. In the fall season when hunters would be bringing back huge amounts of game from the forest, they also come back with collections of mushrooms that contain GOOD spore content, and it would be the women and kids' tasks to keep the mushroom wood always tended and growing throughout the deep freeze months. When all your neighbors got strings of peppers crisscrossing the inner yards drying in the sun, you know that summer's about to be over, and once the kitchen mushroom garden is set up again, you know the cold is coming not too far behind, though many folks grow them continuously year-round.

Mushrooms have always been a staple in my family's dishes. My favorite by far is xingbaogu (king oyster mushroom) stir-fried with asparagus, ginger and scallion. The antioxidant and anti-cancer / immune system regenerative properties in this combo are WICKED high.

 

[sid]

Here are some of my books, I don't really have a favorite since every book has something unique, but I like theNorth American Mushrooms most because it has lots of info and it has a more dirt resistant cover, but it doesn't have a lot of pictures.
The Audubon has too much stuff in it and is borderline to being overwhelming.
For a beginner I would recommend the mushrooming without fear, and the 100 edible mushrooms as it is relatively simple

 

[Foul Mike]

Yesterday I went to the asparagus patch not expecting to find much but it has been a warm spring and the early shoots got their asses frostbit. A good surprise met me.
I was alone and it really needs 2 people to do it right, one running the cutter and one picking them up.
Alone I got about 5 lbs. after about an hour and brought them home for the wash-up and eat up.
I cut, then snap, in the field, and bring nothing home that isn't all ready to go in the pan.

This AM my Partner in Crime and I went down and within an hour had 10 lbs. prime time and ready to go. We diveeded it up.
There is so much there that 2 people only make a dent in it. About 2.5 acres. in a long strip.

I checked my known stumps and the oysters are coming on good. Tomorrow will be a harvest day.

Asparagus and oyster mushrooms. More than you can consume.

Does it get any better than this? FM

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Foul Mike, do you 'can' or 'freeze' any of these, for the rest of the year?

 

[Foul Mike]

All of the neat pictures and book sources and videos are great. I probably have them all.

To me, There is nothing better than to go collecting mushrooms with an Old Man or an Old Lady in the area that know their shit.
Seek those people out if you want to know about mushrooms. Take them for a ride and find out what is good and what is bad, and they may all look closely alike. They may turn you on to something that they can no longer do but you can enjoy for years to come.

The thing to remember about mushrooms is:

You may be dead right or

You may be DEAD Wrong. FM

 

[Foul Mike]

Sean, as far as the asparagus goes, I quit trying to freeze it but now cut it up and boil it out and make a thick puree to be used as soup stock later on.
Vacuum packing is good too. Suck those bags down and seal.
Does that answer your question? FM

 

[joelinux]

Have one of these growing the backyard...waiting for it to grow big enough, then I'm going to put it on a homemade pizza. mmmmm

 

[Foul Mike]

Well I would not eat that motherfucker as it is not familiar to me but you do what is right for you.
I would bet you would like the oysters that are growing on the stumps around here and feel safe. FM

 

[joelinux]

And airport sushi. Don't forget about that.

 

[Mr_Happyface]

Great thread. Surprised there are so many mushroom fans here. Been growing my own for the past 2 or so years. Reishi, Shiitake, Lions Mane, some oysters, and multiple unsuccessful attempts at Shaggy Mane.

Pick some Skull Shaped Puffballs, Chicken of the woods when I can find it too.

 

[Friar]

Got these yesterday.

 

[Dolomite_Supafly]

Found these while riding Rampart Range about three years ago. It was early June.

View attachment 7063020

I missed the season again this year. Been looking every year since we managed to get 7 pounds of them one year. Didn't know we had them in the area we hunted until my wife brought home one that was 7 inches tall.

For those that don't know this is a Morel and it has crack like properties for those who like mushrooms. Some of the best tasting mushrooms on the planet. They have a completely different taste than any other mushroom.

Starting about February I start salivating thinking about them.

 

[Foul Mike]

It got to 31 degrees F last night and is forecast to get cold tonight. I hope it does and bites the asparagus in the ass good. Then I will take a tractor and tandem disc down there and lightly work it up a bit and be ready to go when it warms up again.

The oysters were good this morning and I got a couple of pounds of prime ones.

Morels, it they come, will be later with just the right moisture and right temperatures. They usually don't happen around here. Has to be a good year. 1 in 6-8 usually.

Sean, I pickle a lot of oysters for later if I find enough of them.

My ramps are doing well. FM

 

[Barneybdb]

 

[ccasanova]

Took the kids (5&8) foraging in the yard yesterday afternoon and gathered some chanterelles. Cooked them down in olive oil and butter with shallot and garlic. Cooked the filets in the pan while constantly spooning the mixture over the top. Removed steaks, added flour and cream to finish the sauce. It was fantastic! 8 year old loved it! Honey bourbon vanilla cinnamon poached pears for dessert.

 

[ccasanova]

I did some scouting and found a bunch more today. I’m off work tomorrow and plan to return to harvest them.

Any good recipes to try? I’m thinking maybe in shrimp pasta with a light cream sauce.

 

[Northfl]

Is this one in the book???

View attachment 7065489

I sure would like to get my wood turning bowl makin hands on that

 

[ccasanova]

Lots of rain has brought them out. 5 minute haul this afternoon. I need some recipes!

 

[smoooth1]

View attachment 7133824

Lots of rain has brought them out. 5 minute haul this afternoon. I need some recipes!

 

[smoooth1]

Google Chanterelle recipes, bet you can't try them all