Comment on The green lean mean killing machine
Arghblarg@lemmy.ca 3 days ago
Don’t forage for mushrooms unless you identify them in multiple ways, from multiple guidebooks, and ask locals what’s around, first.
There are quite a few types of mushrooms that don’t have any poisonous lookalikes, that is once you know what to look for.
Oyster mushrooms, golden (and winter) chanterelles, puffballs (IFF you slice them and make sure there’s no ‘mushroom’ outline within!!!), hedgehogs, boletes.
I wouldn’t trust books when it comes to hunting mushrooms.
Don’t go hunting mushrooms unless your family’s taken you hunting mushrooms since you were a kid (and even then only in regions you’re familiar with, and even then don’t pick any mushroom you’re not 110% certain of, and if you’re not an idiot), or accompanied by someone with that experience verifying every single mushroom you find before picking it up, and telling you why and how it’d’ve killed you or why it wouldn’t’ve tasted good.
Good advice, but respectfully there are some trustworthy books. So long as the reader actually follows all of the verification steps in those books.
And definitely not those fly-by-night, probably AI-generated ‘slop’ books online!.
My wife & I only moved out to the west coast in our 40s, and in the decade since, we (slowly! carefully!) learned how to recognize the safe species. Just don’t take any stupid risks – be absolutely sure of an ID before eating. Show what you’ve collected first, if it’s a new one, to someone local who knows and learn from their experience.
One good book is All That The Rain Promises …
The cover of that book is something else hahaha
Nothing wrong with picking a mushroom to ID at home or at an ID clinic run by your local mycology club. You should individually inspect each specimen as you’re cleaning them anyway so you can throw out any which might be going bad, chock full of bugs, or misidentified.
When in doubt, throw it out.
Here in the PNW you can grow mushrooms on your car if you wanted. Its dark and soggy.
These are edible, with very colorfull side effects
I think I would rather just start growing my own instead.
MagicShel@lemmy.zip 3 days ago
My daughter foraged some oyster mushrooms. I did a lot of research before letting her eat them, but came to the same conclusion — there’s nothing else you’d mistake for it. She fried them up in some oil. They were fine. I had some. Definitely could use a better recipe than “pour oil, make mushroom hot” but they were edible.
But pretty much everything else we’ve found has been in the class of, “might taste gross or it might taste gross and kill you.” Thanks, I hate it!