Comment on Mushroom Guides
wildncrazyguy138@fedia.io 1 year ago
A general rule is if it has spores instead of gills, you’re probably in the clear.
Except for that one in Europe, that shit will megadeath you.
In all seriousness, the general rule I’ve heard for foraging wild unknown things is:
Roots are generally OK, particularly if you have access to double boil them.
There was a guy a few years ago who tried to live off grid. He died, having left behind a journal detailing his final days. In it, he logged the exact process you outlined above for various things he foraged, which included wild potato seeds. Turns out those things pass all the above tests, but that builds up over time that no one really knew about. Poor guy starved because he was too weak to even crawl.
nature be scary fellow humans. Be careful out there.
He also wandered into the Alaskan wilderness with basically just a sack of rice and a .22lr rifle.
He was a a couple miles from safety the entire time, but did not buy a map so believed he was stranded when the river rose and cut off the main trail. But there was another trail with a raised cable crossing over the river a few miles upstream.
He was totally unprepared and essentially just committed extended suicide. The fact that he remembered some basic tips from a Boy Scout handbook doesn’t mean he was an expert. Kid was an idiot who got in way over his head.
That some guy ISNT JUST ANY GUY! 😤
The point of my comment was to highlight that even if you follow all the good advice, there’s still a chance you discover some new things that will kill you.
Cool… I also forgot to mention all the books written about him… 😅
For mushrooms the only good advice is, if you don’t know what you are doing, don’t go foraging for mushrooms. Rules and guidelines that apply for one region might not work for another. The risk reward never works out if you’re inexperienced. You either get a tasty treat or incurable certain death. It’s not a great gamble.
Sure, and I suppose you’re going to advise me not to do my own electrical home wiring either. 😛
If you’re even half competent, you could actually do some basic electrical work at home and come out of it alive and well after a few youtube videos and some reasonable precautions. I can’t same the same about mushroom foraging.
People are shocked when they find out how bad I am at electrical work!
Thank you!
This is how the internet should work.
Still safer than mushrooms picking
You either get a
tasty treatbland, mild dirt flavor or incurable certain death.
FTFY
The people who die from death cap mushrooms here (Canberra, Australia) all learnt about mushrooms in another country, where death caps don’t grow, but an edible mushroom that looks just like them does
Here’s a general rule for foraging mushrooms; don’t use “general rules”.
Also; “don’t eat it if it bruises blue”, you’ll miss out on all the fun ones with this advice.
Yeah, atleast here in northern part of europe we have multiple shrooms that bruise blue and are still edible. I recomend getting a mushroom foraging guide book of your area, and first getting familiar with all the ones that can seriously hurt you.
Books pah! We didn’t take books the last time I went mushroom foraging! Books are for cowards! We took a senior fellow from the University of London who specialised in mycology, instead.
the blue ones can be the funnest ones
though perhaps not when you’re wildly unprepared for the things they will show you (and also, though I have yet to try them myself, probably not the best for dinner since everyone says they taste like shit)
don’t eat it if it bruises blue
Or do if you’re up for an interesting time and it passes the test above. Eat about three grams for some nice sights and 6 before sitting in a dark, cool took to meet something unknown
If it bruises blue, cut off a very thin slice from the center of the stalk and put it on agar until it creates mycellium. There’s some other stuff you need after that which I’ll be happy to help you with.
uncle benz
I don’t think there are any harmful mushrooms that bruise blue but would love for an expert to chime in here
I dunno my roommate was weeping about the shadows coming for him and said he couldn’t leave the bed for days and didn’t know why we hadn’t heard the screaming… So, like, a little harmful.
Rubroboletus satanas is definitely poisonous. On the other hand, Imleria badia is very good. Bruising blue doesn’t really say anything about edibility.
Good to know, but definitely wouldn’t mistake that stinky thing for an edible or fun mushroom
I am by no means an expert. I’m just a rando guy from Appalachia with some wild ass Russian buds and we do some funky shit down here. Take everything I say with as much trust as you give to anyone on the Internet.
Best disclaimer ever.
you’re probably in the clear. Except for that one
Looks like the meme is accurate
Do you mean ‘pores instead of gills’ ? I think all mushrooms produce spores, no?
You are correct, bad typo. Corrected
Roots might be safe if you can double boil them??? Jesus christ, I guess I’m never touching wild mushrooms ever.
Roots, not mycelium, sorry if that was confusing.
Don’t eat mycelium.
Why shouldn’t we eat mycelium?
it’s like eating random meat from the ground, it’s impossible for you to know what the fuck species it is or even if it’s all a single species.
The confusion was mostly on me as I mistook double boiling to mean boiling twice but thank you for the clarification anyway.
No you were right, it does mean boiling twice, much like you would do for cassavas.
Pretty sure those general rules are given to the SAS for when dropped behind enemy lines in a jungle setting. I think I heard it from a Ray Mears book.
The mushrooms from the bolete family here in Germany often stain blue (or some other color) when bruised but most are very good mushrooms for eating. For example, Imleria badia, Neoboletus erythropus and Suillus grevillei. The last one is even slimy but you can just remove the cap. (There is also this really tasty gill-having mushroom Lactarius deliciosus that stains green). Also, Armillaria can do bioluminescence but are also edible! I agree with checking for fungi infections of mushrooms and to learn to ID the deadly poisonous Amanita species (funnily enough, there are some really good edible ones in the same genus!).
Your guide to carefully test foraged organisms is definitely helpful. However, when foraging mushrooms you have to keep in mind some additional things. Many, if not most mushrooms are really toxic when eaten raw! People frequently get poisoned while eating edible mushrooms that are not cooked enough. They apparently often contain hemolysins. Also, there are a few tasty mushrooms that can be toxic if eaten in combination with alcohol. If you go foraging mushrooms, better try to learn some groups, how to distinguish them and what are their characteristics than trying to test by your body’s reaction. But yeah, if you were to be without any food in the wild maybe it helps to know how to test for edibility.
also even completely safe raw mushrooms are kinda difficult for us to digest, especially when not used to it, so do be prepared for some stomach annoyances if you pick 5 liters of boletes and chow down on it…
All good points, your comment deserves a whole lot more upvotes.
Interesting, but nature is a kaleidoscope and evolution isn’t linear. Mushroom rules like this tend to be super regional and even then, take it with a grain of salt.
No clue if you have any idea what you’re talking about but appreciate the Information dump. If I’m ever near death from hunger but surrounded by forest floor growths I’ll try to remember this.
the general rule is “look up what is 100% safe and trivial to identify with 0 toxic lookalikes in your area, from several sources you trust with your life. Don’t touch anything else out there.”
Except for that one in Europe
Joke, but poisonous mushrooms here are either quite distinct (lol Dickfuss) or give you a mild stomache ache. Well, except the section with mushrooms that look like a poisonous variant but aren’t.
All that to find whether a random plant will poison you
Animals are so much easier: is it an animal? It’s good to eat
Oh, my friend, I suggest you look into fugu, mad cow or chronic wasting disease.
Sure. Go for healthy animals
Obi@sopuli.xyz 1 year ago
That’s interesting, my general rule for foraging wild unknown things is: don’t.
CluckN@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Imagine dying for a D tier pizza topping
kameecoding@lemmy.world 1 year ago
D tier pizza topping, lmao.
RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Right next to “caramelized onions”.