Mushroom Season

[JohnW]

I found about 20 nice ones today here in Indiana, and I'm not a very good mushroom hunter (except with a guide).  Close down you mill, call in sick, it's time.

[John.Howard]

What were they? We'll have a glut of St Georges mushrooms around the 23rd of April (if you know where to look  ;D). Apart from that there's nothing 'til late summer. Except Jews ears.

Give it a few months and you start coming across these:



  

  .

Then comes Autumn and you're really in mushroom season!



 

I'm sure I've got loads of good mushroom pictures somewhere....

[JohnW]

They are morels, black sponge, about 1.5" or 2"

[LaneC]

How do you cook those? Boil, bake or do you eat them raw? Some of those are huge. I always wanted to know which type to try, but without an experienced person telling me which ones are good, I will pass on them.

[Den Socling]

John Howard is the incredible, incredible young man who built his own vacuum kiln. If you haven't seen the thread at Drying & Processing, I strongly recommend it. He spent nearly 3 years turning a propane tank into the best kiln in the UK!

[John.Howard]

Haha, cheers Den. Are you a mushroom fan?

Ah yes, Morels. The one big one I have never found. I must have picked and eaten more than 30 different species, but Morels...

If you're interested in eating wild mushrooms they key is having a couple of good books. Armed with that hard won information, it is a safe hobby if you study them closely and are absolutely sure you've identified it correctly. I normally have a good idea of what I expect to find depending on time of year, weather and terrain. Just pick a few well known mushrooms to search for, rather than trying to identify every one you find.

Pictured above are: Giant Puffball. That's a small one, I've found them twice the size of my head! Sliced and fried in bacon fat it makes one hell of a burger... The Fairy Ring Champignon, the mycelium of which can live for thousands of years and create a ring up to half a mile in diameter, probably making it the biggest single organism on the planet! Chicken of the woods, and the Beefsteak fungus, which is the cause of brown rot in oak and chestnut and what causes 'tiger-stripe oak'.

The big one is Boletus edulis, what we call a 'Penny Bun' because it looks like a bread roll, also known as a Cep or Porcini mushroom. That is a prize and is best dried.

[Bricklayer51]

ThanksJohnW I have been watching for someone to break the good news.We are a week or so later than you so its time to dust off the onion bags.

[beenthere]

John
I've heard that if the mushroom is found growing on wood, that it is one that is safe to eat.

Does that fit with your experience?

Friends here grow the shiitake mushrooms on logs. Others find the morel mushroom in the woods, often under elm trees.

[WV Sawmiller]

Been,

   Only ones I recognize here and collect are Morels (commonly called murkles) and they do not grow on wood. They grow right out of native soil. Taste sort of like fried oysters to me when cooked. I look for them in April and May after a big gobbler has eluded me again. Look for mushrooms on the return trip. I should try to learn more about others.

   I once saw a big puffball here and thought it was a human skull. Had me unnerved for a minute or two. Never can tell what you will find in these more remote hollers.

[trapper]

John
I've heard that if the mushroom is found growing on wood, that it is one that is safe to eat.

No A couple years ago I was picking polish mushrooms off oak stumps. I always turn them over to look at the gills before putting them in my basket.  Some from a stump a few feet away looked a bit different color on the gills.  The tops looked the same.I kept them in a different container.  When I got home I did a spore test and they were toxic.  Another example there were some growing where I worked  They looked like some very deadly ones but I picked some and took them to a friend who was very knowledgeable. They were safe to eat.  The only difference was a small ring  around the stem and how they broke off at the base when they were picked.   Always know exactly  what you are picking. I took a couple of the mycology classes in our local vocational school some years ago.
trapper

Does that fit with your experience?

Friends here grow the shiitake mushrooms on logs. Others find the morel mushroom in the woods, often under elm trees.

[John.Howard]

John
I've heard that if the mushroom is found growing on wood, that it is one that is safe to eat.

Does that fit with your experience?

Friends here grow the shiitake mushrooms on logs. Others find the morel mushroom in the woods, often under elm trees.

Unfortunately, there are no such short cuts. You need to know it's name to know if you can eat it. A good book will tell you its distinguishing features and what aspects may be confused with a poisonous species.

Some common mushrooms found growing on trees: Funeral Bell, Sulpher Tuft.......