Mushroom picking.

Does anyone here pick wild mushrooms?

I only pick two species Tricholoma equestre and Lactarius deliciosus. I won't walk past a Boletus but pretty much keep to these species. Mushrooms can give you a lot of protein and minerals but if you don't know how to pick them it's well advised not to pick them at all.

 

I would avoid them all the way. I know there are only certain kinds you can eat, but that's not really a wide variety. There are some people who can identify mushrooms well. I've seen someone on a reality show that thought they could identify a mushroom and made a mistake, and boy did
he end up in some serious pain. I'd rather be safe then sorry, it's always dangerous dealing with a fungus.

 

I'm scared to eat them outside, but now that I really think about it, I'm putting a lot of trust in the mushrooms that I get from the grocery store. It seems that you know the different types pretty well. That's awesome. I don't know that I could ever trust my own judgement. @tb65 the show you were talking about, was that on Naked and Afraid? I want to say that I saw the same thing on one of those shows, but I cannot remember which one it was.

 

I can say that mushroom is my weakness. First, I don't relish mushroom. Second, I don't know anything about mushroom. There was a time when we had harvested a banana and the dead tree (actually a plant) was left in the backyard due to the rainy season. After some time, we noticed some growth on the dead stump. Mushrooms. Before we could clean up the backyard for the mess, a neighbor dropped by and saw the mushroom by chance. Upon knowing that we do not eat mushroom, she said those mushrooms are edible so she picked up half of it and came back another day for the rest.

I would maybe try to find some other food in the vegetation like berries and other wild fruits than rely on mushroom. One problem with mushroom is the inedible variety that is poisonous. I wouldn't gamble my life with that.

 

There are a large variety of edible species but the ideal is to limit yourself to two or three species and know them inside out. The two species that I pick are unmistakable that's how come I stick to those two species. I often walk across other edible mushroom species when i am mushroom picking but I never pick them. Only the species that know very very well.

 

I always liked how some had whimsical society names such as "witch's butter," Some that are bruised turn blue or red; others shine in dark places. Being a mushroom devotee there is none of which I am oblivious. The ones that have somewhat yellowish gills and are a bigger mushroom than normal. Unquestionably this mushroom is not edible, it is a false morel and is somewhat harmful due to its toxicity.

 

Symptoms can range from slightly uncomfortable gastrointestinal to fatal if the secondary metabolites are ingested after mistaking an toxic mushroom for an edible one. Be too careful, many poisonous mushrooms look just like edible mushrooms.