Mushroom Hunting....???

[Ivywoods]

The only mushrooms I feel safe collecting are morels. We get a lot of them here. Love them! I see a lot of other mushrooms when I am out there hunting them, but I am just not educated enough to positively identify them, so I leave them alone.

My son and I often combine a turkey hunt with mushroom hunting in the spring.

 

[sunsaver]

All of the deadly Amanita species have white spores, and usually white gills. You should never eat any mushroom with white spores or gills, to eliminate the possibility of death from liver failure. You should always do a spore print. Even expert mycologists have died from eating what they thought was an edible, white gilled mushroom. There's a false morel, (brain mushroom) that will make you sick, but not likely to kill you. I recommend the "nibble test" on all foraging adventures. Wait 24 hours and see how you feel. Some people may be allergic to a wild mushroom, while others can eat the same one with no ill effect. Take your time, and get to know the local flora. Consult with a local foraging expert if you can.

 

[TroutsChicks]

I'm in middle tn , can i find morels here now?

 

[Dawn419]

We usually found them only in early spring, mid March through April, in Putnam, Jackson, White and Overton counties of TN.

 

[me&thegals]

I just got DH a mushrooming book. He bought spore for winecaps and oyster mushrooms this past winter and had a great time building mushroom totems and a woodchip mushroom pile. We harvested a fair amount this first year. The only shrooms we forage are morels, but I'd love to be taught others. I love learning by book, but mushrooming is the ONE time I can't quite work up the courage to trust the book alone and not a practiced forager.

 

[FarmerChick]

that is me on mushrooms. so very worried I will screw up...even comparing one directly to a pic in a book. just can't take the chance....ain't got it in me

however thru the years I have definitely researched growing some. ****ake on logs. Hmmm...good little project to handle.

I love mush and boy they are good for you!!

 

[me&thegals]

I didn't learn about their nutrition until fairly recently. I always figured they were useless nutritionally, and now I find out differently!

 

[FarmerChick]

oh really...you thought they didn't provide great nutrition....glad you read up on them. boy 'shrooms are wonderful definitely. I eat alot of 'shrooms. always fresh, never from a can. I have to say they are tops. I also love the big Porta caps on the grill....OMG to die for LOL

 

[Dawn419]

FC,

Gotta agree with ya on the Porta's off the grill! They take the place of a hamburger/bison/buffalo burger for me in the summer-time.

I'm hoping to add doing mushroom logs to our homestead in the next 2 years. Doc/hubby doesn't care for 'shrooms but I'd love to have them growing here as a staple part of my diet.

One of the first books I bought when we moved out here and saw just how many mushrooms we had growing wild on this place was the National Audubon Societey's 'Field Guide to Mushrooms' but I still don't feel comfortable harvesting anything out of the wild at this time...other than Morels, which I haven't found on our place but have a friend that's willing to share spoors!

 

[FarmerChick]

LOL Dawn
between you, me and Gals we are chickens.....
we may not be wild picking, but we sure can grow some!