Mushroom Hunting With Wisdom

Mushrooms fascinate me. Their amazing array of colors, shapes and textures entice me to stop me in my tracks so I can check out the abrupt yet welcome change to the landscape .When I was younger, I used to go hunting for edible mushrooms, and ate some of them. There was a bolete that grew in Maine that was sort of ok, but had a weird funky taste/smell to it, and I have also eaten puffballs, but they never quite agreed with me. Once I had children, I stopped eating wild mushrooms because I was a little nervous and figured that if I really screwed up and ate the wrong one, my children would suffer the most. I had the books, and want to, but I was lacking one thing that I wanted and needed most of all to continue mushroom hunting. I needed someone with experience to show me what was ok to eat, and just as important, to show me which mushrooms definitely were NOT ok to eat! I was never interested in any mushrooms that alter mental perceptions...the way I look at it, reality is weird enough and hard enough to understand without throwing in intoxicated hallucinations!

My children are older now, and if I could find someone to teach me about local mushrooms, I would probably begin eating them again. I would need to brush up on my basic knowledge first however. If you are interested in learning about mushrooms, I suggest you start educating yourself first about their structures/part names, such as gill types, veils, cups, and eggs. It is also good to know which season particular mushrooms tend to appear. It is helpful to learn where different mushrooms grow. Some prefer growing in rotting wood, some like forest floors, some open lawn...and quite a few enjoy my manure pile!

I don't think mushrooms need to be feared, unless that fear is synonymous with respect. Very few mushrooms are toxic enough to kill, but they definitely are out there. I have some death caps that grow fifty feet from my house, and I would die if I ate them, no question about it! Its all about education. I have wood stain in my garage and soy sauce in my refrigerator...and though they look very similar, I have been taught since I was a child which one was poisonous, and which one goes well on rice. I know the difference from their smell, location, and containers. Learning about mushrooms is much the same process. I will leave you with a saying that was passed onto me by another person who also was wanting to learn about eating wild mushrooms-

There are old mushroom hunters,

there are bold mushroom hunters,

But there are no old, bold mushroom hunters!