[Closed] Wild Mushrooms 2013

interested, but never got involved yet.

I used to pick Ceps in France, they were lovely..... happy memories 😀

Just ate a red one with white sp

MrsBouy is an avid collector of the things.
Me I'll eat them from a shop or restaurant but will most certainly not pick them.. I steer sooo wide of anything MrsBouy picks that she thinks I'm unhinged.
With sooo many varieties, some that look similar to poisonous varieties that it makes me wonder how come she’s a) still alive b) not gone soft in the head c) standing upright without a stoop.
Be careful out there...
😉

Yep, got a load of chanterelle's and Ceps last weekend. My 1hr mtb rides are more like 2 hours at the moment as I dive off into the trees every 200m 😆

Whatavisaidnow......nice knowing you....have a nice trip to the other side.

Always a bit worried about what's poisonous and what's not.

I have loads in the garden, and in the woods behind my house at the moment. Including an odd puffball that is full of green gunge when you break it open.

Just ate a red one with white sp

Might make you sick but you get a good trip on them 😉

Like anything, once you get into it and learn, the 'bad' ones and edible ones are quite easy to identify.

I have knowledge to identify well over 200 edible srooms and if in doubt I always leave it 😀

You can't go wrong with field mushrooms, they pop up in the morning around now and tend to be quite a few of them all in the same area. Lovely!

Last night riding through the leafy woody paths, I noticed a lot of white capped with brown centres mushrooms. They looked like mushrooms, but didn't pick any as unsure.

Stick to the really obvious to start with is my advice. Or rather, don't - because them's my mushrooms.

There is no mistaking a cep at all. No way.

On [u]no[/u] account pick mushrooms that have gills (i.e. radiating lines under the cap) unless you can identify them. Half a Death Cap will see you off in a painful and protracted way; it just isn't worth the risk.

This is Mrswhathaveisaidnow,....he's still stiff, . . . . shall i ride him one last time for old times sake?

look for the slightly nippled ones with a brown underside, quite small but tall.

look for the slightly nippled ones with a brown underside, quite small but tall.

Lol.

^^ I used to pick loads of them 🙂
Liberty Caps I think.

You can't go wrong with field mushrooms, they pop up in the morning around now and tend to be quite a few of them all in the same area. Lovely!

😯

Yellow Stainer anyone?

http://www.mushroomdiary.co.uk/2010/08/horse-and-field-mushroom-imposter-the-yellow-stainer/

I stick to what I know - Chantarelles and Ceps

I saw a mushroom in my garden that had gills on the top and bottom any ideas what that could be.

Also I have a small mushroom which looks like a magic mushroom without the slimy nipple any ideas on that one?

^^ I used to pick loads of them
Liberty Caps I think.

Going out picking this year. Haven't done mushrooms for ages! If you know any good spots, let me know.

Text us all from your Hospital beds Ya Loonies 😆

nothing on my local cep spots yet. its been too dry and mild. Where are you based to have picked so many already.

Surrey is booming - at least it is in my spots which I obviously cannot divulge!

[url= https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=rowlands+castle&hl=en&ll=50.885519,-0.97611&spn=0.01527,0.027165&sll=52.837617,-2.329102&sspn=0.935765,1.738586&t=h&hnear=Rowlands+Castle,+Hampshire,+United+Kingdom&z=15 ]Wild Mushrooms[/url]

Park at Harvester, Rowlands Castle. Walk over the road the thicket and follow footpath to the map location above. The fields there used to have a load! I'm talking 20yrs ago though, but I doubt its changed. In particular: [img] [/img]

I'm in Berkshire glenp so not that far from surrey. Hopefully my local spots shall soon be up then, so far I've only got one cep.that shall be served on a nice bit of steak tomorrow .

The magic ones give you a nice clean trip, very laughy and the come down is great, like a switch going off, almost instantaneously back to normal.

Not sure what they're called in English, but found loads and loads and loads of these at the weekend:
[img] [/img]
Armillaria Mellea.
Also some huge ceps. Nomness abounds!

Just to reinforce what Geoffj said about field mushrooms: leave well alone unless you do know what's what! if you eat an Avenging Angel or Death Cap (they are not that dissimilar) you might have a long wait for a liver transplant!
Chanterelles or Ceps are pretty safe though; picked several pounds of the former last Sunday.

Puffballs throw out clouds of spores when mature, but if you find them young, and nice and firm and white, they're great sliced and fried in butter, and Ink-caps are good too, provided you catch them when the cap is still curled under; not so good when the cap turns out and deliquesces, or goes liquid and inky, hence the name.

Shaggy parasols abound tonight

Loads of Inkcaps round here. Don't go well with booze though so that's me out!

Armillaria Mellea

Honey Fungus, edible but can cause stomach upsets in some people. I've eated them and been ok, my mate at work felt rough afterwards though, so best avoided unless you're really curious :wink:.

As mentioned above, Bolettes are a good place to start with their tube pores, the king being the cep/penny bun/porcini. There's really only 2 to avoid the 'Devils Bollete' and 'Bitter Bollette', the latter won't actually harm you just tastes fekin horrible!

I particularly like the Boletus Erythropus 'Dotted-Stem' that is red and turns blue when you cut it due to oxydisation of the flesh. It's one to sort the adventurous eaters out as it just looks wrong to eat but is actually V tasty 😆

I also got some mahoosive 'Prince' mushrooms last week, (one was 12" dia 😛 ) I can only appologise to the pixies and fairies that probably lived under them 😆

Oh yes. 101 uses for one's helmet, #43 - carrying dinner home.

Been out in exmoor today. Found a decent haul of ceps,so now have a bit more for dinner tonight! Have to have a good look round my local spots when I'm home next week.

Anyone interested in picking and eating mushies should get Antonio Carluccio's "Complete Mushroom Book".
The descriptions of all edible UK species and poisonous imposters are far more detailed than the tradional fungus books. Some good recipes too!

I do agree that a good book is essential. I also strongly urge anyone wanting to get started to avoid anything that looks like a regular shop bought mushroom and look instead for types that cannot be confused. Ceps and similar are your best bet by far I'd say. The worst you'll do is pick a bitter bolete (been there, won't be doing that again!).

The season continues to go crazy - another bag this morning of ceps, plus chantrelles and a first blewit. I have ceps drying in a very light oven again, several batches of cep paté (delicious and not much more than cooked finely diced ceps and cream cheese), quite a few boxes of cooked mixed mushrooms (ceps and parasols mainly) are already in the freezer for quick risottos - and we still have some for impromptu omelettes etc.

Any idea what these are?

[img] [/img]

They look like parasols which are very tasty but there is another related species, shaggy parasols which can upset some people. If you look at the stem and it has scales it is probably the edible one, smooth stem , the dubious one. However I am not taking responsibility for you eating them!

Would not normally identify a mushroom over the internet, but they are Parasols. Stem is too woody, so just eat the cap. Smaller ones are better, but not so small that you can't identify them! Supposedly excellent egg & breadcrumbed and deep fried - dip in garlic mayo.

Identify them properly first!

I'm jealous of all this abundance.
I have only today found my first cep of the season, first amethyst deceiver and a whole bunch of Parasols, still in the drumstick phase.
Wood Blewitts don't usually pop up round here (Surrey) until late October, so if the frosts are early, there's nowt.
There are always enough Fly Agarics to get the whole of Guildford shitfaced!

well I'm back home in Berkshire so had a scout around my usual spots. Picked just short of 9 lbs of ceps!!!! left lots of small ones as well so should get another bag full next week. Got anorher wood to check out tomorrow too, which is usually plentiful in good years.

Sparassis (Cauliflower Fungus)

[img] [/img]

check out Yunksters Winston Churchill 😀

Amanita muscaria (Fly Agaric)

[img] [/img]

Mystika grotto (Fairy City)?

[img] [/img]

these little beauties were between 6 and 8 inches tall and carpeted the forest floor under the canopy of this tree.. any ideas?

I did a course yesterday down nr Midhurst so thought I'd see if I could put my new-found knowledge to use in the Surrey Hills. Found a big batch of Ceps and plenty of Bay Boletes, with a few Amethyst Deceivers, but sadly no Chanterelles. Feasted tonight on a fantastic soup and tomorrow should see a chicken & mushroom pie made, with the rest being dried.
Glenp - any tips on Chanterelle location and recipes welcome 😉

Can anynone identify the fungi from my vid that I made on Saturday? I have Fly Agaric I think but don't know what the rest are.

Went with my Polish wife and FIL at the weekend. Disappointed that the stories of legendary knowledge being passed down the generations are lies 🙁 He goes home in 2 weeks so we have a limited window of opportunity.

I did uncover a new skill, sadly it was the ability to find a poisonous mushroom in a field of haystacks, whilst not seeing edible things under my nose.

Favourite quote of the weekend "yes you can eat those, but you have to boil them twice because they are poisinous" 🙂

There was a couple picking Ceps (are Cep, Porcini?) in the woods on Sunday, said they'd not seen such a crop for years.

Didn't give me any though did they.

I bought a book and for every edible variety there was a "see page 76" and turning to page 76 would reveal an almost identical species that would give you the watery bum gravy and liver failure.

Cep / Penny Bun / Porcini all the same just different name depending upon whether you're in France, UK or Italy.

Got some monster beefsteaks last week :p Need to get down to the local forest this week and check out my usual spots 🙂

some of those look truly mingin!

An abundance of fungus on the Surrey Hills at the weekend but we weren't picking

[img] [/img]

On Sunday me and the wife picked about 10 quite large puffballs. Our lad came in and identified them as common earthballs which can make you pretty ill so they went in the bin.
Doh.

My trusty stump down the road had enough Oysters to cover a couple of slices or toast on saturday

[img] [/img]

An hours foraging on Sunday produced this little lot:
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Apples, Damsons, Sloes, Ceps, Cauliflower fungus, Horse mushrooms and Giant Puffballs.
You can't beat free food!

Those Liberty Caps look quite a lot like some that we find in our garden. I don't know about mushrooms so when I saw the kids picking them I made them throw them in the border and wash their hands. A very good idea in hindsight!

My mushroom foraging experience is for Liberty Caps only. I keep thinking about broadening my scope. Fly Agarics look interesting, does anyone know anything about dose & preparation?

I picked some mushrooms at the weekend, stored them in a sealed tub to dry them out, had a look yesterday and they were infested with tiny white maggots. Not nice.

There's some in the garden at the moment, light brown/cream, smooth, look a bit like a club. There's about three or four dotted about, between 1" and 3" round heads that aren't separate from the stalks if that makes any sense?

Jambourgie, a picture is best if you want an identification

The amount of ceps this year is crazy. Picked loads and left so many more. There are so many in some parts of my local woods that I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it for myself. Not seen any chanterelles though, only false chanterelles. Mushroom risotto again tomorrow.

It has indeed been a bountiful year so far, although i would love to see some of the pictures of places that people have described as carpeted with chaterelles,my local woods are carpeted with false chanterelles but i have only found 4 of the real deal, and every description of them that i have read describes them as being rare. I was watching an old River Cottage programme last night and they were showing false chanterelles as the real ones so it is obviously an easy mistake to make. That said i bumped into an eastern european couple the other week who were gathering the false ones by the bucket load, i tried a few fried in butter and they actually taste pretty good, and no side effects either so all good!

when looking for ceps, in local woods what sort of areas should I be looking in, in particular?

Richc, beech woods are generally a good place for ceps. Been out again today and they're mostly gone by now so you may be a bit late this year. If we get some rain maybe we'll get another batch. The grounds bone dry at the moment. Interesting that Bazz has the same thoughts on chanterelles as me.

Are these parasols before i eat them?

They were growing from a cut stump

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Nope, parasols grow in open land and also have a moveable ring on their stem.

Not identifiable in my 'brain' database and can't find it in my book at work and my best books are at home, so can't actually identify it atm

Ill hold off eating them for the time being then!

I've come with a few after today's forage, most I decided against there and then however I'm not sure about these in the whole

[img] [/img]

The left one an orange birch bolete I believe

The three on bottom left I originally thought were chanterelles but unconvinced now

The top left pile I put down as st George's

Bottom right pile not a clue

And one on the right a wood blew it maybe?

Any thoughts

Love foraging but other than oysters and shaggy ink caps I don't feel at all confident

Next year I'm going to find someone in the know to show me the ropes a bit I think!

Those Liberty Caps look quite a lot like some that we find in our garden

just saw this post..

I don't get it at there have been no Liberty Caps posted on this thread.. which made me think

So I looked on google images and it's actually quite worrying how few of the pics of 'Liberty Caps' on there are actually Liberty Caps..

Can anyone identify this mushroom? Would really like to forage for some but don't know anything about them. Is this edible?

It was about 3 inches tall and quite dense.

[img] [/img]

A bit late but Bland. Those definitely are not chanterelles and those top ones are not st George's .the St. George's come up in April near St. George's day,hence the name. Can't help you on what they are though.

Not the right colour for a Death Cap....but right shape!!!

That small one, Lazgoat, is too immature to identify safey, plus you can't see the bottom of it which would give vital clues.

Amazing year seems to be nearing the end here in Surrey Hills. Just about hd enough anyway! Got 3 Kilner jars full of dried ceps and a lot of cooked and seasoned risotto kits in the freezer. Chicken, sausage, ceps and cream pie with homemade rough puff favourite so far. Cep paté a close second.

Hi glen. whats your recipe for the cep pate if you don't mind.

Really interesting thread this, had me digging around on-line and came across a blog from a chap who poisened himself 😳 . Seems he was very lucky to live.

[url= http://blog.mycology.cornell.edu/2006/11/22/i-survived-the-destroying-angel/ ]amanita poisoning[/url]

I quote;

Being sick as a dog with constant vomiting and diarrhea is no fun! I had a diaper on. I felt helpless. I felt humbled.

Not nice...

Thanks glenp, there were only a couple, the other was about a third larger.
I'm toying with getting the River Cottage Mushroom book. Any others worth considering before I buy?

Whatever happened to puffballs? I used to remember kicking loads of them as a kid but haven't seen any in years (I'm assuming my destructive ways didn't single-handedly cause their extinction)...

River Cottage book is a good one.

[b]Cep Paté[/b]
You need a few decent ones
Cut them into thin slices, then into thin batons, then into tiny dice.
Slow fry in a bit of olive oil and a knob of butter with whatever you fancy (could be a very finely sliced shallot, a clove or two of garlic, some suitable herbs, any or all of those).
Season - I always use Marigold veg stock powder which is salty/umami and makes all savoury food better.
Once you have driven most of the moisture out of the mushrooms and everything is more concentrated and less wet, leave to cool until warm not hot.
Mix in equal amount of full fat cream cheese and put in suitable container.
Keeps in the fridge for a week or more. Excellent just on toast. Also very good as creamy pasta sauce, for which you might want to slack it off a bit with a dash of cream.

I find the River Cottage book the "safest" as it really helps to tell you which of the edible species could be confused with poisonous, and how to easily tell them apart. That one increased my confidence a lot. The only other one I have is Roger's Mushrooms - excellent book and more in depth.

bland - bit late now but a great pic! For future reference the chantarelles definitely aren't, the "St.Georges" are Common yellow brittlegills (Russulas), edible and slightly peppery. The "blewit" is another brittlegill, possibly a Charcoal burner.

Get some books and go on a guided foray - well worth it at this time of year.

We were stopping every few yards on Saturday's ride for a mate to pick a bumper harvest of Penny Buns on the edge of Slaley Forest.

The cep really is a good cyclists' mushroom - sturdy enough to survive bumping around in a bag or jersey pocket. Try that with shaggy ink caps and you'll regret it!

You've got to be really careful what mushrooms you pick- smurfs are dangerous when angered.