Absolutely bumper year so far… any other fungi foragers here? Picked 3 pounds of ceps this morning, and very little infestation too. Mushroom hunter’s breakfast of ceps and fried egg on fried homemade bread. Now got a load drying in a feint oven with the door ajar and the house smells rather delicious. Also made a job-lot of paté for toast or for instant pasta sauce. And still I have heaps left over for risottos.

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 no 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?

Horse & 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!

Wild Mushrooms

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:

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:

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?

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!