Now that the cooler months are upon us with the rains and all does anyone know what mushrooms to pick for consumption? I know it can be risky with the poisonous mushrooms but with proper identification it sure seems like a fun and rewarding hobby. People having been picking these lovely morsels in Europe and Asia for centuries but it's not a very well known pastime here. What shrooming tips do you guys have for a new hunter?
Mushroom picking
[Deactivated] on 10/05/2014 - 21:27
Comments
Yeh cheers I'll avoid that one lol, sure it can be risky but we are wrapped up in enough cotton wool as it is, with the internet and all the information on it these days I'm sure mushroom picking can be relatively safe if you post pics up and get them verified.
unless you are an expert, you are nuts to pick your own mushrooms
go searching for truffles instead …
We've been kicking over ones up to the size of side plates on our place. Huge ones appear from nowhere when it rains. But it's just not worth the risk.
I was looking at that 'warning' just yesterday. Nice of them to tell you to avoid these things that will kill you, but no-where provide a photograph of what they look like.
The worst part about that death would be how long it would take
Avoid the deadly ones… and the ones that cause permanent organ damage.
Edit: Seriously, I wouldn't do it unless you're going mushroom hunting with someone who knows what he's doing.How about growing your own mushrooms? They sell mushrooms kits at Big W, Masters, Bunnings…
+1 that, the possible risk definitely outweighs the fun. DIY mushroom sounds like a great idea, from what I've been told, during the growing phase they double size in a few hours, that'd be an interesting experience.
+1 for the kits. Apparently kits for the white button mushrooms produce about 1.5kg of mushrooms, but said kit seems to cost abt $20. That makes kit mushrooms abt 30% more expensive than buying from Coles, but nowhere near as entertaining.
http://www.bunnings.com.au/mushroom-kit_p3650025
http://mushroomkit.com.au/productsAgree not worth the risk picking on your own unless maybe you have an expert to show you but even then..
My experience with the kits have been good as we have had 2/3 crops. After that into the garden where some leftover spores have worked.
this is pretty big amongst the eastern european community, especially ukrainians in my experience. i have a few friends that head down the south coast state forests mushroom hunting. I would do it but im too lazy
There are obvious poisonous ones and some look harmless but the difference is so subtle even with googling it still is a dangerous risk. Have you not seen that movie Into the wild?
They were berries, not mushrooms.
yes, but the point was, a slight incorrect identification can be fatal
I looked into it and found overwhelming opinion against it.
- its hard for even experienced people
- most shrooms are not edible
- its very rare to find shrooms and yield is usually small and a lot of walking
- its very easy to get seriously ill
- you really don't save much money
- even experts can't tell deathcaps apart from one edible species.
- it was hard to find good information on species identification.
I also think about worms and bacteria like e.coli since they are ground dwelling poop eaters. I'm not sure if that affects them or not.
If you are looking for the
normal' field mushrooms, there are two simple rules: It needs aruff' around the stem where the cap was attached, and it needs to smell like a mushroom. I wouldn't worry about the e-coli, as you are surviving a homeopathic dose of fish manure every time you drink water, and hordes of insects have pooped over your vegies :-)The deathcap looks a lot like the popular straw mushroom. It also looks like the almost as popular psilocybin one. There is a way to tell the difference - unless you are on mushies when it probably gets a bit harder.
Are the shrooms meant to bruise purple/dark blue on the stem? I picked a few little brown mushrooms this morning from some wood-chips but am not sure what they are.
Magic mushrooms
Are the magical variety edible?
It's not the eating, but the after effects… woah dude..
Seems like a good deal, free fun growing fresh from mother nature's ground. Must do more research!
DO NOT EAT WOOD CHIP MUSHROOMS, there are many steps to go through before they are remotely safe.
The shiitake is best from the shops.
Are the magical variety edible?
Sure. That's how you ingest them.
The slender mushrooms that bruise blue are cyanocens blue meanies, which are quite potent. However the most common psychotropic mushrooms are psilocybe cubensis or golden cubbies. You really need to school up before trying anything like this.
There is more fish crap in the in the water you drink than medicine in homeopathic scams.
You can just visit a farm, poor filipino and afgan females going up and down ladders for 10-15bucks a hour. Its not super exciting once you see how horrid the farming industry is.
There was a holdup at the place where I worked.
The gunman was finally caught running naked in a creek.
It appears that while the police were pursuing him through the bush, the gunman came upon a field of orange top mushrooms, ate them and tripped out.
he was lucky nearby in the field was gold tops. There would have NOT been a court case and prison term.
Or is it the other way Gold or orange. Pick a mushroom maybe it is like eating Fugu (河豚 or 鰒; フグ)
In the news in the last few weeks there was mushroom misadventure in Canberra .
That sounds pretty crazy. Maybe he ate too many?? No court case or prison term for a gunman, don't think so, unless martial law exists in Canberra…
Sorry bit obtruse if the gunman ate the wrong mushrooms and not the magic mushrooms he could have died
The gunman eposiode was in Qld years ago.
Martial law in Canberra may be needed after the hockey game coming up.
I've been doing some research lately with all types of mushrooms.
If you want to get some advice on an ID of an unidentified mushroom, you can use forums like http://www.shroomery.org/ and post some pictures, and some spore prints up. The spore print colour can help identify different mushrooms. A death cap will leave a white spore print, while the popular Asian mushroom will leave a pink print. A handful of people have died in ACT in the past couple of years due to mistakenly picking death caps and cooking them. All of them have been Chinese I believe.I went camping in a pine forest over Easter this year, and noticed heaps of plate sized orange mushrooms around. One morning I woke up and noticed about 5 people picking huge bags full of them. Being curious, I asked them what they were, and they were pine mushrooms, which are easily identified from every other mushroom, so very easy to pick.
The group was from Eastern Europe, and said they do this every year. Apparently they are delicious in olive oil and garlic. Because they are apparently only grown in the wild, in pine plantations, they attract a price of up to $100 a kilo in the shops! The next week I found myself in Adelaide Central Market and found them floating around the $50 a kilo mark, and no where near the quality I was finding in the forest!
I'd love to get into growing some mushrooms too, as I find it rather fascinating.
Cheers,
Wade
This is nuckenfuts. Even experienced mycologists have identification issues. Buy your mushrooms from a shop or grow from a kit.
and at least there will be someone to get compensation from if the mushrooms are ………………and you………………….
I grew up picking field mushrooms in the winter rainy months Texas Qld - I guess for me i am quite confident knowing shape, form, and smell of a field mushroom and have since picked some in Brisbane irregularly and in obscure places like a footy field! anyhow an absolute delicacy for me - brown almost black once cooked in butter with garlic salt and pepper (normally eating them alone!!) the field mushroom variety is a delicate pink underside which can go browner if left unpicked and a lovely white and very round top
saw the pine variety recently that friends picked between Canberra and Batemans Bay they are massive in comparison and personally I was unsure about them
Sounds like the experts aren't really good at it if they can't tell the difference in between one that has death as a name.
I think it's best to stick to kits to know what your growing first then after a while go for a look and see what's out there.
You can buy mushroom growing kits at Bunnings if you want to get your kicks from diy.. much safer and rewarding as you have grown them yourself!
Here's a recent blogger's experience:
http://grabyourfork.blogspot.com/2012/04/mushroom-picking-in…
I find all kinds of wacky looking mushrooms on our lawn after rainy periods.
Check out these freaky beasts that sprouted up not long ago:
I'm pretty sure that's the Amanita muscaria. The white spots must have been washed off by the heavy rain.Generally they are considered toxic and hallucinatory but I know a few people who regularly consume them, after parboiling.
Edit: Btw, a mate's cat ate about 4 caps from the garden a couple of years ago.She wandered around the house, totally tripping off her head for hours: drooling and looking very sedated.
After the experience she changed. She became fascinated with light and shadows. She meows at the full moon.Very eccentric cat.My advice: best to stay away from them.
She wandered around the house, totally tripping off her head for hours. She was drooling and looked very sedated.
After the experience she changed. She became fascinated with light and shadows. Very eccentric cat.Give that cat a xylophone. She's probably a mad musician now, too.
She is a cool cat, ya dig?
oh and regarding the name of those red mushies that sprouted on my lawn… I suspect they're actually these: hygrocybe conica
There were never white spots on mine and they appeared just after the rain while the lawn was still very moist. They're quite a different shape to the amanita muscaria fungi, too.
Either way though - would not eat. lol
I am certain this has not been mentioned so far, please avoid the deadly poisonous ones.
fair enough about kits but you cannot get the real 'field' flavour out of a kit
True the taste of wild mushroom is unforgivable.
*unforgettable. Sorry was cleaning child vomit while typing this last night.
Have been mushroom hunting in Central Europe and Southern Highlands in NSW. Was amazing OS but here only average as I only came across two types of mushrooms safe enough to eat (milk caps and slippery Jacks).
Avoid the ones along side the road too - mushrooms suck up everything including car fumes and dog pee. Also cut each mushroom from the ground instead of pulling them out. Check they're not being eaten inside by little bugs, because they'll infest the rest of the basket.
My family used to prowl the plantation forests around Adelaide for mushrooms. Sadly, either the habitat has changed or over harvesting has greatly reduced the yield.
Slipper Jacks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suillus_luteusThese are very good when dried and used in sauce. Small mushrooms are very nice pickled in vinegar. At the time of picking there were no similar poisonous mushrooms so it was very safe and easy to identify.
If we were lucky we'd find the orange variety of the Milk Caps
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_capGood when fried but didn't work well when dried or pickled.
Porcini mushrooms have been spotted in the wild around Adelaide, but they are so highly sort after anyone in the know is going to keep it a secret. It's the finest mushroom short of winter truffles.
If you stumble across a family picking mushrooms in a forest listen closely, they'll almost certainly be speaking a European language. People here are terrified of being poisoned while in many central and northern European countries picking wild mushrooms is a popular mainstream pastime.
I tried growing my own shiitake mushrooms using a kit from Bunnings. Used the supplied wood, did everything right, and nothing ever grew. Feh.
Do not, whatever you do, find and eat a mushroom because it looks like a variety found at an Asian grocery. This is where people fall into the trap of eating Death Caps.
It is good to see some people still like to live dangerously, by going mushroom hunting. If you listen to the TV you'll come to the conclusion that the world is evil and out to get you, and only the government can protect you.
Popular culture tells me artificial/synthetic is bad. Therefore, if it's natural it must be good!
I must admit to an interest in Magic Mushrooms myself. The fact that the Nanny State persecutes production and consumption of them, make its extra appealing.
Yes the more restricted something becomes the more I find myself wanting it. If the government bans it then I can be sure it works. This is a short but very interesting Aussie made "fungimentary" about shrooms of the magical kind.
THAT IS THE GREATEST MOTION PICTURE EVER PRODUCED!
I LAUGHED MY ARSE OFF THE WHOLE TIME AND I'm NOT EVEN ON SHROOMSthere are no 'old and bold' mushroom pickers lol…
"Case 1: Man self-reported to local hospital after he was able to watch colour television on a black and white television set."
Laughed my arse off at that one.
As various wise posters above advise, you would be mad to go foraging for shrooms in the wild to eat, unless you were an officially qualified/educated expert (not just a 'self-proclaimed' one), or accompanied by one. Refer to the following link:
http://www.health.vic.gov.au/foodsafety/home/death-cap-mushr…
As at least one wise poster above notes, the difference between an edible/nutritious variety and a highly toxic one is often extremely subtle. That's why there's deaths around the world every year, from people that THOUGHT they knew what type they were picking/eating. Even sadder when they fed what they had gathered to friends and family, thinking they knew what they were giving them.
The above advice is all about potentially edible 'culinary' shroooms, but the exact same advice is applicable for the 'magic' (pcilocybin) shrooms.
In short, it's not worth the risk; buy them from a shop, or cultivate them yourself, unless you are lucky enough to be able to find them in the field, WITH AN EXPERT ALONGSIDE YOU.Us Asians generally eat "anything"…but when it comes to wild shrooms, that's a "Thanks, but no thanks…" I'll leave it to those peeps who are daring enough to do it…
If we didn't have health care for all citizens in Australia, you'll think twice before you do it.
There is an interesting episode of 'Jamie at Home' where he picks mushrooms.
The biggest tip he gives is that you should spend a number of weeks picking mushroom identifying them and throwing them away. Just to practise
I've read there is a mushroom that looks similar to a porcini which will give you so maybe give those a miss.
It begs the question though, why not just buy them?!
Hmmm mushroom picking or russian roulette… Hmm decisions decisions.. :)
You can safely pick saffron milk caps because they're quite easy to distinguish from poisonous mushrooms. They 'bleed' orange, are usually found at the base of radiata pines, and have a darker mottling. They've also got quite distinct gills and the edge of the mushroom curls 'under' (if it 'opens' up, that mushroom is too old to justify eating). Unfortunately the season for these guys is coming to an end but that gives you about 10 months to do your research and become a saffron milk cap expert. The good spots in pine plantations are generally frequented by Eastern Euro families on mushroom hunting trips so you could also just ask one of them and tag along. Slippery jacks fall into the same category but you need to be a little more experienced with them and they're a lot harder to find anyway so it isn't really worth the effort.
Saffron milk caps are definitely a safe bet as they don't look like anything else and are a choice mushroom, although they cannot be eaten raw.
Other mushrooms which are pretty hard to confuse with anything else are judges wigs and slippery jacks although as you say they are harder to come by and not as good eating anyway.
The problem with people looking for "normal" field mushrooms is that the genus agaricus (the field mushroom genus) contains mushrooms that are poisonous but look pretty similar to the okay ones.
Up here, its possible to confuse field mushrooms with yellow stinkers and chlorophyllum which probably won't kill you, or the death cap, which will.
Even if you're good at spotting agaricus mushrooms the chance of making a single mistake isnt worth it in my view.
Came across this article: Fungi Discovered In The Amazon Will Eat Your Plastic. off-topic but interesting read.
It is interesting to see about Milkcaps and slippery Jackes.
http://www.oberonaustralia.com.au/visitor-information/things…Good field guide.
http://www.bookdepository.com/Mushrooms-John-Wright/97807475…Yeah I've been picking them since a kid.
You need to go out with some one experienced + invest in some books.
If there is any doubt at all, you don't pick it - treat it like poison. My dad would try many species that he wasn't sure about. He'd boil it first then try a little bit etc He got sick a number of times - and there's no telling what damage he could have done to his liver/kidneys. Mind you he has at least a dozen books that he's collected over the years; grew up in europe so it's nothing too strange.
Here in Adelaide I've come across - Saffron milkcaps (used to travel down south for these, but now have appeared everywhere around Kersbrook/Williamstown.)
Slippery Jacks (looks like a sponge from underneath,
Parasol Caps(easy to confuse with Amanita(deadly)) ,
Grey geese. (no too common)'Fairy rings' as in the common ones on ovals etc are usually good eating; aswell as 'puff balls' as long as they're still white.
As far as your typical mushroom, I've been seeing more and more 'yellow stainers'. These look almost like a ordinary mushroom from the shops but have more of a square/box appearence, plus they slowly go yellow when broken. They'll make you sick - probably won't kill you.I see alot of fly agaricus in the same areas(Adelaide hills)..These being the classic fairytale toadstall. Deadly. Oh lets not forget to mention 'Gold tops' Psylocybe; which you'll find on cattle dung - these aren't for eating..
As far as quanataties - the Saffron Milcaps, once we collected nearly 20Kg on a single outing - same with the Slippery Jacks - they are everywhere; more than enough to go around.
We'd pickle them in jars and they'd keep for a couple of years.I would be interestrd to know about pickled mushroom Saffron milkcaps. I have seen Russian/ polish recripes but still haven't tried them. Adding vinegar?
If I recal correctly, we'd simmer the mushrooms in a pot of water with a bit of salt for 2-3 minutes until 'aldante'. Then we'd make up a hot brine, about half vinegar and half salted/spiced water. You want it to taste good so you can use a bit of Vegeta, some bay leaf, peppercorns etc Fill jars with the mushrooms and fill to the top with the brine. Pop the lid on and invert the jar. Leave till it's cool.
Apparantly you can store them in fat also..
I rather pick the mushroom on safer place such as coles or wollies
I saw these soccer ball sized clumps while walking through the park the other day.
No way I'm touching those let alone eat them, but can anyone identify what they are?
What the hell are they?! lol they look frightening. But also like mounds of potatoes.
Ugh they're like earth tumours. I'm curious to know what they are too.
Yeah creepy as hell… earth tumours is a very fitting description!!
not too sure, but I reckon they're similar to what grows around and ontop of rotten pine tree stumps. Iirc, they had an acrid taste ie inedible.
Haha thanks, looks like I'll be sticking to Woolies mushies!
Those are probably Armillaria based on the clumping behaviour, but its difficult to tell based on photos alone. Armillaria are technically edible but taste pretty foul and cause upset stomachs. Its possible that they may be gallerina and therefore deadly. Dont eat them.
Thanks for that! Piqued my curiosity now.
Doesn't look 100% like the photos but according to wikipedia Armillaria is considered to be one of the best wild mushrooms and highly prized… delicacy with a strong distinctive mushroomy and nutty flavour.
But also highly poisonous if not prepared/eaten correctly.
Ok I went back today - this is what they look like now. Almost exactly 1 week from the first picture.
This is the underside of one:
To be honest, you really need to be able to see the stipe and gills of the mushroom to have any chance at IDing it (before it withers and becomes discoloured). The appearance of caps can vary tremendously from mushroom to mushroom. Even then, a lot of mushrooms are nearly impossible to id without taking a spore print.
The only Australian mushrooms that I know of that exhibit those clusters are armillaria and pholiota manicola. Don't eat either of them. I would still guess armillaria because they tend to go crazy in the middle of May and they are more widespread than pholiota.
If you want to satisfy yourself for sure, armillaria gives a white spore print and pholiota gives a brown spore print. Just cut the cap off when ripe, and put it on a piece of paper so the spores fall onto the sheet.
Thanks again for the reply. I don't have any intention of eating any wild mushrooms but it does make me very curious.
Good guide for picking
http://humanform.info/mushrooms/mushroom.htmIt is what I found in pinewoods.
http://reservoirengineer.imgur.com/all/"reservoirengineer's images are not publicly available."
guys, i like to share info just as much as the next person here, but in this case i really wish you DIDN'T! the risk(of dying) is simply not worth the reward of saving a few bucks, you know you have buckleys chance of identifying a mushroom species when even the experts have difficulty, this is a perfect example of the phrase "A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing"!
Agreed with the comments above. It is always good to avoid mushroom as it is deadly and costly due to kidney failure. It may not be worth as kidney transplant or dialysis would be costly and have a long term effect. Not worth.
I've been picking mushrooms for 30+ years and am still alive. Have no problems identifying them either. The key is to know what you are doing (probably as with anything else).
With Mushrooms being so cheap why would you wanna do it yourself? lol.
It is sometimes hard to work out the difference between a Death Cap and a Button Mushroom.
I think spending the $4 to buy some mushrooms at the super markets is the cheapest Medical Insurance deal you can ever get.Aldi sells them cheaper than the Supermarkets.
I'll answer this one. You want to do it yourself because the ones you can pick in the wood are very different from ones you can find in shops and have very distinctive taste and structure. And I'm not talking about the satisfaction similar to one you get when you grow your own vegetables as opposed to buying them in a supermarket.
And I'm not talking about the satisfaction similar to one you get when you grow your own vegetables as opposed to buying them in a supermarket.
Let me guess, would it be closer to the satisfaction you get from stealing vegies from the next door neighbour's vegie patch?
I remember listening to Hack on the Jays a few weeks ago and they were talking about how dangerous wild mushrooms were.
It got me thinking of (well over 15 years ago) when me and my grandma would go mushroom picking in the gardens on the side of West Lakes and along the Linear Park (Adelaide).
We picked heaps of mushrooms, put them in plastic bags and took them home, washed and ate them. I'm still alive today. My grandma has certainly never had any training in identifying poisonous mushrooms. We just went by the mantra "if it doesn't look like a mushroom that you would buy in the shops, its not good for you".
Make me wonder now whether we were incredibly stupid and naive to be mushroom picking, if something has changed in the types of mushrooms that grow in the wild since the mid-late 1990s, or if we were just ridiculously lucky.
You were lucky. Death Caps are extremely similar to the common Button Mushroom that you get at the supermarkets.
If you weren't as lucky as you were in that instance (15yrs ago), we may not even see you on Ozbargain.
There has been several cases of students dying from eating Death Caps as they are so innocent and similar to Button Mushrooms.
FYI a death cap looks like this:
http://topnews.ae/images/Death-cap-mushroom.jpgDepending on which life cycle, a Death Cap can look like a common Button Mushroom, but in the above picture it looks more like a portebello mushroom.
If you weren't as lucky as you were in that instance (15yrs ago), we may not even see you on Ozbargain.
and we would have missed out on all those great bargains you've posted over the years…Oh wait! you've never posted any bargain. oh well. still glad you're alive, mate ;)
You and your grandma must have been ridiculously lucky.The telltale sign is the volva near the base of the stipe. A good rule of thumb is "if there's a volva and veil your liver will fail"
First sighting of a death cap in Adelaide was around 2008 I believe. There are a few around now. If you attempted picking mushrooms willy nilly in the same place these days you would probably die before too long.
The ones that grow out of cow poop are great.
Not sure if this is meant as a joke or not. care to clarify?
Golden cubbies tend to grow out of cow pats. Seems every stoner has a story about tripping on shrooms while being chased by a bull.
lol. Thanks for the explanation.
Erm, you do know this is an Australian forum right? In Australia, 'Psilocybes' ('magics') are not found on cow-pats… You may wish to google 'subaeruginosa'. Not that I advocate picking any wild shrooms and eating them, without an expert ID.
Mate, you don't know what you're talking about. Come summer up here in Brisbane, you can see golden cubbies poking out of cow's paddocks like nobody's business.
Have a look at this video:-
Erm, well yeah (shuffling feet, gaze cast slightly downward, blushing profusely), I've looked into the facts (which I should have done before posting), and evidently I was completely wrong about this…
I've wracked my brains, and I can't remember where I 'learned' (incorrectly) years ago that cubes were not found in Oz, only the subs… I will not forget where my knowledge-was corrected though! Sincere thanks for setting me straight on this, good one, I appreciate it.
http://www.anbg.gov.au/fungi/deathcap.html