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lofty · Joined: 07 May 2008 Posts: 65 Location: north mayo

was shocked and stunned the other day to get a few field mushrooms on our land. Never have seen them this early before. The question i have is has anybody had any other varieties yet this year.

admin · Site Admin Joined: 13 Dec 2006 Posts: 227

Well spotted ! Very Happy

Conditions seem good round here too . Haven't found any edibles yet but several different types of delicate "toadstool" have appeared so it's off to the fields and woods asap to have a good look around .
Good luck . Let us know what you find . Wink

_________________
we need more people to say something .

Graney · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 81 Location: East Clare

We've got lots of miscellaneous brown capped mushrooms coming up everywhere. Looks just like autumn.

I've never got to grips with what's edible and what's not in the mushroom world. Can anyone recommend a simple guide?

quarryman · Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 417 Location: Sligo

BLOWIN

blowin · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:36 am Post subject:

Haha , very drole ! Laughing

Graney -- Sorry but I can't find my favourite guide at the moment but will try to remember to post details when I do ( if I haven't poisoned myself by then ! Laughing

) .
Bottom line is that there is no such thing as a guide which is both simple and safe to use for identifying edibles unless you have some background knowledge and/or are prepared to do some homework to go with it . That is not to say that you should be put off , just that there are a lot of look-alikes . Some easy mistakes could have very unpleasant consequences and it is ( yet another ) bee in my bonnet that many books fail to make this clear .
There is no substitute for spending time with an expert if you can find one of those . Don't include me in that category but I do confidently eat about a dozen different types from the wild and can identify the few which you should definitely avoid ( or die ) and that is good enough for my foraging . I'd be happy to have a walkabout and share my limited knowledge with anyone but they would probably have to come here because I am a bit restricted on travel just now .
Meanwhile , I had it in mind to post a mini guide on this forum --- showing just a few fungi which are common , edible and, more to the point , virtually unmistakable . Unfortunately don't have / can't find free pics on the net and working thru links is really tedious on this landline .
I'll find that book !

paul S · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:36 am Post subject:

Must agree with Blowin I do a lot of mushrooming over here in UK.

Get yourself on a Forah with an expert it's worth everypenny. Learn to identify a few edibles in your area and go from there. I find there's a lot of confusing advice out there. Some advise taking spore prints for identification. Ok if your only interested in id. By the time you go back having got your print someone else has had your find!!!

How is Ireland for the Mushroom hunter? Were I am we lack mature woodland especially Oaks something apparantly to do with Henry 8ths and building all those War Ships. Theres a lot of organic farms around me so meadow mushrooming can be very good at times.

All the best

Paul
Freshwater
Isle of Wight
England

Graney · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 81 Location: East Clare

Thanks Blowin. I'll look around for any fungal forays. I don't think I trust my powers of identification from a book alone - and BT knows what my eyesight is like, so I'm sure she wouldn't trust it either Wink

If you do think of getting an event together (where's the Social Secretary to organise it ? Wink

) I'm sure we'd be up for it.

blowin · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 8:50 pm Post subject:

Pocket guide :
"Field Guide To Mushrooms of Britain and Europe" .
By H & R Grunert .
ISBN number 1 -85223- 592- 6

A big plus with this one is that it has notes on "possible confusion" in addition to comprehensive but concise description + quality pics .
When trying anything for the first time I get MOH to eat it first Wink

but only after I have checked every detail in at least two other , heavyweight / scientific refence books .

Main point is that there are no general rules which guarantee that the fungi you have in your hand will be safe to eat . Having said that , it is also true that there are only a couple of moderately common ones which will , without a doubt , kill you . A lot of people get away with eating some that I wouldn't risk or bother with . They just pass thru the system like any tough fibre or , at the worst , give you an uncomfortable couple of days .
There are , however , a few useful guides around what to avoid unless you are extremely hungry or adventurous . I'll make up a few and jot them down later . Wink

blowin · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:36 am Post subject:

blowin · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:55 am Post subject: