I mentioned last week that this seemed like a good year for slugs. Since they tend to like damp weather, there have been a lot around this year. It’s also been a good year for mushrooms.
I am not a forager. I don’t go out looking for mushrooms. I see them, admire them, maybe wonder a bit what they might taste like, but I am not confident enough in my fungi identification skills to feel comfortable in just grabbing a few mushrooms out of the woods.
It was enough when I discovered squirrels might lead us astray with things such as mushrooms. They can digest things we can’t. So you can’t just follow around the local wildlife, see what they eat and do the same. The squirrels would probably be laughing quite loudly as they carried you to the ambulance. So we can’t trust them.
There are many books, and probably a few apps that could explain things fairly well. I still don’t trust myself. Part of this comes from the fact that when I was looking into the red capped Rusulla mushrooms not long ago, they mentioned there are several different types. A couple are edible, but often, they only way to tell one kind from another is with microscopic examination. I’m not going to that much trouble for a few mushrooms.
I have friends who have figured out a couple different types enough that they eat them on occasion. I also know people who thought they had things figured out, but didn’t. The resulting gastric distress does not seem to be a selling point for foraging, in my mind.
The big issue for me is when you look in a book and tells you one kind of mushroom is very tasty and considered a true delicacy, then on the next line it will say that, by the way, they look almost identical to this other one that is not so good for you that gives me pause. Am I looking at something tasty? Or something pretending to be something tasty.
So while it is a really good year for mushrooms, and I’m pretty sure I saw a patch of chanterelles and a couple other types of mushrooms that are supposed to be quite tasty just growing wild around me, I’m still not going to try them. I will not give the squirrels reason to laugh.