Mushroom Hunting - Might as Well Harvest Something :)

[Jafo]

Slow weekend bear hunting up here at 5H, but I did find something that will make that steak dinner a little better tonight!

 

 

If I can't be bear huntin, might as well hunt shrooms.  Fresh, perfect oyster mushrooms growing on a beech log.  Been finding them up here for the last month.

 

 

[Cabin Fever]

Never tried those. What do they taste like? Do you fry them up like morels?

[Jafo]

I just fry them up in butter. They taste like almonds and anise. Just had them.

[Jafo]

In fact, I made dinner on the campfire tonight:

[PREDATE]

Maitake (hen of the woods) is also fruiting. The base of big oaks is the best spot for them

[Jafo]

The only ones I have found were long past ripe.  I have been finding some Coral Tooth (Lions Mane) all over the place though.  That is what I call food.  Tastes like you are eating lobster!

 

[Kot2B]

How have you guys found the right mushrooms to get? I am always afraid of picking the wrong one even though it looks like a mushroom I am familiar with. I'd hate to die instantly or worse yet, trip into the 70's.

[PREDATE]

It is recommended that anyone attempting to forage for wild mushrooms for the first time tag along with a professional mycologist to learn the ropes. After that a good field guide is helpful. Pictures alone can be deceiving. There are tests that can be performed as well. I only pick and eat about 10 kinds of wild mushroom, there are plenty of other edibles available throughout the warm months, but I'm lacking the time to properly research them and be certain of what they are. 

[Jafo]

Good advice.  I stick to the two mushrooms I know:  Oyster and Hericium.  These generally only grow on hardwoods.  Hericium (Lions Mane) is next to impossible to mistake for anything else.  In fact, I found some today:

 

 

I found some a couple weeks ago in the same area:

 

 

All of these species of Hericium are safe in North America.

 

A good place to start is shroomery.org, where you will get a lot of help identifying mushrooms.  I personally never eat mushrooms that grow on the ground.  It is just safer to choose the ones that grow on hardwoods.  It isn't that ALL mushrooms that grow on hardwoods are safe, but a vast majority of them are.  That being said, most mushrooms that are poisonous are not DEADLY, but you still do not want to try without knowing.  Just because they won't kill you, doesn't mean they can't say, damage your kidneys for life. 

 

I am not trying to scare you, but you should know that you have to be careful.  Oyster mushrooms are second only to Lions Mane in ease of identifying.  It generally grows only on hardwood, the stem is ALWAYS on the side, never in the center.  It has gills that go down the stem.  It is not orange.  It smells wonderful.  Almost always, you will find these little black beatles in the gills.  They grow in clumps.  If you take the time to make a spore print, it is white to lilac.  Once you learn that, you can find them safely.

[PREDATE]

You know, I've never tried Hericium. You have roused my interest!

I have a friend that loves it and my brother hated it. Now I gotta find some to try.

 

Aren't oysters known to fruit all year long? I usually do good on them right after morel season(early June).

Edited September 17, 2013 by PREDATE

[Jafo]

You know, I've never tried Hericium. You have roused my interest!

I have a friend that loves it and my brother hated it. Now I gotta find some to try.

 

Aren't oysters known to fruit all year long? I usually do good on them right after morel season(early June).

 

Sometimes, Hericium can be watery, I just make sure I cook the water out before eating them, otherwise they taste slimy lol.

 

Oysters will fruit as long as it is above freezing.  I have been picking them in 5H all year.  They seem to really love beech where I hunt for them.