I do some light general foraging in the forest I live in and mushrooms are a seasonal treat. And I often have Shaggy Mane mushrooms growing in my yard, (don’t worry, I do not use fertilizer or herbicides ever). And fresh chanterelle mushrooms are an edible gift from the gods.
Like most things in life, mushroom hunting isn’t super dangerous, (if you mess up the odds are it won’t kill you outright but they will make you wish it had), but it does take some learning and practice.
“Lookalike” is a relative term for sure. With just a little bit of practice one would never confuse the two. It’s always best to learn side-by-side with someone who can show you what to look for.
A good rule is this: If you have to double-check with a book (or an app or whatever) to identify the mushroom, you do NOT know it well enough to risk eating it.
That is one of the recommend ones in my Mushroom foraging book: Morels, Inky Caps, Cauliflower Mushroom, Chicken of the Woods, Oysters Mushrooms, Chanterells, Giant Puffballs, King Bolete, Black Trumpet and Hen of the Woods.
Chicken of the Woods is another easy, (and VERY tasty), to identify mushroom for beginners once they know what to look for. There are many different types of look a likes, but they are extremely fibrous and chewing and piece of wood would be tastier.
My Mushrooms of the Upper Midwest Guide has a series of top edibles in my region. Morels, Inky Caps, Cauliflower Mushroom, Chicken of the Woods, Oysters Mushrooms, Chanterells, Giant Puffballs, King Bolete, Black Trumpet and Hen of the Woods. All are suppose to be easy to identify without a deadly look alike. I haven’t gotten a chance to try anyone yet but hopefully this year.
I would still recommend going out with an experienced forager until you are comfortable. They can at least offer up good extra information as you hunt them.
Mushroom hunting is fun and tasty, but it does require care, knowledge, and experience. So be safe out there!
For sure. There is a mycology society I might join to help with that. I do a lot of foraging of plants in my yard and neighborhood. So I got to help me look up things as practice. Its been fun and no issues so far
Not in my yard. While I have hunting dogs, they aren’t allowed to run free in the yard without supervision during training exercises. But I do have plenty of deer shit-- I live in the middle of a fairly remote forest.
Most of the shaggy manes grow on a clay hillside that gets lots of leaves in the fall. And they grow nowhere else on my 5 acres of lake shore. The wild raspberries grow everywhere like weeds though. And I don’t get bumper crops every year. Sometimes there are none, (wet years), sometimes a small handful, (most years), and sometimes they cover that hillside, (dryer years).
I do some light general foraging in the forest I live in and mushrooms are a seasonal treat. And I often have Shaggy Mane mushrooms growing in my yard, (don’t worry, I do not use fertilizer or herbicides ever). And fresh chanterelle mushrooms are an edible gift from the gods.
Like most things in life, mushroom hunting isn’t super dangerous, (if you mess up the odds are it won’t kill you outright but they will make you wish it had), but it does take some learning and practice.
There’s a few top edible mushrooms that look like nothing else. Good starting point
Chanterelle mushrooms are a good one. Delicious, easy to identify, and don’t have a deadly lookalike.
Jack O’Lantern Mushrooms: A Poisonous Chanterelle Look A Like
Not deadly, sounds like – but also not fun! Be careful out there, junior mycologist club members!
“Lookalike” is a relative term for sure. With just a little bit of practice one would never confuse the two. It’s always best to learn side-by-side with someone who can show you what to look for.
A good rule is this: If you have to double-check with a book (or an app or whatever) to identify the mushroom, you do NOT know it well enough to risk eating it.
That is one of the recommend ones in my Mushroom foraging book: Morels, Inky Caps, Cauliflower Mushroom, Chicken of the Woods, Oysters Mushrooms, Chanterells, Giant Puffballs, King Bolete, Black Trumpet and Hen of the Woods.
Chicken of the Woods is another easy, (and VERY tasty), to identify mushroom for beginners once they know what to look for. There are many different types of look a likes, but they are extremely fibrous and chewing and piece of wood would be tastier.
My Mushrooms of the Upper Midwest Guide has a series of top edibles in my region. Morels, Inky Caps, Cauliflower Mushroom, Chicken of the Woods, Oysters Mushrooms, Chanterells, Giant Puffballs, King Bolete, Black Trumpet and Hen of the Woods. All are suppose to be easy to identify without a deadly look alike. I haven’t gotten a chance to try anyone yet but hopefully this year.
I would still recommend going out with an experienced forager until you are comfortable. They can at least offer up good extra information as you hunt them.
Mushroom hunting is fun and tasty, but it does require care, knowledge, and experience. So be safe out there!
For sure. There is a mycology society I might join to help with that. I do a lot of foraging of plants in my yard and neighborhood. So I got to help me look up things as practice. Its been fun and no issues so far
Don’t shaggy mane grow on manure substrate? They are probably coming up around dog poo or your leach field/septic tank. Delicious mushroom either way!
Not in my yard. While I have hunting dogs, they aren’t allowed to run free in the yard without supervision during training exercises. But I do have plenty of deer shit-- I live in the middle of a fairly remote forest.
Most of the shaggy manes grow on a clay hillside that gets lots of leaves in the fall. And they grow nowhere else on my 5 acres of lake shore. The wild raspberries grow everywhere like weeds though. And I don’t get bumper crops every year. Sometimes there are none, (wet years), sometimes a small handful, (most years), and sometimes they cover that hillside, (dryer years).