Homesteading (21) Wild mushroom picking

Some insights into the delights of picking your own wild mushrooms!

Some guidelines include:

* Dress appropriately. Here in Poland one can get deer ticks which can be lethal if not discovered in time.

* Adders can sometimes be found in the forest, particularly on hot days near rocks.

* Check your mushrooms very carefully. If spongey (pory), they are generally edible (but not always so check your mushroom guide!). Any that have gills (blaszki) are normally inedible.

* Best to start picking very early in the day. The season in Poland really starts end of September/October.

* Take a sharp knife. Some people also like to use a stick for checking for mushrooms hidden under foliage.

* Mushrooms can be eaten fresh or dried for the winter.

Good mushroom guides:

* Atlas grzybow by Marek Snowarski (Publisher: Elipsa Sp. z o.o.)

* Grzyby lesne by Andrzej Grzywacz (Pub. Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Rolnicze i Lesne, Warszawa 1990)

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• wild
• mushrooms
• boletus
• porcini
• grzyb
• jadalny
• borowik
• ceglastopory

[ivankinsman]

Yes, there is this poisonous boletus - in fact we have a lot growing in our meadow. Thanks for watching...

[selfreliantboy]

Can mushrooms be dried and stored and used throughout the year ?

[ivankinsman]

@selfreliantboy Yes, it is very easy. You simply slice them up and then dry them in a 'mushroom drier' or any multi-purpose fruit drier. We store ours in old baby milk containers and you can use them whenever you want to. Excellent for mushroom soup, mushroom sauces etc.

[kwo1972]

did you ever try to sell them? If so, how much did you get per pound? What is the best way to keep them from bruising when picking? How do you know when is the right time to pick them? Thanks.

[ivankinsman]

@kwo1972 No, if we have too many we give them away to friends- I know that in the UK wild mushrooms are expensive to buy in the shops (e.g. shitaki etc.). Just make sure you have a hard container e.g. a plastic bucket or wicker basket to prevent bruising The season is generally at the start of autumn (when it starts to get a bit cooler) up to the first frost.

[ivankinsman]

@kwo1972 I found this price from a Polish on-line seller of wild mushrooms: Dried Polish Borowiki Forest Mushrooms

454 gram bag (1 lb.) - $ 99 including worldwide postage

[Fridoleye]

Looking good.

I am also a mushroom picker, my favorite is the "Cantharellus Cibarius"

Note: In the "Boletus" family there are also poison mushrooms. Like the "Boletus Satanas" that can kill u or give u indigestions. This one is pretty rare here in Holland, specialy near the west coast. Is this mushroom commen in Poland? greetz.

[traitorsbeware]

Great video. 

[selfreliantboy]

Nice video ! I love this .

[franchiseshop]

There are plenty of sponge based mushrooms which are poisonous so please never use that as a rule of thumb, same goes for gills, lot's of lovely edible gilled mushrooms, but only ever pick ones you can identify with confidence.

Examples of inedible/poisonous sponge/pore based mushrooms would be the Devils Bolete/Boletus Satanus. The Bitter Bolete which tastes horrible and the Lurid Bolete. None of which will kill you but certainly to be avoided.

[Cookiejug1]

When is the picking/harvesting season? Roughly what are the dates? Love the video btw.