Mushroom Hunting Season is drawing nigh!

[Mycanid]

Okay ... am I the only one in here who loves to hunt for mushrooms? (And to set the record straight NO, I am not a lover of the hallucinagenic ones!)

Anyhoo - when the weather cools down the mushrooms begin to poke their caps above the ground or off of the trees. I have already seen some agarici, some "chicken o'the woods", and even some "dead man's feet" sprouting at the edge of the flower beds. I have yet to go traipsing off into the woods for a few hours some weekend.

I have noticed that (serious!) mushroon hunting here in America is a much less known activity than in Europe or Asia. Nevertheless, I will ask all you ennies out there - anyone else a devotee of mushroom hunting?

For me it is not so much the taste of the mushrooms (although we get some really tasty ones where I live) as much as the ... err ... excitement of the hunt. Yes, I know this sounds strange. Yet for me it is a delight to suddenly come across some beautiful specimen in the woods.

Last fall I went for a walk in the woods with some guests and stumbled across a HUGE patch of blewits - lovely purple shaded things! I brought 'em home and fried 'em up, and my friends (who were Russians, also consumate mushroom hunters) were delighted.

So then ... any other mushroom lovers out there?

And please - no jokes about being a cannibal!

 

[Fenris]

I can understand the thrill of the hunt, but I dislike mushrooms, passionately. Both ascomycotes and basidiomycotes and all the others. I dislike the texture in food, I dislike the taste, I juts don't like 'em.

However watching a fungi catch and eat a nematode is about the only neat thing about mushrooms.

 

[werk]

It is way, way too late for mushrooms here, coming in early spring. Where are you that you are just entering mushroom season? I may have to go on safari!

I <3 Morels

 

[Mycanid]

Hey there Fenris - and you are from California too. Ah well.

It's not just the thrill of the hunt. They are beautiful too!

Edit: Oh yes Werk ... we DO get morels out here, but only in spring time and further west up in the mountains towards the coast. I am in WAY northern California.

 

[Fenris]

Hey there Fenris - and you are from California too. Ah well.

It's not just the thrill of the hunt. They are beautiful too!

Edit: Oh yes Werk ... we DO get morels out here, but only in spring time and further west up in the mountains towards the coast. I am in WAY northern California.

How far north. I used to be in Arcata. I agree that they can be beautiful, and they serve a vital role in recycling nutrients, but I just can't stand the texture. Too rubbery. Blech! my wife loves them though so I have learned to cook with them. I pick mine out and give them to her though.

Now if you want I have quite a few popping up in my lawn. You're welcome to head on down to SoCal for a controlled hunt.

 

[RedWick]

When I was an exchange student in France, I went out mushroom hunting with my host family. It was actually a lot of fun.

We don't have too many edible varieties of mushrooms where I am, so there's no real payoff for going out to look. If I could be guaranteed a steady supply of puffballs though...

 

[Jdvn1]

Okay ... am I the only one in here who loves to hunt for mushrooms?

I want to call your weird and taunt you, but my hobbies aren't any better.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Mushrooms have a hard time thriving in a desert!

 

[Tiberius]

I think most of the mushrooms 'round here are toxic, but I've never made a serious inquiry. I object to the idea of eating things that propogate by spore.

 

[Fenris]

I object to the idea of eating things that propogate by spore.

I hope you don't eat fruits or vegetables then. That's right, they reprodcue by spores.