Wild Mushrooms??

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Mycology is fascinating.

That being said, it is very dicey to put your health at risk by potentially ingesting the wrong kind of mushroom, and as you mention, its very easily done. My advice is not to even TOUCH a mushroom that you are unsure of the species of.

I will agree Mycology is fascinating.

The key word is ingest. Anyone in the mycology field knows that "All" mushrooms can be tasted, chewed, then spit out for identification purposes, and yes even the most deadly toxic ones, without any effects.

There is an overwhelming ignorance with mushrooms, which are only the fruit of the mycelium. The world of fungi has to been one of the most fascinating subject available, on our planet, yet most people know very little about. It's something that should be a prerequisite within our school systems, because fungi is the basis of evolution.

Mushroom's can repair brain function, and reverse MS in many cases, but yet it's too simple of a remedy from nature, and is not prescribed by Big Pharma, nor a doctor so it doesn't exist.

If someone is looking for a hobby and has a reasonable amount of intelligence, Fungi would be an excellent choice. Plus they taste wonderful.

Hericium erinaceus or lion's mane has a seafood-like flavor similar to lobster, or shrimp. It also produce Hippocampal Neurogenesis, or restores brain function.

I could go on because there is medicinal value in fungi that far surpass anything that most people can comprehend.

I'll leave you all with a couple video's from a world renowned mycologist named Paul Stamets, if anyone wishes to delve into mycology I would highly recommend a local forage and identification club/group.

Quick 20 minute lecture



John Rogan interview

I've been hunting wild mushrooms for a bit over a year now...I love the hobby. Even if i throw 95% back into the woods or the garbage because i'm not sure what's edible/usable or not, I love the walks in the forests, the fresh air, the smell of the mushrooms, and just love researching what they are...

Have not found any morels yet, didn't really get to go out in season this year although I wanted to.

Mushrooms can change the world, they are the base of our world. Most people I mention wild mushrooms to either go "Ewwwww" or "OMG you want to die or something". Their is a gross misunderstanding of the many uses of mushrooms/fungi. For one, fresh earthy soil doesn't exist without the many fungi that decompose everything out in nature.
Many mushrooms are super medicinal...Chaga and Reishi are two more commonly known examples which you can hardly misidentify. I've made Chaga tea with my own dried chaga on multiple occassions, what a cleanse it provides to the body! I dehydrated Reishi 2 weeks ago, i've yet to make my tea yet...it calms the mind and has a bunch of health benefits apparently(this is one that has been scientifically proven actually...), I just haven't found the courage yet.

It sucks that we are made to be scared about such a great food source and medicinal base instead of being educated about it, even today knowing more about it and knowing that where I live, about 2 mushrooms grow wild can actually kill me if ingested...one is easily identified, and the other you can avoid by simply avoiding an entire family of mushrooms. Anything else, would get me really sick(I don't want that and am not encouraging people to just try anything...)...i'm just saying, as long as you are somewhat careful, you are more likely to be killed/mauled by a bear in search of mushrooms, than death at the hands of a mushroom.

I found and ate 2 wild mushrooms on my families forested property, Oyster Mushrooms and "pigs ear gomphus"/Gomphus clavatus. Both tasted awesome(Especially the gomphus..".

Have yet to find some of the classic chicken of the woods/hen of the woods because i'm not exploring forest prone to those types of mushrooms.

All that said...mushrooms are awesome on so many levels. Certain companies have started making furniture out of compressed dried mushrooms and using the same types of process, insulation for homes and such has been created(I'm not sure if this ever hit the market).

a reply to: Realtruth

Paul Stamets is AMAZING! That Joe Rogan Podcast is just amazing, and I highly recommend everyone give that a watch, then a re-watch. I loved that episode so damned much, because although Mr Stamets is very wise and knowledgeable about the nature of mycology, he has the tendency to fly off into technicality, and having Mr Rogan on hand to ask the questions that we all have when listening to someone like Mr Stamets, was very helpful in my view.

A great watch, and a great glut of information, much of which was new to me.