Safely Foraging for Mushrooms

Posted in Our Blog on July 23, 2024

Are your afraid that you don’t know how to begin safely foraging for mushrooms? I have always been fearful of this wilderness adventure because I was never sure what was safe to eat and what wasn’t. We always just bought mushrooms in a jar and added them to food or purchased for a reputable mushroom vendor at our local farmer’s market. Today, we dive into how to safely forage for mushrooms and all of the important dos and don’ts of this adventure.

Where to Begin Safely Foraging for Mushrooms

So many people never start because we have all heard the horror stories of eating the poisonous mushroom. This is truly something to be anxious about as a newbie looking for mushrooms in a forest. Thousands of people every year are treated after consuming a poisonous mushroom. Most only have mild symptoms and recover on their own but several per year result in death. Some find themselves in the hospital with liver damage that results in being on a transplant list. Foraging for mushrooms is a serious business that takes knowledge and care before even beginning.

First things first you will need to acquire a regional guide about foraging. This will include mushrooms that are safe with photos and descriptions but it will also have the same photos and descriptions for those that are poisonous. One thing is certain you want to be able to 100% positively identify both poisonous and safe mushrooms before beginning this adventure.

Some tools you will need before heading out are a mesh bag or basket, a knife, a small shovel and a soft brush. Keep all of your “mushroom tools” separate from other kitchen utensils. The brush especially should be one only used for your foraging. Why do you need a shovel though? That answer is easily found and states the following:  “the trowel can be used for gently digging a mushroom out of the ground from its base — sometimes important for making a positive ID”.

Many people bring along their phones and a notepad to take notes on locations where the mushrooms were found and also to take photos of their grand foraging adventures. Be sure to know your surroundings and use a compass, gps or paper map to ensure you are not lost in the woods and also to make sure you are on property where you are allowed. Always obey any posted property signs or there could be another world of trouble aside from identifying the mushrooms.

Know the seasons and what is available to be harvested. The guides will help tremendously with that and will allow you to know what you are looking for and where to go. Many varieties of mushrooms grow at different elevations during different times of the year. Remember you won’t find an entire basket full every time you head out but some days will be better than others.

Your First Forage

On your first trip don’t focus so much on the harvest but proper identification. You have read the guides, scoured the internet and looked at possibly millions of photos so now is the time to put all of your hard work to practice.

Some helpful hints:

When you pick your mushrooms, take notes on where they were growing. Snap a picture or two of the mushroom up close. And then, if it’s growing at the base of tree, take a picture of the tree. If you know the species of tree, put that down in your notebook.

When you take them home, take time to study each species you collected. Note its:

• Size
• Coloring
• Cap shape
• Stem shape, particularly at the base and where it connects to the cap
• Gills or ridges or pores on the underside of its cap
• Texture — soft, leathery, sticky?
• Smell — some mushrooms have a very distinctive smell that your field guide will describe
• Cross section — when cut in half, is it lighter-colored on the inside, cottony, woody, hollow?
• Spore print — put a mushroom cap on a piece of paper and place a jar over it. After a few hours, remove the jar and cap to see what color spores the mushroom has

Based on everything you see, and with the help of your field guide, determine the type of mushroom you’ve found.

Then, find a way to verify you’re correct.

If you have an experienced mushroom-foraging friend, check with them to see how you did.

Some of the best mushrooms to focus on when you’re a beginner include:

• Morels
• Chanterelles
• Oyster mushrooms
• Lion’s mane

What’s available will vary depending on your location, but these are each distinctive in appearance and delicious to eat.

Morels do have an imposter known as the False Morel but distinguishing between the two is as simple as cutting them in half. Morels will be hollow from stem to cap. False Morels have a cottony texture filling their stems.

No matter what mushrooms you are looking for always practice the “leave no trace” methods of being in the woods. Try to leave things the way you found them and never leave any trash or debris behind. These hinder wildlife and can often pose huge risks for forest animals. Something as simple as a piece of plastic can risk the life of an animal in the woods. Be sure to follow MakeFoodSafe.com for more fun foraging tips in the future.

By: Samantha Cooper