First Foray Findings

Back in August I had my first mushroom foray and identification attempt. The results were surprising given the time of year. There had been a few showers the week before but I didn't expect such good results this early in the season.

Here are a few of the highlights :

Beefsteak Fungus - Fistulina Hepatica

This was the largest Beefsteak I`ve seen. It's edible - although I did not try it. It gave off a rather sickly sweet smell which put me off giving it a try. It also apparently has a rather rubbery texture. Mmm.

Bay Bolete - Boletus Badius

Very edible and very large... I found 2 huge examples of this mushroom. Unfortunately large isn't best when it comes to mushrooms - both were full of maggots and had started to go a bit green and spongy. This didnt stop me trying them out though (see plate of food below!)

Tommy - Canis lupis familiaris

Oyster Mushroom - Pleurotus ostreatus

Tommy helpfully posed for this small collection of Oyster Mushrooms. They had been half eaten by deer ( a good sign that a mushroom is edible ) and were swarming with flies. Again... this was not enough to deter me adding them to my edible feast (see plate of food below!)

Horse Mushroom - Agaricus Arvensis

The mushroom most similar to ones you get in asda...

I am about 75% sure on this one. It has all the characteristics of an Agaricus but again it looked like it had been there a while and I wasnt prepared to try it.

So there I was with my collection...and so it was onwards to next stage of Identification :

You can also see I managed to find a couple of Brittlegills (Russula), including a rather nice example of the poisonous Beechwood Sickener (Russula Nobilis) in the ziplock bag (the red upside down one).

Anyway...out of this collection... I was 99% sure on only two species... The Bolete (pronounced Bo-leet) and the Oyster Mushroom

So what better way to enjoy mushrooms than to fry them up with some homecured bacon and a nice egg. (Obviously being my first ever hand picked mushroom tasting - I went for a very small portion!)

The result?? Oyster Mushrooms were awesome... Boletus were a bit woody as I had used the stems and not the caps (on account of maggot infestation).

My first foray was complete with some moderate success! 

Bring on the Autumn....

Horse(radish) Play

Horseradish.

The very first item I set out to find over a year ago.

It was an episode of Come Dine with Me that provided the seed of inspiration. One of the contestants went outside his house and pulled a huge root of horseradish from out of the roadside. I thought..."Cool...Free Food!". The rest is history...

Unfortunately Horseradish proved to be rather elusive, and it wasnt until August of this year that I finally discovered some. Like a lot of things - it was right under my nose all that time - growing outside the IBM site where I work.

Here is the very first piece i prised out (using a blank cd) :

Not so much a Horseradish as a Ponyradish perhaps :

Anyway, Once discovered I went out with my spade and did the illegal deed :

 Most of the root went in the freezer and the rest was used to make Horseradish Cream, which went nicely with a T-Bone steak. :

Previously...on Wild Things...

So although I`m currently racing headlong into Mushroom season... I`ve been scouring the woods, fields, and hedgerows for the last year.

Foraging for Free Stuff

Welcome to the Wild Things blog!

Over the last year I have been taking my first steps into the world of Wild Food Foraging.

Since Spring 2010 I have catalogued, cooked, and consumed a number of natures delights... and I thought it was about time I set up a site to share these experiences with the masses.

You join me as I enter my first Mushroom season. Armed with several field guides, I`ll be hitting the woods to find all the free stuff I can find, bringing it home, and cooking up a storm!