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....