The joys and dangers of mushroom hunting; mushrooms are a great source of vitamins but the mushroom collector has to be very careful with the identification of them.
Mushroom hunting is a great sport that can be enjoyed by the whole family, and that will also save you and your family money on your grocery bill. The season for mushrooms is in the fall after a good rainfall, usually in early September to early November. The best places to find mushrooms is in parks (where allowed), forests and meadows with low growing grass. The meadows in which cows eat the grass are great places to find champions, but usually you should look for fields where the grass isn't cut that much. Make sure you ask the owner of the field for permission, as you do not want to be caught trespassing illegally.
One of the most important things to know about mushroom hunting is that there are many poisonous mushrooms around. Some of them will even kill you after just minutes of eating, so it is very important to go through a mushroom-hunting course before you begin. Only pick a mushroom if you are completely sure that it is edible, if you have any doubts leave it. In many large cities there are also mycological groups which can teach you which mushrooms are safe, and that can help you identify the ones that are edible. Books with photographs can be very helpful in identifying mushrooms, but if you are not 100 per cent sure that the mushroom is edible, do bring them to a mushroom expert who can identify them for you.
When you are mushroom hunting make sure you leave nature as it was - do not litter and avoid disturbing the other vegetation. Don't disturb or destroy the mushrooms that you don't intend on collecting since this will hinder their reproduction and the next year there might not be as many mushrooms to collect. If you are hunting in a pine needle forest, do not rake the needles or dig for mushrooms. The pine needles and the leaves help the mushroom mycelium in the ground by keeping them moist, which allows the mushroom to grow.
To gather the mushrooms from the ground bring a sharp knife with you. Cut the stem at the bottom and check for any wormholes. If the stem is full of wormholes the mushroom can usually not be salvaged. To help the mushroom still drop its seed after it has been cut, but you aren't using it, place it back where you got it from in an upright position. Let it decompose naturally and move on to a different area. If there hasn't been rain for about a week, do not try to go mushroom hunting. The mushrooms that do grow in this time will grow very slowly and will therefore most certainly be full of worms.
Check also your area's regulations on mushroom picking. Most states and provinces have a limit of something like five pounds per day per person. This limit is there to prevent people from taking more then what the forest can produce. If too many mushrooms are taken there is a chance that the mushrooms can't naturally reproduce and die out. If you are caught with more mushrooms then allowed there will be fined issued. Selling the mushrooms is usually not permitted as well.
After you have collected your share of mushrooms you will need to wash them gently under running cold water and clean out all the dirt and grime. Cut the hood to check for worms and compost the parts that have worm tunnels. The rest of the mushroom can still be used. Use the mushrooms right after cutting, if you want to keep the mushrooms for a few days you can do so if you leave them whole and unwashed, and put them into an airtight container in the refrigerator. If the mushrooms have any worms though, they will spread very quickly like that.
Some mushrooms are also edible only when they are young or only if they are cooked. And example of this is the Calvatia gigantea also known as the giant puffball, which is pure white when it is still young. But as soon as this mushroom starts to spore, the inside first turns green, then black, and then a hole will form at the top through which the pores escape. This is the reason for the name puffball, since if you jump on it, huge clouds of spores come out. This mushroom is not edible as soon as the inside turns green.
If you would like to preserve the mushrooms for the winter, a great way to do this is by drying them. Clean the mushrooms as mentioned above and place them in one layer on a fine metal grid. Heat your oven to the lowest possible setting and place the mushroom grid into the oven until the mushrooms are totally dried. They can now be put into containers with covers and can be used for at least one year. Some flavour might be lost but they will still taste great in sauces or as a side dish.
