Mushroom foraging and exploration

happy hunting! thanks for sharing. Morel hunting will be in full swing here soon.

I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of Va. And they are actually pretty dry mountains with few streams in my area. So no fishing or swimming unless you drove a good ways. Poor people don't burn gas except to get to work and church. So we harvested Woods Fish in the spring. Breaded and fried they taste somewhat like fish. I eventually learned they were Morels. We also ate Ramps, don't get me started on those! Anything green or fresh was cherished in the spring after living off home canned food and dried food all winter. Breaded and fried Locust blossoms are also a true delicacy. Made some on a trail ride and sceptical crits were soon crowding the deep fry pot wanting more. There is a lot to eat out there but be careful. Polk salad is delicious but only as a shoot, later it gets poisonous. Dandelion greens with hot bacon grease and vinegar tossed in them. I could go on but that's enough. LOL. Us hillbillys had no money but ate gourmet delicacy sll the time that Emeril Lagacy would swoon over!

Mushrooms are a big thing around here,lots of danger out there for territory-I leave it all to them!! Like eating them,but not worth the danger of getting robbed and or worse!!!

Asparagus,love that stuff-raw,cooked,anyway you can think of to serve it!!!! It grew wild in Montana,we would help Dad in the early 60's,to go and harvest gunny sacks full.........

James,I grew it in North Dakota too-just plant a few roots and walk away....As said "Forget about it"-they like to be left alone..

There used to be a group here locally that foraged but is no longer around. I'd love to learn and eat raw. We go for blackberries when hiking cause they're everywhere.

Shiitake grow on oak. You can always buy inoculated wood logs to grow your own too.

That is some haul!  Must've been nice eating.

Yes, they need oaks. They are even particular about the type of oak. here they like valley oaks and blue oaks, I believe. probably some others, too. I have just frozen them in a bag, and it worked fine. A food dehydrator also works well. They are great for gravies that way.

Eating deer crap.... Sounds like a dog, alright. Wonder what other mushrooms the deer were eating. Sounds like maybe some types that would send us to the hospital (or a Pink Floyd concert).

Yes stephan, they eat poison ivy, poisonous mushrooms. That amazes

Basically 2 oak families here, black(red) and white. Seems like the white oaks attract them, but not sure as they are mixed well at collection sites.
Whole forests of oaks here, access to couple thousand acres of them behind house.
And they bloom all over that area. We thought about collecting them for sale due to the large amount of them.

I see you grew shiitake. Thought about doing that. I have lots of water and lots of oak to cut. Need to study process/habitat required.
I have heard that the oak needs to be cut to manageable sizes and soaked.

Thanks for the tips on preservation. Forgot about dehydration method.