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Mycology for Beginners

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WeAlreadyHaveACult
Does anyone know a lot about mushrooms?
I am absolutely fascinated by them and NOT in any way for their hallucinogenic possibilities.
Really, straw mushrooms are about the most wonderful thing I can think of, especially to eat in Tom Kha soup with tofu. Portobella, oooooo. Edible mushrooms, gourmet mushrooms, poisonous mushrooms, shapes sizes types drawings of. I LOVE mushrooms and wish I could identify them and then collect them in the forest.
I wish I knew which ones would kill me and which wouldn't. Which I should make in omelets and which ones disintegrate when people touch them? Lichen, too. Moss? Anyone?
Molds and fungi of other kinds?

Information, please.
Traveller
Although I have never tried growing them, I have eaten and/or cooked with
  • Regular button
  • Portobello
  • Cremini
  • Shiitake
  • Oyster
  • Morel
  • Chanterelle
  • Enoki
  • Truffles

When making pizza, I especially like to use a sautéed blend of regular, Portobello, and Shiitake. In general, I like them all, although the Morels do tend to be a bit strong tasting.
HoboPelican
Mushrooms are fascinating! Tasty, beautiful, and totally weird. My current home in the midwest is on a lot that is great for finding a whole slew of 'shrooms. I've lately started trying to ID them and photgraph them. I'm on a back up computer now, so I don't have any links handy, but use google and you will find many sites with good info.

Sorcier gave me some good info on how to try growing Polypores (those 1/2 plate type that grow on trees).

From what I remember, there are 4 shrooms in the US that are safe for novices to pick. Morrels, Chanterelles, and I forget the other two. But the look of those 4 are very distinctive and are hard to get wrong. I get morrels growing in my yard.
Traveller
HoboPelican wrote:
My current home in the midwest is on a lot that is great for finding a whole slew of 'shrooms. I've lately started trying to ID them and photgraph them. I'm on a back up computer now, so I don't have any links handy, but use google and you will find many sites with good info.

Interestingly enough, earlier this evening, one of the Denver new channels (our cable company here carries the ABC, CBS, and NBC feeds from Denver) ran a story about the fact that that area has seen a lot of mushroom growth recently due to the amount of rain it has been receiving. They said that, in Colorado, books about mushrooms are outselling even things like Harry Potter, and that the stores are having a hard time keeping them on the shelves.

HoboPelican wrote:
From what I remember, there are 4 shrooms in the US that are safe for novices to pick. Morrels, Chanterelles, and I forget the other two. But the look of those 4 are very distinctive and are hard to get wrong. I get morrels growing in my yard.

Whatever they are, be very sure you identify them properly. For example, I know there is something called a "false morel" which appears similar to a morel without closer examination, and is poisonous to some people, especially if not cooked properly.
HoboPelican
Traveller wrote:

HoboPelican wrote:
From what I remember, there are 4 shrooms in the US that are safe for novices to pick. Morrels, Chanterelles, and I forget the other two. But the look of those 4 are very distinctive and are hard to get wrong. I get morrels growing in my yard.

Whatever they are, be very sure you identify them properly. For example, I know there is something called a "false morel" which appears similar to a morel without closer examination, and is poisonous to some people, especially if not cooked properly.


Yeah, great advice. The false morrel is easy to spot once you see a good pic, but be careful. I choose to study the field guides AND go out with friends who have been picking 'shrooms for decades. I figure that was the safest way to go.

Found some links....
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/index.html
http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/chooser.asp
http://www.homepages.hetnet.nl/~idakees/index.html
http://www.fungaljungal.org/key/key.html
http://www.ilmyco.gen.chicago.il.us/TopTen/Mushr10.html
http://www.morelmushroomhunting.com/morelfinds.html

Also, there are lots of local groups for mushroom hunters, but I haven't looked into those.
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