I was interested to see this poster online today as I have often wondered which fungi are poisonous and which of them are totally harmless and edible. Hopefully this event is of interest to you too and will answer all our questions. It’s free entry so nothing to loose.
Last weekend I had the pleasure of having my 7-year-old granddaughter Sienna to stay which was a real treat for both of us and, as the weather was fine (ish) we ventured into the woods in search of mushrooms, toadstools, deer hoof prints and anything else we could see or hear.
The wild deer are about again, early October is the start of the rutting season where the stags battle it out with the competition to claim their does. They can be heard making their mating calls, loud grunting noises which attract their mates, as they use the dense woodland for cover. It wasn’t long before we found their hoof prints which led to a pond where they drank and further into the woods we could hear them running but they stayed well out of sight. Deer are naturally shy and their acute sight, hearing and sense of smell provide early warning signs if danger is close.
We found field mushrooms under oak trees and a variety of fungi which were new to both of us which we left well alone but had I had the knowledge to know edible from harmful we could have collected a few edible mushrooms to try later.
If you have time on your hands and fancy getting to grips with “what is and what isn’t”, a trip to Peasmarsh Churchyard on Saturday October 12 from 2.00-5.00pm could put you in good stead, particularly if the grandchildren are pencilled in to visit soon. They might be impressed by your knowledge and like me, you could soon be able to answer the question which has eluded me for long enough.
Image Credits: Nick Forman .
For anyone interested in identifying fungi species — including edible and poisonous ones — I’d recommend a book called ‘Foraging Pocket Guide’ by Marlow Renton and Eric Biggane, published by Wild Food UK. Their main advice is “Never eat anything unless you’re 100% sure it is safe” and “Never eat any wild food without multiple sources of positive identification”. Some fungi and a number of ordinary plants are deadly poisonous. For example, monkshood is so toxic it was once used to make poison-tipped lances for hunting whales.