The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms: Helpful Tips for Mushrooming in the Field
By Pelle Holmberg and Hans Marklund
5/5
()
About this ebook
Beautiful photographs adorn the pages with mushrooms in the wild as well as picked, showing them from a multitude of angles. Study these photographs and you will become adept at recognizing edible and safe mushrooms. Even those who are unfamiliar with the mushroom forest can make a start at foraging with this instructional work, and, with the help of The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms, can become experts in no time.
Using practical symbol systems, distribution maps, and tips on picking, cleaning, cooking, and canning, the reader will also become familiar with a wide variety of wild mushrooms, including morels, black trumpets, chanterelles, sheep polypore, porcini, a variety of boletes, and many more. Grabbing this guide on the way out to go hunt for mushrooms will ensure a successful foraging experience.
Read more from Pelle Holmberg
Wild Mushroom Cookbook: Soups, Stir-Fries, and Full Courses from the Forest to the Frying Pan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cooking with Wild Mushrooms: 50 Recipes for Enjoying Your Porcinis, Chanterelles, and Other Foraged Mushrooms Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms
Related ebooks
Mushroom Hunting Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEdible Mushrooms: Safe to Pick, Good to Eat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mushrooms of the Northwest: A Simple Guide to Common Mushrooms Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMushrooms of North America: A Comprehensive Field Guide & Identification Book of Edible and Inedible Fungi Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWild Mushrooming: A Guide for Foragers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsField Guide to Mushrooms of Western North America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Beginner's Guide to Mushrooms: Everything You Need to Know, from Foraging to Cultivating Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Beginner's Guide to Edible Fungi Mushrooms Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCommon Edible & Poisonous Mushrooms of the Northeast Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Introduction to Mushrooms: Grow Mushrooms for Pleasure and Profit Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Grow Mushrooms from Scratch: A Practical Guide to Cultivating Portobellos, Shiitakes, Truffles, and Other Edible Mushrooms Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Mushroom Hunter: An Illustrated Guide to Foraging, Harvesting, and Enjoying Wild Mushrooms Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConcise Mushroom Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGood Mushroom Bad Mushroom: Who's Who, Where to Find Them, and How to Enjoy Them Safely Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMushrooms of the Upper Midwest: A Simple Guide to Common Mushrooms Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mushrooms Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mushrooms: A Beginner’s Guide to Cultivating and Using Mushrooms Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Appalachian Mushrooms: A Field Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mushroom Cultivation Guide: A Beginner's Bible with Step-by-Step Instructions to Grow Any Magical Mushroom at Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Pocket Guide to Mushrooms Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Edible Wild Plants: A Field Guide to Foraging in North America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Joy of Foraging: Gary Lincolff's Illustrated Guide to Finding, Harvesting, and Enjoying a World of Wild Food Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFungipedia: A Brief Compendium of Mushroom Lore Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMorel Hunting: How to Find, Preserve, Care for, and Prepare the Wild Mushrooms Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mushroom Growing Today Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMushrooms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Foraging for Beginners: Your Reliable Guide to Foraging Medicinal Herbs, Wild Edible Plants and Berries, #1 Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Fabulous Wild Fungi ~ Wildly Creative Cuisine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Nature For You
Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Silent Spring Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lucky Dog Lessons: From Renowned Expert Dog Trainer and Host of Lucky Dog: Reunions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Solace of Open Spaces: Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Fungi: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species from around the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Foraging for Survival: Edible Wild Plants of North America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Family and Other Animals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Language of Flowers: A Definitive and Illustrated History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5SAS Survival Handbook, Third Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fantastic Fungi: How Mushrooms Can Heal, Shift Consciousness, and Save the Planet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Edible Wild Plants Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hunt for the Skinwalker: Science Confronts the Unexplained at a Remote Ranch in Utah Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Practical Botany for Gardeners: Over 3,000 Botanical Terms Explained and Explored Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Corfu Trilogy: My Family and Other Animals; Birds, Beasts and Relatives; and The Garden of the Gods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Coffee: A Sustainable Guide to Nootropics, Adaptogens, and Mushrooms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shelter: A Love Letter to Trees Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: My Year of Psychedelics: Lessons on Better Living Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Forager's Handbook: A Seasonal Guide to Harvesting Wild, Edible & Medicinal Plants Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reviews for The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent job on the pocket guide! Two thumbs up guys!
Book preview
The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms - Pelle Holmberg
Introduction
The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms is a smaller, portable version of our book Nya Svampboken, to be used in the field. The selection of species included is reduced, however it still includes the most important edible mushrooms and of course the most common look-alike mushrooms. Those who would like further information about the mushrooms presented in this book or find some species missing can refer to other resources, listed in the back of the book.
In the first edition of Nya Svampboken (1996), we introduced new symbols for the mushrooms and these can also be found in this book. The symbols are based on each edible mushroom’s potential look-alike counterpart. Edible mushrooms in group 1 can only (within reason) be confused with other edible mushrooms. Those in group 2 can be confused with mushrooms that are unsuitable for consumption but that are not poisonous. Group 1 and 2 are what we call beginners mushrooms. Edible mushrooms in group 3 can be confused with slightly poisonous mushrooms, and those in group 4 can be confused with lethally poisonous mushrooms. We consider all mushrooms presented here to taste good, but which taste the best? Well it depends on a lot of factors including how they are prepared, what they accompany, including beverages, and of course personal taste.
Have fun foraging for mushrooms!
What is a mushroom?
All mushrooms presented here are made of mycelium, a network of thin threadlike structures in the ground (see photo on right). The mycelium forms fruiting bodies (see below) that mature and become attractive to mushroom pickers. The fruiting bodies can be compared to the fruit on a tree and have as their biological task to form spores, or reproductive bodies.
The fruiting body of a Parasol Mushroom
White and yellow mycelium underneath a decaying log on the ground.
Young fruiting body (button) from a mushroom of the Amanita genus
When can mushrooms be found?
In order for the mycelium to develop fruiting bodies, they need rain. A dry summer usually means a lack of mushrooms; but if a dry summer is followed by a lot of rain, it can then produce a fall rich in mushrooms. A summer and fall with both sun and rain give good odds for a bountiful mushroom season. A rainy summer can produce a lot of mushrooms but if there is too much rain, the soil can become sodden, resulting in fewer mushrooms to pick. Each season is unique; a year of trumpet chanterelles precedes a penny bun year and so on. Some years August may be the best month for mushrooms and another year may find that September-October give the biggest yield. Other years the middle of the country may have a fantastic harvest whereas the north may fare less well.
The variations are significant. Normal
seasons seem to become less frequent when it comes to the weather but usually August and September are the big mushroom months. On the west coast of the US, the season extends into the winter months, the time of best rain. States in the Southwest and Southeast US enjoy mushrooming well into the early winter months.
Some tips regarding...
picking
Mushrooms are fresh produce and therefore fragile. Some mushrooms such as boletes, brittlegills, and the shaggy ink cap have to be taken care of as soon as you get home. Others such as chanterelles and those belonging to the craterellus genus are less sensitive but should be stored in a cool place if they are not to be used right away.
Use a basket rather than a plastic bag when picking mushrooms. The moisture from the mushrooms can’t evaporate through plastic and the warm air will create a greenhouse effect. This allows bacteria to thrive making the mushrooms quickly become inedible.
cleaning
Clean away any soil and leaf litter from the mushrooms at the picking stage. Larger mushrooms can be halved to check if they have been contaminated by maggots. Remove any parts infected by maggots or slugs, for instance the earthy part of the stipe, and, with larger boletes, the soft pore surface.
Once you’ve returned home, place the mushrooms on a table. This is especially important if the mushrooms are damp. Feel free to organize them right then and there, placing spicy and strong tasting mushrooms with each other. For example the chanterelle, look-alike saffron milk cap, weeping milk cap, and the crab brittlegill should be divided up. They can then add flavor to milder tasting mushrooms.
preparation
All mushrooms that are to be eaten must be cooked. This includes heating the mushrooms and allowing them to release their water. Previously some varieties have been recommended for use as raw food but later research has shown that raw mushrooms contain heat sensitive substances that can be harmful to humans. Preparation can be separated into two stages: 1. pretreatment, either blanching, e.g. red hot milk cap, or precooking (to cook in its own juices
) and 2. cooking.
You can easily preserve mushrooms by drying. Tips for preparing and preserving mushrooms are given within this book for each species. (You can also refer to Nya Svampboken or other mushroom guides.)
What do mushrooms contain?
Around 10 percent of the mushrooms fruiting body is made up of dry substances which are mainly fibrous cell walls, nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. The other 90 percent consists of water.
Fiber
The cell walls of a mushroom are not made up of cellulose like some plants, but another form of carbohydrate that is similar to chitin, which is found in the shells of crustaceans and insects. It is likely that this chitin has a similar positive