Greetings -

It's been raining here in the high plains. And I moved into my current
house in the late fall, so this is my first spring in my place here in
Montana. And this morning I found a huge white mushroom in my backyard. So
I picked it.

It's four inchs across the cap and the stem is three inches long. And it
smells 'sweet' and extremely aromatic - almost nutty. I do believe it's
Agaricus augustus - the prince mushroom. So right now it's in a sealed box
and I'm taking a spore pattern. And once I've satisfied myself I'm not
going to commit suicide eating it, I fully intend to saute it in butter with
some garlic for dinner tonight.

Anyone want to give advice before I do myself-in?

grin

MJB

"MJB" wrote in message
...
Greetings -

It's been raining here in the high plains. And I moved into my current
house in the late fall, so this is my first spring in my place here in
Montana. And this morning I found a huge white mushroom in my backyard.
So I picked it.

It's four inchs across the cap and the stem is three inches long. And it
smells 'sweet' and extremely aromatic - almost nutty. I do believe it's
Agaricus augustus - the prince mushroom. So right now it's in a sealed
box and I'm taking a spore pattern. And once I've satisfied myself I'm
not going to commit suicide eating it, I fully intend to saute it in
butter with some garlic for dinner tonight.

Anyone want to give advice before I do myself-in?

grin

MJB


Yep. Make sure your will is in order, and someone knows which bills need to
be paid while you're in the hospital with your liver slowly deteriorating.
Good luck.

MJB wrote:

Anyone want to give advice before I do myself-in?


A friend from Germany told me that pharmacists there are trained in
recognizing poisonous mushrooms. The town was small and near a wooded
area. It was common practice to go foraging for mushrooms, then drop by
the local pharmacy so the pharmacist could check over the haul and
pronounce them safe. THEN home to sautee them in butter.


Are you anywhere near a university with a botany department, a major
airport where there might be an inspector, or somewhere else where there
might be someone trained who could recognize poisonous from non-poisonous?


--Lia

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
. ..
MJB wrote:

Anyone want to give advice before I do myself-in?


Are you anywhere near a university with a botany department, a major
airport where there might be an inspector, or somewhere else where there
might be someone trained who could recognize poisonous from non-poisonous?


Like I said, I'm in the middle of Montana so any universtity with botany
departments are at least five hours away by car. I've got inky caps all
over my gravel driveway, puffballs peeking their heads up on my fence
border, some monsterous brown shelf fungus that's almost a foot long and
several inches thick stacked several deep on an enormous stump in my front
yard and now these big white things standing-up in my lawn. And puffballs
are damn fine eating....

I've got a couple of books on wild mushrooms and the id seems consistant.
I've just so goddamn many of the things in my backyard that some of 'em
better be eatable!

MJB

"MJB" wrote in message
...

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
. ..
MJB wrote:

Anyone want to give advice before I do myself-in?


Are you anywhere near a university with a botany department, a major
airport where there might be an inspector, or somewhere else where there
might be someone trained who could recognize poisonous from
non-poisonous?


Like I said, I'm in the middle of Montana so any universtity with botany
departments are at least five hours away by car. I've got inky caps all
over my gravel driveway, puffballs peeking their heads up on my fence
border, some monsterous brown shelf fungus that's almost a foot long and
several inches thick stacked several deep on an enormous stump in my front
yard and now these big white things standing-up in my lawn. And
puffballs are damn fine eating....

I've got a couple of books on wild mushrooms and the id seems consistant.
I've just so goddamn many of the things in my backyard that some of 'em
better be eatable!

MJB



How far's the nearest hospital? Last year, I heard an NPR news story about
mushroom hunters. They interviewed a botanist who said even the experts make
mistakes sometimes. When he finds a new batch in the wild, he checks them in
whatever way is acceptable (maybe like what you're doing). But, he also runs
them by a colleague.

"MJB" wrote in message
...
Greetings -

It's been raining here in the high plains. And I moved into my current
house in the late fall, so this is my first spring in my place here in
Montana. And this morning I found a huge white mushroom in my backyard.
So I picked it.

It's four inchs across the cap and the stem is three inches long. And it
smells 'sweet' and extremely aromatic - almost nutty. I do believe it's
Agaricus augustus - the prince mushroom. So right now it's in a sealed
box and I'm taking a spore pattern. And once I've satisfied myself I'm
not going to commit suicide eating it, I fully intend to saute it in
butter with some garlic for dinner tonight.

Anyone want to give advice before I do myself-in?

grin

MJB
Post us a note in a day or two and let us know you're ok. Also write down
your observations on the mushroom, color, pattern, etc. and leave an
uncooked bit in a box in the fridge. Maybe take a photo of it. The easier it
is for the ER to identify what you ate...
My brother decided to chomp on a nice looking mushroom in the yard and
spent 3 weeks in detox with a bleeding stomach. He almost died. I don't
think he spent much time identifying it tho, and we were not foresters in
our family. Must have been testosterone poisoning to begin with...
Edrena

"MJB" wrote:
It's been raining here in the high plains. And I moved into my current house
in the late fall, so this is my first spring in my place here in Montana. And
this morning I found a huge white mushroom in my backyard. So I picked it.

It's four inchs across the cap and the stem is three inches long. And it
smells 'sweet' and extremely aromatic - almost nutty. I do believe it's
Agaricus augustus - the prince mushroom. So right now it's in a sealed box
and I'm taking a spore pattern. And once I've satisfied myself I'm not going
to commit suicide eating it, I fully intend to saute it in butter with some
garlic for dinner tonight.

Anyone want to give advice before I do myself-in?

This reminds me of the following statement in the Joy of Cooking:

"There are bold mushroom hunters and old mushroom hunters, but no bold old
mushroom hunters"

As a side note, a lot of things that smell and taste good are quite toxic.
Antifreeze, for example.

--
wff_ng_7 (at) verizon (dot) net

"wff_ng_7" wrote in message
news:aql4i.4947$qp5.3578@trnddc03...
"MJB" wrote:
It's been raining here in the high plains. And I moved into my current
house in the late fall, so this is my first spring in my place here in
Montana. And this morning I found a huge white mushroom in my backyard.
So I picked it.

It's four inchs across the cap and the stem is three inches long. And it
smells 'sweet' and extremely aromatic - almost nutty. I do believe it's
Agaricus augustus - the prince mushroom. So right now it's in a sealed
box and I'm taking a spore pattern. And once I've satisfied myself I'm
not going to commit suicide eating it, I fully intend to saute it in
butter with some garlic for dinner tonight.

Anyone want to give advice before I do myself-in?

This reminds me of the following statement in the Joy of Cooking:

"There are bold mushroom hunters and old mushroom hunters, but no bold old
mushroom hunters"

As a side note, a lot of things that smell and taste good are quite toxic.
Antifreeze, for example.


Here's an on-line key:

It's not staining yellow or red when cut, it's spore print is chocolate
brown, the gills are pink turning brownish.

http://www.svims.ca/council/Agari2.htm

Its 105a Agaricus campestris

So it's whats for dinner.

MJB

On May 21, 12:49�pm, "MJB" wrote:
Greetings -

It's been raining here in the high plains. *And I moved into my current
house in the late fall, so this is my first spring in my place here in
Montana. *And this morning I found a huge white mushroom in my backyard.. *So
I picked it.

It's four inchs across the cap and the stem is three inches long. *And it
smells 'sweet' and extremely aromatic - almost nutty. *I do believe it's
Agaricus augustus - the prince mushroom. *So right now it's in a sealed box
and I'm taking a spore pattern. *And once I've satisfied myself I'm not
going to commit suicide eating it, I fully intend to saute it in butter with
some garlic for dinner tonight.

Anyone want to give advice before I do myself-in?

I strongly suggest you google for a local mycology club to ask for
information. The general rule for wild mushrooms you're unsure of and
can't find someone who can make an ID is to eat only a very small
portion of one mushroom and wait 24 hours. If there are no adverse
reactions then the next time that same type of mushroom is available
from the same spot eat a slightly larger amount... keep increasing
your portion. And then never eat a large quantity of any wild
mushrooms regardless. You can get lucky being piggish 99 times, it's
that last time that you will die. There are quite a few poisonous
mushrooms that mimic the safe ones so closely that even the experts
can't tell. Since you are so interested in mushrooms and seem to have
many on your property I would also strongly suggest that you join a
local mycology club.

Sheldon Toadstool

In article , "MJB"
wrote:

Greetings -

It's been raining here in the high plains. And I moved into my current
house in the late fall, so this is my first spring in my place here in
Montana. And this morning I found a huge white mushroom in my backyard. So
I picked it.

It's four inchs across the cap and the stem is three inches long. And it
smells 'sweet' and extremely aromatic - almost nutty. I do believe it's
Agaricus augustus - the prince mushroom. So right now it's in a sealed box
and I'm taking a spore pattern. And once I've satisfied myself I'm not
going to commit suicide eating it, I fully intend to saute it in butter with
some garlic for dinner tonight.

Anyone want to give advice before I do myself-in?


I googled "edible lawn mushrooms" and came up empty. Be careful. I
vaguely recall checking out this topic years ago and found that none of
the several lawn mushrooms I checked out were edible.

"MJB" wrote:
Here's an on-line key:

It's not staining yellow or red when cut, it's spore print is chocolate brown,
the gills are pink turning brownish.

http://www.svims.ca/council/Agari2.htm

Its 105a Agaricus campestris

So it's whats for dinner.

It's just that I wouldn't trust my own judgement based on something I read in a
book (even with color pictures and plenty of explanation). I'd need to have
someone with some experience who has eaten them before verify my identification.
It's a shame, because so often I'll see tons of wild mushrooms that are probably
fine, but I'd never be comfortable eating them.

--
wff_ng_7 (at) verizon (dot) net

On May 21, 10:49 am, "MJB" wrote:
Greetings -

It's been raining here in the high plains. And I moved into my current
house in the late fall, so this is my first spring in my place here in
Montana. And this morning I found a huge white mushroom in my backyard. So
I picked it.

It's four inchs across the cap and the stem is three inches long. And it
smells 'sweet' and extremely aromatic - almost nutty. I do believe it's
Agaricus augustus - the prince mushroom. So right now it's in a sealed box
and I'm taking a spore pattern. And once I've satisfied myself I'm not
going to commit suicide eating it, I fully intend to saute it in butter with
some garlic for dinner tonight.

Anyone want to give advice before I do myself-in?

grin

MJB

where are you in Montana? The mushrooms that pop up on my lawn here in
Great Falls (Montana) are poisonous.
red

On May 21, 6:30�pm, " wrote:
On May 21, 10:49 am, "MJB" wrote:





Greetings -

It's been raining here in the high plains. *And I moved into my current
house in the late fall, so this is my first spring in my place here in
Montana. *And this morning I found a huge white mushroom in my backyard. *So
I picked it.

It's four inchs across the cap and the stem is three inches long. *And it
smells 'sweet' and extremely aromatic - almost nutty. *I do believe it's
Agaricus augustus - the prince mushroom. *So right now it's in a sealed box
and I'm taking a spore pattern. *And once I've satisfied myself I'm not
going to commit suicide eating it, I fully intend to saute it in butter with
some garlic for dinner tonight.

Anyone want to give advice before I do myself-in?

grin

MJB

where are you in Montana?

The OP said central Montana.

The mushrooms that pop up on my lawn here in
Great Falls (Montana) are poisonous.

Which one is it?� � �

But where doesn't matter a whole lot... many types of mushrooms can
emerge most anywhere.. I'm sure you have more than one type in your
lawn. � � � � � �

Sheldon� � � �

On Mon, 21 May 2007 10:49:22 -0600, "MJB" wrote:

Greetings -

It's been raining here in the high plains. And I moved into my current
house in the late fall, so this is my first spring in my place here in
Montana. And this morning I found a huge white mushroom in my backyard. So
I picked it.

It's four inchs across the cap and the stem is three inches long. And it
smells 'sweet' and extremely aromatic - almost nutty. I do believe it's
Agaricus augustus - the prince mushroom. So right now it's in a sealed box
and I'm taking a spore pattern. And once I've satisfied myself I'm not
going to commit suicide eating it, I fully intend to saute it in butter with
some garlic for dinner tonight.

Anyone want to give advice before I do myself-in?

It's not worth it unless you know for sure. Either educate yourself
or buy your mushrooms from the grocery store.

--
See return address to reply by email

"wff_ng_7" wrote in message
news:H2m4i.10215$kf1.8822@trnddc01...
"MJB" wrote:
Here's an on-line key:

It's not staining yellow or red when cut, it's spore print is chocolate
brown, the gills are pink turning brownish.

http://www.svims.ca/council/Agari2.htm

Its 105a Agaricus campestris

So it's whats for dinner.

It's just that I wouldn't trust my own judgement based on something I read
in a book (even with color pictures and plenty of explanation). I'd need
to have someone with some experience who has eaten them before verify my
identification. It's a shame, because so often I'll see tons of wild
mushrooms that are probably fine, but I'd never be comfortable eating
them.


I trust my own judgement all the time based upon what I've read in books.
Cooking, auto repair, home repair, computer repair - what I know on those
subjects in particular, I know from books. And this time the book was
correct.

The mushroom was delicious. Perhaps the best cap mushroom I've ever
cooked - and much better than any store-bought shitake I've had.

grin

And when the puffballs mature to softball size, I'm going to eat them too.

Thanks to everyone - even the sceptical ones - who thought I'd be in a
morgue right now.

MJB