Magdalena Bassett wrote:
> Michael Kuettner wrote:
>
>> You're absolutely right. People not knowing enough about
>> mushrooms shouldn't pick them.
>> I've picked them for 36 years now and never had any problems.
>> A note to beginners :
>> When in doubt, photograph the bugger and look in a book.
>> Don't pick the shroom.
>> When you pick clustered shrooms like chantarelles, always
>> leave a few in place. Otherwise, no shrooms next year.
>> Don't pick shrooms which show snail or insect bite.
>> They're past sell-by-date.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Michael Kuettner
>
>
>
> Yes, you're correct. It's very important to learn from experienced
> pickers. I learned from my Grandfather and my Father, who to this day
> bests me in his finds. He can walk through a paved parking lot and find
> edible mushrooms

My mother could do that and my older brother can. I never developed an
eye for finding them. I always remember as a kid we could be out on the
shortest trip and my mother would ask my father to stop. After a short
trip into a wooded area she would collect a bag full of mushrooms.

>
> I'm a member of a local chapter of the Mycological Society and we often
> foray together. It's a great way to learn from experienced pickers and
> to learn the local woods and local spiecies. Even without mushrooms,
> it's a great thing to go climbing through the incredibly wild forests of
> the Olympic Wilderness. My husband does not pick, but he goes with us
> for the pleasure of the forest.
>
> Magdalena Bassett