I wish I was one of those clever (and brave) people who know about fungus. I have some crackers growing in the garden at the moment and I would love to know if they are edible. Wild mushrooms have always fascinated me since I was a child. We were a boating holiday and my parents bought some wild mushrooms from a lady working at a local windmill. She had picked them in the fields that morning. When they got them back to the boat they decided not to risk it and binned them. Since then I have had aspirations about gathering food from hedgerows and taking it home for a free meal. I have never had the courage to follow it through, apart from a few apples and blackberries of course. I don't even think a good field guide would help, I would still not trust myself. Sickness or death is not terribly appealing so I will continue with Asda's own brand!
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| Mmmm yummy....maybe..... |
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Probably not....although they do remind me of bread rolls
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The least appetising looking, rather like dead flowers. Probably the only edible ones of the bunch!
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I would agree with the policy of not eating any fungi that you can't identify 100%. The ones in the top picture look like Parasol (Lepiota procera), which is edible, but the closely related Shaggy Parasol can cause gastric upset in some people. If you are interested just to find out which it is, Shaggy Parasol bruises orange if the stem is cut. I think there are only a few British fungi that taste good enough to go to the effort of cooking them (Chanterelle, Penny Bun etc). Also, even edible fungi are best eaten when young, as they often get tougher and maggoty with age!
ReplyDeleteRegards,
James