There are several types of easily distinguishable, edible mushrooms, with none more well-known than the morel– a fungus, rather than mushroom. While each has a distinct growing season and distinct locale, each of them form a family group of delectable wild foods that are much sought after, such as the French truffle.
The most distinguishable of the edible mushrooms may be the puffball – a globe-shaped mushroom that could grow to soccer ball size, and features a delightfully woody flavour. The favourite growing site of this mushroom is on dung heaps, in wood chips and rotting tree mulch, and near sunlit pastures. It is most beneficial eaten before the interior begins to turn from solid white to brown to black. Be sure that your pick is actually a puffball, and has no stalk growing inside. It should be firm and light-colored inside. Puffballs begin to develop in late spring & early summer, producing into early fall.
Another morel cousin may be the shaggy mane, a morel-shaped mushroom with upward-turning scales and a dusty brown color. It grows from spring until summer, to a height of 4-6″, preferring open air and meadows to the mottled lighting of a woodland. Shaggy manes are distinguishable by their tendency to break easily when handled.viking spores uk
Chanterelles are another delicacy with a flavour not unlike morels. Although within summer and fall, they like similar soil conditions. Imagine a trumpet with its mouth facing skyward, and you’ll have a graphic of the beige to brown chanterelle mushroom.
One of the very most unusually shaped fungi may be the hen-of-the-woods, a growth available at the beds base of decaying trees that looks almost identical to a reddish hen with ruffled tail feathers. This delightful mushroom can be found in late spring and early summer. Catch it early and young, though, to make sure that it hasn’t developed a woody texture.
Of course, one of many earliest edible mushrooms may be the oyster mushroom which can often be found even while the snows just begin to melt. Growing on the sides of dead trees, these beautiful white clusters offer an early taste of the mushroom harvests to follow.
Other mushrooms and fungi can be edible, including shelf mushrooms, often found growing on decaying trees in shaded woodlands. However, most of the standard umbrella-type mushrooms have deadly sisters, while others (such since the shelf mushroom) might be edible, yet have bland taste, or tough textures.
Let me make it clear, the numerous types of morels, though, are probably the most sought-after, during their mid-spring harvest season. Alongside them you will see a variety of fungi, nearly all of which are not toxic, but are not the equal of the morel as a spring wild harvest treat.