Quantcast
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 48

Scary and Mystical Mushrooms

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Chicken in the Woods 1

Image:  Photography By Celeste

Scary Mushrooms

I love mushrooms but have always been a bit scared to take the plunge to wildcraft them.  Living in the Pacific Northwest I heard many stories of whole families dying from just a taste of a poisonous mushroom.  Nevertheless, I have also heard the stories from my wildcrafting friends of delicious and tasty mushroom adventures.

Mushrooms are an exquisite piece of art.  Take a walk and look for mushrooms in your area.  Examine their size; notice their different shades of color; feel their texture; smell their distinctive odor.  What does their cap look like? Does the mushroom have thick or thin flesh?  Look underneath the cap and look at what is called the gills of the mushroom.  Does your mushroom have a stalk?  Is there a veil?

What is the solution to my dilemma?

Positive Identification

I am a privacy advocate but this is one instance hen I want to know everything and anything about my mushroom.  Fortunately there is a fabulous book entitled, Mushrooms Demystified, By David Arora.  What sold me on this book is one spring when many horned mushrooms appeared.  I inquired around and the locals had never seen anything like them before.  On a trip to Glacier Park, I found this book and it was the only mushroom identification guide that had this particular mushroom in it.  Sadly it was not know if it was eatable or not.  In this extensive field guide you will be guided through all the ways to identify mushrooms.

Grow Your Own Mushrooms

If you aren’t able to wildcraft local mushrooms there is another way.  You can grow your own!  You will need a stump or log, a drill to make holes, spawn or inoculation, and patience because it takes some time for you mushrooms to grow.  The advantage of doing getting plugs and spawn is that you can grow all your favorite mushrooms and are assured that they are not poisonous.  The downside is that they aren’t free and you have to wait for them.

Nutrition and Medicine

Mushrooms contain vitamins, B, A, K and a few contain vitamin C.  Mushrooms are rich in minerals such as iron, copper, and various trace minerals.  They are low fat and carbohydrate.  Some varieties have protein value.

Primarily, mushrooms can provide in some species penicillin while some mushrooms such as the shitake, strengthen or enhance the immune system.

Enjoy!

Now that you can either wildcraft your own local mushrooms or grow them in the comfort of your home or yard now is the time to put mushrooms on your calendar.  To health!

The post Scary and Mystical Mushrooms appeared first on Shepherd's Heart.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 48

Trending Articles