Forager's Thread

WOW ! Chilli, those blackberries in particular look superb.

Are you perchance posting out samples for us all to try ? If so please add me to the list :grin:

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You’re obviously very discerning Oldbloke, the blackberries are delicious, as I mentioned a vast improvement on last year. We’ll be gathering more to use fresh and some for the freezer. I might think about making some blackberry whiskey for Christmas :christmas_tree:.

As for posting samples I have the feeling that they won’t travel well😉

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In forums of recent I’ve encountered some rather interesting and knowledgeable postings regarding foraging for food, including mushrooms, the latter being an extremely complex topic.

Fungi can be fascinating, but also potentially dangerous, or even lethal,

So… only minutes ago on TV an item flashed up onscreen ( TV commonly runs with sound turned off here ) so I didn’t get the complete segment.

Nonetheless it was a timely reminder - yesterday 3 people DIED after eating mushrooms that were obviously poisonous.

So PLEASE think SERIOUSLY before eating just any mushroom that you may have foraged and dare I suggest that children especially need to be made aware not to eat them.

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Exactly… sound advice Oldbloke, you need to be 100% certain that you get it right. My son has been interested in fungi since he was quite young. He knew the importance of not eating any wild fungi. He went on to study them as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award.

Now he’s an adult we may eat a species that I’m certain that is edible, the parasol mushroom for example.

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I wouldn’t eat any fungi that I found outside a supermarket. Deathcap mushrooms look very ordinary but deadly.

Neither would I eat any blackberries either because they are a noxious weed here and are sprayed on a regular basis.

Talking of mushrooms…

It’s just my take on the the matter but as far as I’m concerned death caps look anything but ordinary.
As ever unless you are absolutely certain… Don’t!

The daughter in law remains a suspect in the death of her dinner guests but has been released.

I disagree with the idea that Deathcap mushrooms look anything but ordinary

Well I suppose it depends how keen you are on your fungi Bruce, I don’t think those two pictures look the same/similar.

I’m not in the least bit into cars, they all look much the same to me, I can pick out an e type Jag , not that it has anything to do with fungi of course😉

They’re different varieties of Deathcap, one from WA, one from Victoria. Both are deadly, if you survive eating them you will need a liver transplant apparently

@Bruce I would be interested to know the outcome of this case , would you update us if it was proved to be mushrooms that killed them.

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Yes, I picked up on the different varieties thing.
I’m familiar with the common UK variety but not the Australian ones.

A nasty compound of toxins, once in the system your in big trouble.

It was definitely caused by Deathcap but whether it was a crime or an accident is not known but it is looking unlikely it was a crime at the moment.

People do eat Deathcaps occasionally, there are a lot in the ACT and signs on a lot of public building warning against eating them. I think the last ones who died were some Chinese visitors who picked and ate them in Canberra a few years ago.

https://www.schn.health.nsw.gov.au/files/attachments/deathcapmushrooms_information_sheet.pdf

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Yes it was and…
at this time there is a 4th person, a man fighting for his life after having been admitted re the same incident. Police investiagations are continuing and likely to do so for some time according to reports.

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As a much younger person I had a relative who owned & operated a soft drink factory.
Strangely although that was decades ago & I now recall very little - the one thing that sticks in my mind is one of my parents telling me that of all the flavours he manufactured the ONLY one he would NOT drink was the Ginger beer.

It was not a taste issue - it seemed rather a “health” issue but I can’t imagine why?

I really wish I knew, but only out of pure curiousity.

I take it that these poisonous mushrooms had no bad taste to put them off eating them , also what springs to mind , unless ive missed part of the story , why is the cook still alive ? did she not have any …seems a tad suspicious .

@OldBloke was this what you was on about .?

They dont get sprayed in this country , But if the hedge is in a crop field thats been sprayed , then i wouldnt touch them . I mostly pick from Canal sides ,

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On a more positive note how about this for foraging/fungi street art?

th-417847974

We were in Glasgow recently, there’s a mural trail, this one did it for us.

5 posts were split to a new topic: Mushroom poisoning in Australia

We’ve been blackberrying…again!

I could smell this rich, deliciously buttery smell coming from the kitchen. My son’s made another crumble incorporating rolled oats to give a really crunchy wholesome texture.

Looks a winner!

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