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Searchlights t1_ixv0v8r wrote

It's strange.

A skill like foraging that was ubiquitous among our ancestors is something I look at and can't square the risk to value ratio.

I'm not so hard up for mushrooms to risk making a mistake.

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acfox13 t1_ixv5akg wrote

It takes some practice to level up any skill or knowledge. There are many edibles that are "easy" to identify once you put the work in to level up your identification skills. You just don't eat anything you're not 100% sure about while you're learning.

Last year I found over nine pounds of chanterelles in a week. And a few weeks back I found a pound of hedgehogs on a random walk through the woods. It's also nice having access to and get to experience flavors that you might never taste if you never go out to find them on your own.

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Clauss_Video_Archive OP t1_ixwqzqb wrote

This is how I feel too. I've only been doing it for a little over a year, but it has been really interesting and fun. I have learned a lot and have lots more to learn.

And wow, nine pounds of chanterelles. That is impressive. I found about of quarter pound of winter chanterelles and hedgehogs several weeks ago and was pumped.

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acfox13 t1_ixwxb7d wrote

Last year was so wet at the right time/temperature that the fruiting conditions were great and I seemed to hit them at the right time. That's why I try to go out often during the season, bc once one species starts popping off, I'm more likely to find them elsewhere on my rounds.

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Searchlights t1_ixv5ffw wrote

There are old foragers and there are adventurous foragers but there are no old adventurous foragers

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acfox13 t1_ixv5n81 wrote

That's why people put in the time, energy, and effort to level up their identification skills.

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-rng_ t1_ixwqr9b wrote

Technically you're right, but a lot of mushrooms aren't hard to identify, lion's mane grows a lot in NH and it's pretty easy to ID with nothing really looking like it besides bear's tooth, which is also edible

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Fantastic-Yak-6387 t1_ixwrdj7 wrote

I just do it as a hobby. There are so many different kinds and they look so different from one another, and it's kind of cool when you find one that's deadly, or one that's a choice edible, or one that's rare or you haven't found before. 🍄 There is one called the big laughing Jim that's hallucinogenic. 😃

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