The days are getting shorter and cooler, summer has said goodbye and the… Mushroom season is in full swing again. Contrary to all fears, 2022 seems to be an excellent year for mushrooms; I see pictures of record finds on all messengers and social networks. And everything flows outside into the autumn forests. Friends of the tasty porcini mushrooms, chestnuts and giant parasols dust off their baskets, sharpen their mushroom knives and clean their rubber boots. But what to do with all the good mushroom mood? In which forests can you actually find edible mushrooms? And what should you take into account when collecting?
Collecting Mushrooms: Seven Golden Rules
Porcini mushrooms or not? Check, check, check!
Never – I emphasize: never! – eat a mushroom that you don’t really know. There is no one criterion that can be used to distinguish a poisonous from a non-poisonous mushroom! A mushroom can often only be identified with certainty based on five or more distinctive features. Identifying is difficult, especially at the beginning of a mushroom picking career, but you should never – I emphasize: never! – eat a mushroom that “looks roughly like the one Thorsten found last time.” Smart people identify their own mushrooms and then, to be on the safe side, take the whole find to the local mushroom advice center (before eating, not after!). There may also be a mushroom expert from the German Society for Mycology nearby who would be willing to provide advice.
The early bird…
Short and sweet: Yes, you have to get up really early. The real mushroom fools are already in the forest at sunrise. If you come too late, you will only find the mushrooms that others have left behind. There are usually not very many.
Do not cut mushrooms!
Important characteristics of a fungus are often found in the tuber – or in their absence. DTherefore, mushroom experts never cut their finds off by the stembut carefully twist the whole mushroom out of the ground.
Only the good mushrooms in the basket!
Don't randomly collect all the mushrooms in the forest and only try to identify them afterwards, as this can cause fragments of poisonous mushrooms to get between the edible mushrooms. So always try to check whether it could be an edible mushroom before picking it up. You should definitely leave poisonous mushrooms standing and never destroy them. They are food for other animals and are of great importance for the ecosystem.
Clean the mushrooms straight away!
You should roughly clean the mushroom on the spot and remove needles and leaves. It is also recommended to Cut off areas eaten by snails and worms generouslyotherwise your mushrooms will be gone before you get home.
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Never put mushrooms in plastic!
Mushrooms should never be collected in plastic bags, as protein decomposition accelerates in the absence of air. IIn bags or backpacks, the mushrooms also crush very quickly. Instead, take a classic mushroom basket with you.
No mushrooms for babies and seniors!
Collecting young mushrooms is not only greedy, but also dangerous as they are often very difficult to identify. Old mushrooms no longer taste goodIn addition, if you leave them standing, they can pass on their spores and thus ensure the preservation of their species.
Four insider tips for mushroom picking for advanced users:
Understanding symbioses
Many fungi live in a close symbiosis with specific plants. These so-called mycorrhizal fungi supply “their” plant with minerals, such as nitrogen (in the form of nitrate) or phosphate, and in return they primarily receive carbohydrates. What use is this knowledge to the dedicated mushroom lover? A simple example: In nitrate-rich soils, plants do not need fungal partners, because they can pull the valuable substances out of the ground all by themselves. In nitrate-rich soils there are no mycorrhizal fungi (which include many boletus, including porcini mushrooms). That's why it's worth paying attention to nitrate indicators such as jewelweed or stinging nettles, because where they grow we will usually look for porcini mushrooms in vain. It also makes sense to know which mushrooms have symbiosis with which trees (information can be found here, for example). Because we find the large trees more easily than their small mushroom partners. The real mushroom connoisseur will familiarize himself thoroughly with the flora of the forests and you will soon know that spruces, pines, oaks and beeches like to have a few porcini mushrooms nearby.
Maintain trunk forests
Persistence also pays off when hunting for mushrooms. It is worth choosing a suitable forest (for example a beech or spruce forest, because many Mykhorizza mushrooms live in symbioses with beech or spruce) nearby and visiting it as often as possible during the mushroom season. This is the only way to thoroughly explore a forest and identify the productive mushroom areas. Mushrooms often grow in the same areas year after yearso marking these places on a map is recommended. Technical devices such as smartphones or navigation devices are also helpful for marking the GPS coordinates of particular mushroom areas and making it easier to find them.
Mushrooms: Don't just look for them in autumn
Mushrooms grow all year round. If you look for them in spring or winter, you will get some incredulous looks from walkers, but you will find the most wonderful edible mushrooms out of competition, such as crested squid, morels or May mushrooms.
Attend mushroom seminars
Even for experienced mushroom pickers, it is worth attending a mushroom seminar to clarify specific questions and get tips from a real professional. The German Society for Mycology trains mushroom experts who offer mushroom courses throughout Germany. In the Berlin-Brandenburg area, for example, Dirk Harmel's mushroom excursions and seminars are a recommended starting point.
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