As soon as the snow melts, many mushrooms appear in all forests, meadows and along the roads. They grow from May to October, delighting fans of "silent hunting" with their diversity. Many mushrooms are healthy and very nutritious. But everyone knows how dangerous it is to poison them. Therefore, only knowing which mushrooms are edible, you can go to collect them. And it is advisable that a knowledgeable person teach you, because depending on the soil, weather conditions and surrounding vegetation, the same mushroom may look different. In addition, not all of them are suitable for food.
What are the mushrooms
About three thousand saprophytes grow in our country.
And only 200 of them can be eaten. Everyone who wants to enjoy this delicious and nutritious product should know which mushrooms are edible. To do this, you first need to get acquainted with what they generally are:
1. Edible - these are those that are eaten without prolonged food processing. They have a pleasant smell and great nutritional value.
2. Conditionally edible mushrooms can be eaten, but they are pre-soaked or boiled for a long time. They may have an unpleasant odor or a bitter taste that disappears after soaking. Despite this, many of them are very popular, for example, loafs.
3. Inedible mushrooms are those that you can’t poison, but you can’t eat them because of the pungent smell, pungent taste, too small size or the wrong consistency. These include, for example, mycenae, pepper mushroom, tinder fungus or dog mushroom.
4. Poisonous mushrooms should not be eaten under any circumstances. They can cause poisoning up to death. Death occurs mainly due to toxic damage to the liver or kidneys. Some species show their toxic qualities only after many years, such as a pig.
5. Hallucinogens are also considered poisonous mushrooms. They cause visual or auditory hallucinations, delirium. But such mushrooms can also be harmless.
Characteristics of Edible Mushrooms
- They have a pleasant smell.
- They are tasty, and many of them are considered a delicacy.
- Do not contain toxic and toxic substances, suitable for eating without prior prolonged soaking or boiling.
- Possess high nutritional value: they contain a lot of protein and minerals.
- Many species are grown in gardens or on special plantations.
What are edible mushrooms
Sometimes you can find a division of all saprophytes eaten into four groups:
1. The most valuable mushrooms with a pleasant taste and high nutritional properties. These include porcini mushroom and a real chest.
2. Less valuable in nutrition and taste: boletus, boletus, butter and mushrooms.
3. Even less valuable, requiring a longer heat treatment, sometimes possessing caustic milky juice: milk mushrooms, mosses, russula, morels, honey agarics, chanterelles and others.
4. Little known species and rarely collected: umbrellas, violinist, oyster mushrooms, raincoats and others.
What edible mushrooms are harvested in the fall
When the summer heat subsides and the earth becomes damp, the best time is coming for mushrooms. From September to the first frost, mushroom pickers go to the forest not to look for them, namely to collect. In the first month of autumn, you can find almost all types of edible mushrooms, they are stronger at this time and are not affected by pests.
And in October and November there are fewer of them. And at this time, those who know what kind of edible mushrooms are harvested in the fall are going on a “silent hunt”. They can be divided into two groups:
1. Those that grow before the first frost. These are porcini mushrooms, butterfish, brown mushrooms, mushrooms, oyster mushrooms and russula.
2. Those that grow even with the appearance of frost, sometimes until December. These are such mushrooms as mushrooms, mushrooms, greenfinch, garlic and chanterelles.
How to pick mushrooms
You should go on a "silent hunt" only when you know which mushrooms are edible. Photos of them will not always help to imagine how they actually look. There are many doubles, inedible or even poisonous. In addition, the same mushroom on different soils and at different times of the year may look different. Therefore, it is advisable to first go with a knowledgeable person who is well versed in what mushrooms are edible. But in general, on a "silent hunt" you need to follow a few simple rules:
- do not pick mushrooms near roads, factories or within the city;
- never take a mushroom if you are not sure whether it is edible;
- do not take old, wormy mushrooms;
- It is advisable not to collect them in rainy weather;
- it is best to cut mushrooms with a knife and put them in a basket of twigs;
- Do not pluck or knock down fly agarics and grebes.
Even if you know which mushrooms are edible for humans, you cannot be sure that they are poisonous for you; they are inedible for the inhabitants of the forest.
Is it possible to poison with edible mushrooms
Saprophytes are very variable. One mushroom can have several options for shape, size, color. You need to take only those in which you are completely confident.
But sometimes even people who know which mushrooms are edible put unfamiliar or little-known species in the basket, hoping that later they will sort it out and carefully consider it. This can’t be done, because even a small piece of toad, caught in a saucepan along with russula, can cause severe poisoning. When else can you poison with edible mushrooms:
- in case of violation of the rules for their transportation, preparation and storage;
- when consuming overripe, worms, or fungi affected by diseases;
- some have an allergic reaction to any saprophytes; such people, even if they know what kind of mushrooms are edible, it is impossible to collect them and eat them;
- when picking mushrooms in industrial areas, near roads, burial grounds or on fields treated with pesticides - because of the ability of the mushrooms to absorb all substances from the air and land in such places, even edible mushrooms can become poisonous.
Now you can find a lot of information about what kind of edible mushrooms are. But you need to choose books carefully with color photographs and a detailed description of each mushroom and its counterparts. Better yet, take a knowledgeable mushroom picker with you on a “quiet hunt” for the first time, who would tell you which mushrooms you can take to prevent poisoning.