The Fungi Forager

ThE FuNgI FoRaGeR

Enjoy Nature’s Natural Pantry

Letter From the editor

Welcome to The Fungi Forager! Thank you for choosing The Fungi Forager for your interest in mushrooms to help you identify and learn more about mushrooms! Within this publication there will be several sections to teach you the distinctions between edible and poisonous mushrooms as well as provide an image gallery of different types of mushrooms to help identify them. I would like to convey the offering of great physical and mental health and welcome you to nature’s natural pantry. We will also explore fungi folklore and how mushrooms are other worldly. If you are interested and want to learn more, or if you simply want to comment on the publication, please reach out to The Fungi Forager.

Thank you!

Seana harris

Mushrooms

Foraging For Healing

Are you feeling Unwell? Depressed? Run Down? There are many health benefits to eating mushrooms you have foraged for, but did you know the act of foraging can have a wonderful effect on your mental health and strengthen your mind? The good qualities of edible mushrooms that increase your general physical health have many different vitamins and minerals. For example, mushrooms contain a lot of antioxidants that help eliminate free radicals in your body, such as selenium and vitamin C. Eating edible mushrooms have been studied to help with the prevention of breast cancer, prostate cancer, as well as lung cancer. Foraging for mushrooms can be very relaxing and relieve stress.

You get vitamin D from being out in nature in sunlight. Having fresh air course through your lungs is a recipe for a happy physical and mental state. When foraging for mushrooms in nature you can become one with nature and listen to the trees or feel the grass that surrounds you. You can really reflect on your life as well as use the mushroom as a muse for a painting. When picking mushrooms, you can collect all that pique your interest and you might like to preserve as well. Doing this could lead to a person becoming interested in activities again after having gone through a depressive episode. Another health benefit of foraging for mushrooms is inviting friends to go along with you.

& meditation

When in a depressed mental state, having a friend and a hobby can be critical to a person’s mental wellbeing. This can give the person a new outlook and possibly help relieve any trauma or hardship they might be facing. Imagine, you’re out in nature with your closest friends and enjoying the sunlight that slips through the leaves of the forest. Suddenly you find yourself calm and relaxed and proceed to sit down in the grass on the forest floor. It is cool from the morning dew, and as you’re taking a deep breath you spot a mushroom

near a log. You study the mushroom and see the different colors and folds of the mushroom as the sunlight hits it. You watch as the mid morning dew rolls off of the mushroom cap and freefalls to the forest floor. Then suddenly it hits you, life is not as hard as it might seem, and the small moments like this out in nature give you a perspective and understanding that life may be hard, but it can also be beautiful and full of beautiful moments. And that maybe we shouldn’t take life so seriously, and every once in awhile we should take a breath.

“Believe it or not, until relatively recently living organisms were classified as either plants or animals. We now know fungi and plants are quite different”

- Mollie from Trails for Two

How To Identify Edible Mushrooms Safely

7 Steps to Identify & Observe

The first rule for foraging and picking mushrooms is, if you are unsure if the mushroom is safe to eat or not, then do not risk it.There are several rules according to The Ohio State University Brown Extension, the findings are as follows:

1. It is important to understand there is no clear way to distinguish between edible mushrooms and poisonous mushrooms as there are so many different mushrooms with very similar characteristics. It is imperative for a forager to consult an expert on mushrooms.

2. It is important to understand the seasons where you are foraging as this can be critical to finding mushrooms and identifying them. Photographs and brief descriptions are a great tool to use to identify the thousands of mushrooms on the Earth.

3. Always be sure of your identification before collecting.

4. When foraging a mushroom do not pull from the root, but cut the mushroom so that it may regrow.

5. Do not eat mushrooms you find raw, cook them before eating.

6. Don’t eat mushrooms in big quantities, this can cause issues.

7. Always have a credible source handy that will help you identify different mushrooms. It is also important to wear gloves when handling mushrooms, as well as masks because mushrooms have spores and can emit different things into the air around them.

Following those steps will help keep you safe as a forager and to help you understand how important it is to be safe when foraging. Foraging can be a fun hobby if the precautions are met. It is important to study the mushrooms when not foraging as this can be critical to making a fatal mistake or having a mushroom soup at dinner.

Folklore of Mushrooms & Fairies

The Origins of Myth

It is important to understand that fairies are mythical creatures and that this excerpt is purely based on folklore and myth. For thousands of years there have been sightings of mushroom circles, the myths foretell that this is evidence that fairies were dancing and having a party in the moonlight. According to Ancient-Origins.net, “In English, Scandinavian and Celtic and many other traditional European

beliefs the rings were caused by fairies or elves dancing. Such events were associated especially with moonlit nights, and the sudden appearance of the rings in the morning were evidence of a dance the evening before.” One can begin to understand that if these creatures are real and you see a mushroom circle, do not walk into it. It is said in legend that if you enter the ring, you may be unable to get

out and that you will be trapped in the fairy realm. It is also told that one can be forced to dance around the mushroom circle until they expire from exhaustion. There are precautions one can take to be unharmed from this treacherous being, and that is to wear a hat backwards to confuse them, or so it is said. Again, this is all myth and there is no way to prove if the myth is true. But there is scientific evidence to explain how the rings are made if fairies and creatures of legend are too far-fetched and not real.

It is said that as a fungus grows in the most fertile part of soil, that it will spore and grow a mushroom, as the mushroom spores spread, they connect underground and grow into a circle. Mushroom circles can move because as each mushroom decomposes, the fungi feed off of it. This is what causes the movement of mushrooms and why they go in a circle. It is interesting how this folklore came to be, one can hope between the fae and the mushroom circles that this myth never comes to fruition.

Mushrooms Galore!

This mushroom is called Amanita Muscaria. It is harmless to touch and observe.

In bringing this publication to a close, I just want to remind you, the reader, that this publication is based on opinion and not on facts proven by any professional. Mushrooms big and small, tall large, stout, skinny, poisonous, not poisonous, each of them have a role in nature that helps the cycle of life. From foraging mushrooms to help with your wellbeing, to foraging mushrooms to eat, it serves a purpose just like most aspects of nature

to foraging mushrooms to eat, it serves a purpose just like most aspects of nature. Foraging for mushrooms is a wonderful hobby to have. It gets you out of the house and gives you a world to explore. There are different kinds of fungi friends you can look for in all different shapes and sizes. Always remember to have your credible source to identify different fungi, a clear head, good walking shoes, and a desire to learn more about mushrooms.

Explore in Nature!

These toadstools are very tall and skinny. The white bottom of them helps you deduce the fact that these may not be safe to eat.