Not dabbled since my "heavy metal" days, where we used to pick them from a local cricket pitch.
Too many bad trips anyway. :oh: Very, very strange experiences. Nightmare to gauge a dose too. Took a load one time in a sandwich and was still seeing everything morph six hours later. :sick:
You really need to be guided by someone who knows what they are talking about. Agree with Bebob - dodgy photos on the net and rules of thumb that might work most of the time in particular localities may not work in all and are not a good way to go.
rrw35 wrote:where we used to pick them from a local cricket pitch.
Have just recently heard that a lot of the public parks and gardens in Washington and Oregon are fertilizing with fungicides now to keep exactly that from happening. Doesn't due for a bunch of hippies to be wandering around out front of the capital on the lawn!
Paul, do not pick anything that even somewhat resembles the death cap (Amanita phalloides) without being 100% sure about what you are doing. The Death Cap will kill you if you don't hav a hospital nearby. The poison will take out your liver function. The shoe or skirt is not a dead giveaway as it is papery and comes off with some death caps. My girl friend works at the University hospital over here. She had two death cap related casualties, a boy of four and a lady who refused to be treated. They both died. Asian immigrants and asylum seekers often fall victim to the death cap as it resembles an edible mushroom that is commonly picked in countries like Thailand. Disturbing fact: death caps have been found in a kitchen in a Thai restaurant in Belgium.
I'd go for the boletus mushrooms (sponge). The worse that can happen there is stomach ache and a bitter tasting one that can ruin the bunch when you cook them together. look for them underneath beech trees. The cep or penny bun (Boletus edulis) is IMO the biggest prize you can find.
Cantherelles are a close second. They are easy to spot and there aren't other species that look similar and will kill you. Chantrelles usually grow under oak trees.
I agree with jeroen's comments. Stick to the Boletes and Chnaterelles, both are fairly common. You just need to know where to look. I have found all of my cep's under beech. Chanterelles can be found under a wide range of hard and soft woods.
This is a really good site, and i highly recommend his book.
