Van Guy - Expert advice ?

[P.C.]

 Van Guy....I don't know if this is an area you are knowledgeable about or not...but you were the first person I could think of that might be.

Mushrooms.  Edible mushrooms.  

I'm asking, because we have these SUPER aggressive mushrooms that pop up overnight here.  Some are HUGE....and if they were in fact edible, I would love to dry them to use through the winter, because they are so abundant.  

I'm pretty freaked about identifying mushrooms from a pic, as some that are edible are extremely similar to one that might kill you if you even touched it.  But some people that KNOW mushrooms, might be able to identify by pics.  Let me know if this is something you could do, then I'll post a snapshot.


   

[JJ]

 [P style="lineh-eight: normal; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal][SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA"]This is where is miss my home province of Saskatchewan.  If it's a mushroom in Saskatchewan you eat it they don't have poisonous mushrooms too risky in BC to eat anything.[?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /][o:p][/o:p][/SPAN]

[van_guy]

 JJ wrote:
 [p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"][span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"]This is where is miss my home province of Saskatchewan.  If it's a mushroom in Saskatchewan you eat it they don't have poisonous mushrooms too risky in BC to eat anything.[/span][/p][p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"]
[/p][p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"]PC.  JJ is correct.  There are a number of very poisonous mushrooms in BC.  I know of two mushrooms that look EXACTLY the same except one has straight septum the other has split septum (the little fin like doo dads on the bottom) one is incredibly delicuous the other is deadly poison.  Can't remember which is which.  
[/p][p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"]
[/p][p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"]Go to the library and take out a book on BC mushrooms.  There must be such a book.  Go through the features and if you are certain that it is mushroom X and it is safe ...  Ask someone who knows mushrooms and double check before eating.[/p][p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"]
[/p][p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"]I know very little about mushrooms - and a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.[/p][p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"]
[/p][p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"]Wish i could be more help.
[span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"][o:p][/o:p][/span][/p]
 

[van_guy]

 P.C. wrote:
Van Guy....I don't know if this is an area you are knowledgeable about or not...but you were the first person I could think of that might be.

Mushrooms.  Edible mushrooms.  

I'm asking, because we have these SUPER aggressive mushrooms that pop up overnight here.  Some are HUGE....and if they were in fact edible, I would love to dry them to use through the winter, because they are so abundant.  

I'm pretty freaked about identifying mushrooms from a pic, as some that are edible are extremely similar to one that might kill you if you even touched it.  But some people that KNOW mushrooms, might be able to identify by pics.  Let me know if this is something you could do, then I'll post a snapshot.

I don't know of any mushrooms that are lethal to touch. but read previous comment regarding edible vs poisonous.
   
 

[P.C.]

[span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"]I don't know of any mushrooms that are lethal to touch. but read previous comment regarding edible vs poisonous.[/span]


Ya...I was kind of exaggerating.  I do have a couple books on edible BC mushrooms, but I don't trust my ability to distinguish the finer nuances.  I knew your area of expertise wasn't exactly in this area, but you seem quite knowledgeable about things of that nature in general.

I had a neighbour who lived next door to us in Alta Lake, who told me the mushrooms growing down our walkway, were edible.  In spite of the fact that he said he ate them every day, I had to make him pick them, cook them and eat them in front of me, before I had enough faith to do it.

Do you know of any such place a person might take something like this for identification ?
 

[van_guy]

 Do you know of any such place a person might take something like this for identification ?

The guy that I would trust more than any other human being is in victoria ... he is the curator of the museum and a botanist and arguably the smartest guy I've ever met on a wide range of topics.  You can ask me questions on rocks and I'll know the answer.  Mushrooms - not so much.  Richard you can ask questions on rocks / plants / fossils / bugs / physics / etc ...and he will know.

First thing is to go through the mushroom book.  It may be really easy.  If you are really in doubt after giving it a good effort - don't eat them.

Second thing is to find a club or organization ... the good thing about your part of the world is that there are a lot of old people and some of them would know a pile of info on pretty much anything.  See if there is a mushroom club (I don't know - people would be surprised to know there are rock clubs)


 
 

[van_guy]

 I knew your area of expertise wasn't exactly in this area, but you seem quite knowledgeable about things of that nature in general.

Thanks. I take that as a great compliment from you, but alas in this case I only know enuf to know when I don't know enuf.
 

[P.C.]

Maybe I'll take my mushrooms for a little trip....and fear not...when I'm in doubt, I chance nothing in this area.  I found some info, that described the taste of them (or what I believe to be them), but then it went on to say they weren't edible.  Strange.

....a lot of old people in my part of the world ?      

[49er]

just be sure your will is prepared and executed before experimenting with the wild mushrooms

[van_guy]

 49er wrote:
[div style="font-style: italic;"]just be sure your will is prepared and executed before experimenting with the wild mushrooms[/div]
Excellent point ... and if you need help with spelling my name or need my address for the will just drop me a PM.

After the will is ammended - yeah eat teh mushroom - what could possibly go wrong ??    

[van_guy]

  I found some info, that described the taste of them (or what I believe to be them), but then it went on to say they weren't edible.  Strange.

....a lot of old people in my part of the world ?  [img style="font-style: italic;" src="vny!://www.cheesebuerger.de/images/smilie/konfus/a060.gif"]    

perhaps the person trying the mushrooms wrote quickly before the paralysis kicked in ...

yeah i know that's a bit of a shock.  

Found richard's contact info - freakishly smart guy.

Dr. Richard Hebda, Curator, Botany and Earth History
Phone: (250) 387-5493
FAX: (250) 387-0534
E-mail: [a href="mailto:[email protected]"][email protected][/a]

you can drop my name ... he will remember me as the rude photograper with the CBC voice at the Geological slideshow who worked at the BC Geol Survey.


 

[van_guy]

 If richard can't answer your mushroom question - no one can