Summary

The article "A Week In Toadstools" discusses the risks and cautions associated with foraging wild toadstools and mushrooms, emphasizing the importance of expertise in distinguishing edible species from poisonous ones.

Abstract

"A Week In Toadstools" captures the seasonal emergence of toadstools in the wild, highlighting the potential dangers of harvesting them without proper knowledge. The author, Penny Grubb, illustrates this through personal anecdotes of encountering various mushrooms and the informal methods used in the past to determine their safety. The narrative includes the resilience of mushrooms despite adversity, such as being run over by farm machinery, and the beauty of fungi in their natural habitat. The article stresses that even seemingly identifiable fungi, like puffballs, can have poisonous counterparts, such as the pigskin puffball. It also references the cautionary tale of Nicholas Evans, who mistakenly gathered toxic webcaps thinking they were edible ceps. The overarching advice is to either be an expert in mushroom foraging or to accompany one, as even experienced individuals can be misled by the deceptive similarities between safe and deadly species.

Opinions

The author suggests a cautious approach to foraging wild mushrooms, advocating for expert identification to avoid the risks of poisoning.
There is an underlying respect for the resilience and variety of wild toadstools, as evidenced by their ability to thrive despite being run over by a tractor.
The author reflects on the potential consequences of misidentifying mushrooms, referencing a personal method of gauging edibility based on a friend's reaction, which is not recommended as a reliable safety check.
The article implies that visual characteristics alone, such as the flatness or neatness of mushrooms, are not sufficient to determine their edibility.
The author expresses a personal relief at not having eaten a puffball, having later learned about its potentially poisonous look-alike, the pigskin puffball.
There is an acknowledgment of the nutritional and culinary value of certain wild mushrooms, like the hen-of-the-woods, while simultaneously emphasizing the need for caution.
The author uses the experience of Nicholas Evans, who nearly poisoned his family, as a stark reminder of the severe consequences that can result from foraging errors.
The advice given is clear: when it comes to mushroom foraging, it's better to be safe than sorry, as the stakes are high and the risks are real.

A Week In Toadstools

Don’t be bold if you want to grow old

It’s that time of year when toadstools come into their own. These sprang up at the start of the week…

Wild mushrooms (possibly). Photo: Penny Grubb

… were then run over by a tractor …

… but were soon popping up again stronger than ever …

There was a time we would harvest field mushrooms and take them to a friend to gauge her reaction. If she delightedly accepted a basketful, they were ok. If she stepped back and declared, “Bin those!” we knew they weren’t.

The ones above are the sort we might have risked harvesting, but we’d have been wary of these, too flat, too neat …

I used to say that, as they can’t be mistaken for anything else, I would eat a puffball if ever I found one fresh enough. Luckily for me, I never did. I later learnt that their family too has its poisonous branch — the pigskin puffball.

No puffballs of any sort have popped up this year, but we found this magnificent specimen on the trunk of the giant willow. It might be hen-of-the-woods and if so, a tasty and nutritious treat, but again, I wouldn’t risk it …

Advice on harvesting mushrooms is clear: either be an expert or be with an expert. Even experienced mushroom hunters have been caught out. Nicholas Evans, author of The Horse Whisperer came close to poisoning his whole family in a mix-up between ceps (edible) and webcap (deadly).

Mushroom hunters can be old or they can be bold. They won’t be both.

You can access more stories like this and support me and thousands of other writers on Medium via this link.