– Christine Gelley, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Noble County, OSU Extension
With mushroom season upon us, when foraging for wild edibles be sure you know which are safe to eat.
Every spring questions ring in about some of the most desirable and delicious wild foods you can find in Ohio- morel mushrooms. Foraging for wild edibles is a topic that I find incredibly challenging to address with clientele because proper identification of a plant or fungus can be the difference between a gourmet dinner and a grueling stomachache or worse, an untimely death.
Fortunately, morels are one of the easiest mushrooms to identify, but if you have any doubt that the mushrooms you have found are not true morels, you should not consume them or prepare them for others. There are false morels that appear in the same time frame and habitat that are poisonous. Proceed to forage with caution.
You can increase your confidence in mushroom identification skills by spending time with experienced mushroom hunters and reading about how mushrooms develop, reproduce, and their preferred habitats. Spring turkey hunters are some of the most successful morel hunters I have ever met. Spring turkey season overlaps the prime time for morel emergence in our region. Typically, morels begin popping up between the last week of March and disappear by the first week of May.
Remember, any plant or mushroom is edible, but some are only edible once!
There are many reliable resources available for foragers to consult that are written by professional mycologists and could be the perfect addition to an adult’s Easter basket this spring. A few to consider include:
Mushrooms and Macrofungi of Ohio and the Midwestern States: A Resource Handbook by L.H. Rhodes, B.A. Bunyard, W.E. Sturgeon and S.D. Ellis Williams. This handbook is published by The Ohio State University and contains color photographs of 140 mushrooms. It can be accessed online at: http://estore.osu-extension.org/.
Field Guide to Mushrooms of North America by Kent and Vera McKnight. This book is a Peterson Field Guide by Houghton Mifflin Co. with 500 species described and illustrated in color.
Wild Mushrooms by S. E. Williams, B.B. Bunyard, and W. Sturgeon. This is a mushroom fact sheet available for free online from The Ohio State University at: https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/plpath-gen-11.
Given the risk of incorrect identification, if you contact me to ask me if a wild plant or mushroom is “safe to eat”, I will never say “yes.” The risk is too high to answer with certainty. I do encourage anyone who is interested in foraging for wild edibles to educate themselves thoroughly, forage with an experienced partner, only consume wild edibles in small quantities at a time and save a small sample in case of an adverse reaction that required medical assistance.
Rural foodies searching for gourmet goodies should also investigate the eBook- Delicious Forages: Rediscovering the Lost Virtues of Edible Weeds by Bruce Ackley and Alyssa Lamb. This book contains common and scientific names, ID characteristics, similar species, origin and history, nutritional information, and a number of recipes for edible weeds and is available for $9.99 to download from iTunes or GooglePlay. This and other eBooks can be previewed at: https://u.osu.edu/osuweeds/multimedia/digital-books/.
Remember, any plant or mushroom is edible, but some are only edible once.
Morels will be here soon. Start training yourself now to recognize them with certainty.