Hi from Newbie - any tips welcome

[richickle]

Hi there,

After being fascinated by fungi since I was a little boy on woodland walks I have always wanted to pursue it further.

I have now got myself a handbook (River Cottage Mushroom Handbook) and I am booked onto my first fungus foray at Hardcastle Crags, West Yorkshire and so I am going to finally learn more about these organisms.

I am keen to spot, identify and sometimes eat specimens and would appreciate any tips from you experienced forum members on habitats, identification and sustainability.

I look forward to speaking to you all soon as my new hobby develops.

Rich

[ron1863]

Hi Rich and a warm welcome to WAB, you will get lots of advice from the experts on WAB, there are lots of fungi out at the moment, looking forward to seeing some of your photographs.

[NickCantle]

Hi Rich!

I too was fascinated by the fungi on woodlands walks when I was a wee lad! Now 21 and have a serious hobby on my hands! All good though. You sound like you've got yourself started well by attending an organised foray- you'll enjoy it!

The best way to learn as much as possible is to read, listen, debate and ask as many questions as you like!

The River Cottage Handbook is good but it's not the most reliable book for variation of species- it's generally considered more of a culinary piece of literature. Get yourself a copy of Roger Phillips' 'Mushrooms' and/or Michael Jordan's book "The Encyclopedia of Fungi of Britain and Europe." Both books give a good amount of information for both beginners and amateurs.

Browse these forums often, ask questions and you'll blend in just fine

Welcome to WAB

[diggleken]

Hi Rich, welcome from me too - not too far away down the pennines.
It would be interesting to know what you saw there as its a place I can go easily from here.
Like you, Fungi is fairly new to me, lots to learn, but WAB is a terrific source of info, friendly and helpful too.
Cheers
Ken

[thelawnet]

Originally Posted by richickle

Hi there,

After being fascinated by fungi since I was a little boy on woodland walks I have always wanted to pursue it further.

I have now got myself a handbook (River Cottage Mushroom Handbook) and I am booked onto my first fungus foray at Hardcastle Crags, West Yorkshire and so I am going to finally learn more about these organisms.

I have this book, you won't get very far with it (particularly with the Russula (brittlegill) species), you need this:

Mushrooms Roger Phillips | WHSmith.co.uk

[richickle]

Thanks for your messages everyone. John Wright actually recommends in the River Cottage Handbook tht you buy Roger's guide as it is more comprehensive than his own which just deals with the main edible and poisonous varieties. After you have all recommended it too I will be going on Amazon tonight to find me a good deal. Can't wait to get started!!!

Went on a walk around Birch and Oak woodland yesterday. Didn't stray far from the path but only found one specimen and that looked like it had been discarded and had no stalk so no good for identification purposes. Was I doing something wrong or is it just too early season for that habitat?

Thanks again for your messages and tips and any future help - Rich

[NickCantle]

To be honest Rich, once the season flourishes, you really can do no wrong. As long as you find habitats with plenty of trees, you'll be well away. Birch and Oak is a good habitat for many species- your weather might not be right yet- many factors seem to affect the timing of when they pop up their caps

Just keep looking and keep mooching

[thelawnet]

Originally Posted by richickle

Thanks for your messages everyone. John Wright actually recommends in the River Cottage Handbook tht you buy Roger's guide as it is more comprehensive than his own which just deals with the main edible and poisonous varieties. After you have all recommended it too I will be going on Amazon tonight to find me a good deal. Can't wait to get started!!!

Went on a walk around Birch and Oak woodland yesterday. Didn't stray far from the path but only found one specimen and that looked like it had been discarded and had no stalk so no good for identification purposes. Was I doing something wrong or is it just too early season for that habitat?

I think Wright has some comments on fruitful hunting grounds in his book, might want to have a look at those. I think he says in woodlands you're best off looking near paths, car parks, etc., as the stress encourages fungus growth. As regards grassland, you're looking for grazed fields, though verges seem to be quite good.

We have a patch of woodland nearby which is a bit scrubby (lots of birch), and you don't find too many there, but another part of the same woods about a mile away has larger more mature trees, and there are plenty of mushrooms there at the moment.

We went for a walk from Newlands Corner in the North Downs last week, and there were dozens of different species, I guess a result of the changes in ground (damp and dry), trees (many different kinds), and the long-established, protected habitat meant that lots of things have got established. We didn't go out looking for fungi, but our walk took rather long than planned as a result..... Many good places to look will be sites for fungus forays (try googling 'fungus foray yourarea', but you'll find your own I'm sure.

Most things are strictly speaking not in season, but a look at the number of posts here compared with a couple of months shows there are billions of mushrooms out there already.....

[solus]

Originally Posted by richickle

Went on a walk around Birch and Oak woodland yesterday. Didn't stray far from the path but only found one specimen and that looked like it had been discarded and had no stalk so no good for identification purposes. Was I doing something wrong or is it just too early season for that habitat?

I guess it all depends whereabouts you are in the UK and what the weather has been like recently. We went out this afternoon (first time in ages) for a walk in some reasonably-local Beech woods and found very little indeed. Having been following the seemingly high rates of "finds" from members on here in recent weeks I was hoping for something exciting but all I found were a clump of Armillaria, a nice showing of Sulphur Tuft [Hypholoma fasciculare] on a felled Larch, a little group of Dead Man's Fingers [Xylaria polymorpha], one as yet unidentified but possible Pluteus and a mass of minute things which will probably turn out to be a slime mould of some sort. Oh, and too much dog poo.