Edible Mushrooms – Learn Your Land

Does Living Near A Golf Course Increase Your Parkinson’s Risk?

Adam Haritan — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 17:56:09 +0000

Green isn’t always good. In fact, green can sometimes be associated with neurodegenerative diseases. This is especially true when we take a look at golf courses. Golf courses use heavy amounts of pesticides to maintain uniform conditions. These chemicals kill undesirable plants and insects, but they also weaken human health. Researchers have known for a […]

Source

Good Morel Habitat Vs. Bad Morel Habitat

Adam Haritan — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 13:39:48 +0000

Years ago, I didn’t know anything about morel mushrooms. I didn’t know what they looked like. I didn’t know how they tasted. I didn’t even know they existed. Then one day I attended a mushroom program with a local club. Experts in the club introduced me to morels. “Here’s what morels look like,” they said. […]

Source

Preseason Morel Mushroom Hunting Tips

Adam Haritan — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 17:53:39 +0000

If you want to find morel mushrooms this year, here’s a tip: don’t wait until spring to begin your hunt. This might sound like unconventional advice. After all, current temperatures are too cold for morels. Wood frogs haven’t even bred yet. Spring is still another 50 days away. All these things are true. But this […]

Source

Foraging The Delicious Edible Cauliflower Mushroom

Adam Haritan — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 14:13:13 +0000

Forests are teeming with connections of all kinds. Nothing in a forest exists in isolation. Take the cauliflower mushroom (Sparassis spathulata), for instance. This edible mushroom grows in association with certain trees. To find the cauliflower mushroom, it only makes sense to explore ecosystems where these trees grow. During a recent hike, I discovered a […]

Source

Advice On Finding Morel Mushrooms

Adam Haritan — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 14:07:57 +0000

“Let it be still, and it will gradually become clear.” To the best of my knowledge, Lao Tzu wasn’t a mycologist, but his famous text — the Tao Te Ching — could be considered a treatise on how to find morel mushrooms. Reading the quote above, we are reminded that our desperation to find morels […]

Source

Having Trouble Identifying Elms? Look for this.

Adam Haritan — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 14:13:07 +0000

Within the foraging community, people often promote rules of thumb. • “When in doubt, throw it out.” • “Collect no more than 10% of a particular species in an area to avoid overharvesting.” • “It’s better to cut mushrooms with a knife than to pull them out of the ground with your hands.” Generally speaking, […]

Source

How To Find Mushrooms In Dry Weather

Adam Haritan — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 13:59:18 +0000

Any forager will tell you that mushrooms are abundant when rainfall is plentiful. The reason for this correlation is simple: fungi love water. Nearly every stage in the life cycle of a fungus requires water — from spore germination, to nutrient uptake, to reproduction, to spore dispersal. But water isn’t always plentiful. Sometimes it’s scarce. […]

Source

Chicken Of The Woods On Conifer — Toxic?

Adam Haritan — Thu, 18 May 2023 14:10:28 +0000

Tree identification is an excellent skill to learn if you are interested in foraging mushrooms. Many edible mushrooms grow in association with trees. When you learn the basics of tree identification, your understanding of fungal ecology improves. One popular mushroom that grows in association with trees is chicken of the woods (genus Laetiporus). Despite its […]

Source

Find This Mushroom, Find More Morels

Adam Haritan — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 17:11:08 +0000

Nature is full of signs. Tracks, pellets, and clouds reveal information to the astute observer who pays attention. Nothing is meaningless when awareness is practiced. Every track, tree, and titmouse means something. So it goes with mushrooms. Every mushroom relays information to the person who pays attention. As an example, consider velvet foot (Flammulina velutipes) […]

Source

12 Mushrooms That Grow In Your Yard

Adam Haritan — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 13:55:14 +0000

The best mushroom books aren’t always mushroom-related. Take the Tao Te Ching, for instance. This piece of Chinese philosophical literature was written approximately 2,500 years ago. The word “mushroom” is not mentioned anywhere in the text, but the Tao Te Ching might be one of the best mushroom books I have ever read. To see […]

Source

Beware Of Fraudulent Mushroom Products

Adam Haritan — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 17:17:26 +0000

A common sentiment among non-foragers is that harvesting wild mushrooms for consumption is dangerous. “I’ll stick to the mushrooms sold in grocery stores,” the non-foragers say. “They’re much safer.” Turns out, that’s not always the case. Commercially sold mushroom products are often mislabeled. In some instances, the mislabeled products sicken consumers. A brand new study […]

Source

What It Takes To Find Morel Mushrooms

Adam Haritan — Mon, 03 May 2021 13:07:28 +0000

Experience has shown me that morel mushroom hunting involves no less than three general factors. Luck. Like a first-time bowler who bowls a 200 game, some people find morel mushroom honey holes without even trying. Skill. This is a somewhat more predictable factor. Without proper awareness of habitat, timing, and tree associations, a successful morel […]

Source