Mushroom Hunting

Today I went on a mushroom hunt at Nickerson State Park, sponsored by the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History.

There is so much to learn about mushrooms.  Even after this trip, I'd still be leery about eating most wild mushrooms but I do feel safe about a few.

Here is our Guide Lawrence:

We were instructed to go out and pick mushrooms for a good hour, and then, to bring them back and place them on the picnic tables.

Lawrence showed us a helpful way of carrying our collected mushrooms in an egg carton to protect them.

Some people brought their own baskets for collecting.

There were so many mushrooms that they had to bring over a third picnic table.

Above is pictured two tables full of mushrooms.

Below is a another view.

Below is my little collection. Those long skinny pieces (some are red) are called Indian Pipes.  Lawrence noticed them and clarified that they are not mushrooms.

Lawrence picked up individual mushrooms and showed us how to identify them.

This one below is an edible one.  Isn't it pretty?

He cut into this one below and told us it was a cure for poison ivy.

This one below, he said was deadly!

The two below, he said were edible and tasty.

The next one here is edible but not tasty.  He said you could use them as fillers by mixing them in with other mushrooms.

Lastly, One guy picked this great big bunch he called hens and something.  Lawrence said this was very tasty.  They cut it up and let us all take a piece home to try.  I'll cook mine tomorrow.

I did take notes along with these pictures but I couldn't spell all the names.  I still have some more research to do but I'm on my way to learning how to pick and eat wild mushrooms.  It was a great experience.