Learning about and Harvesting mushrooms

Started learning about and finding different edible mushrooms. You need to learn the dangerous ones as well since they look so similar.

Wild Lobster Mushrooms

These are edible lobster mushrooms, chantrels look similar the difference is primarily under the cap, with smooth vs ridges and are also edible. The Jack-o’-lanterns look similar and are poisonous. Sooooo…. Make sure you read all the cross references.

Lobster half a poundish

Take a book and make sure you read all the info held within for your target. By the end of the day I was right into it including a couple quick stops on the way out of the bush for more orange looking finds.

Cleaning up

At the end of the day we collected about 9 pounds though we discarded about a pound a half after cleaning and intense close inspection.

These lobster mushrooms do have a mild lobster taste to them. Some we cooked in olive oil with bacon and onions and some in garlic butter. The mild lobster taste was still there infused with the tastes of the cooking. I found I enjoyed them after left soaking / post cooking marinating longer than freshly cooked. The deeper taste and soft firm texture was a hit for me. Some we are selling, some canning and some freezing for later.

Take a book or two with you!

I just downloaded an app from Google Play called Shroomify. This is a Canadian mushroom app, I noted there were some for Russia, Brazil to name a few. On our walk my buddy brought his Audubon’s Mushroom Guide to North America. Excellent in its colour photos from numerous angles, which quite frankly are 100% needed with mushrooms! In the cross reference sections there are lots of easy to read instructions, observations and inspection notes (with glasses for us old farts) with detailed information. Pairing this book with a Patterson’s book would be a great option.

The hunting part was enjoyable to compete in with my buddy. Ladies have an advantage here as female brains and eyes can see shades and subtleties in colours men just can not. So male female team would find more than us two old dudes, so mix it up and go on a hunt!

This time we focused on the lobster and pine mushrooms which are not shown. We found about six different varieties on our wild forage. To me the best and coolest was a fully black and gleaming mushroom with a funnel top. So cool looking, but don’t touch as it is poison, but lovely.

Have fun, get out and soak up some free vitamin C before the government taxes it.

Burn or bugs

For a bit of relief for bug bites and a huge relief for sunburn and heat burns, try;

Plantain, broad and narrow leaf

Go out to your yard and pick some plantain. Heat up some water with crushed plantain, use soft cloth to moisturize with it.

( Plantain, broad leaf and narrow leaf which is also called golden stitch leaf)

Next – Mildly crumple warmed and wet plantain leaves on the worst part of mild burn for a while. Repeat a few times rest of day and tomorrow.

Good luck, for when you have no aloe

Also… for bugs n burns

Crumble plantain, warm water add in baking soda, add in some teatree oil. Mix then place on burns an bites. Cover with warm wet plantain for 10-15 min. Repeat if needed

Part 2 for clarification and variation

You can shred or pulp the broad leaf and narrow leaf plantain to make a base or crumble add hot water like making tea.
Add to baking soda and teatree oil as paste. Cover with wet warm broad leaf plantain.

Update Dec 26 2018

Saw this quick little tip, thought I would share with you folks.

New blog update, so since the last update. Dec 26 2018

Last update was at the start of November, the start of the writing month Nanonano Writes. Well, it started out ok for the first 4 days, then my new laptop, started acting up, then died at ONE Year and a DAY, yes, and a day. So that meant no warranty. No laptop, no updating since doing via a phone is obnoxiouse. O ya, also the laptop, downloaded 4.5 gigs of stuff for updates, without me knowing, while I was updating the WordPress blog. That cost me an additional $20 on top of the laptop repair for data overages costs.

Le Sigh ! insert dramatic sigh here ….

Ok, 3 yrs in a row that November writing month has brought me hardship, so, that was the last one! Dramatic much, well at the same time, family issues, health issues, vehicle broke down and furnace issues. Might not be overdrama but realism, just too much to handle, too much. All on top of mental illness, le sigh, le sob story, but it is true.

Next

Well, will try to keep updating more often, now that I am chaging one of my meds to another, I find myself with more energy as well as a slightly less fuzzy head. I know that most of the readers that signed up, don’t really read anything anymore, so not sure what the point is. I am not sure, but I am also not wishing to vacate and disable the blog either. Sometimes there is feedback from real people and not just trolls.

Luckily, all the majour telecom companies are having some decent cell plans, seeing as that is how I access the internet still, via my phone. So yesterday, the news had a small article on the plans and how they are on sale till the end of the year, so I went from a 7 gig plan at $110 to a 12 gig plan for $85, still not as good as the USA or other parts of the globe, yes globe, bunch of tide pod eating wackos, globe not flat.

New laptop, with another new hardrive, is still missing programs that make writing, comunicating or even watching a movie, easy or fun. Right now, it is very much a wait and see attitude, wait and see if this new laptop, with another new hardrive will last a month or so. Not confident in this ACER junk…

To the nice young lady that sent me an email, and well to be quite honest, I thought it was a troll email of some sort, so my first responce was not so, nice. My apologies. I will try to post some tips on moving to the north for you in the next couple of days. Along with some tips for living in a vehicle or tent in the winter. Hopefully something insulated if it is a tent.

wild_E

.

Sept 14th Let’s See What’s Edible in Greenwood Conservation Area! Ontario Durham Region

Sept 14th Let’s See What’s Edible in Greenwood Conservation Area! Ontario Durham Region
Wild Edibles Walk and Talk, show and tell by Karen the Wild Edibles Foody and Guru 🙂

Sunday, September 14, 2014
10:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Greenwood Conservation Area2290 Greenwood Road, Ajax, ON
(map)
http://www.meetup.com/York-Durham-Toronto-Edible-Wild-Food-Foragers/events/199188852/

Calling all Preppers, Self reliant, Homesteaders, Bush Crafters and well anyone who want to learn really !

 

Fields of Nutrition on the walk, can you eat these?

Bulrushes, so versatile, edible, fire starter, cordage, building material

Giant Hogweed Plant

AVOID THIS !!!!

GIANT HOGWEED PLANT DO NOT TOUCH EVER

 

GIANT HOGWEED PLANT – DO NOT TOUCH EVER

If you get this plant on you, if you brush up against it, was as quickly as possible with soap and water, then keep covered out of sunlight. So put on a long sleeve shirt for example.

http://canampreppers.net/forum/index.php?topic=2343.0#msg13569

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/39809.html

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/72766.html

http://canampreppers.net/forum/index.php?topic=2343.0#msg13569

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/39809.html

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/72766.html

Really nasty plant. The is a PDF fact sheet put out by the MNR that has some good photographs that can be used for recognition.

http://www.web2.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr/…/Giant_Hogweed_Fact_Sheet.pdf

www.web2.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr/…/Giant_Hogweed_Fact_Sheet.pdf