Interesting I thought: came upon a statement online that said it does not grow in Arizona, but grows otherwise in the western states and Canada. Can't find that it is toxic to touch, but only a certain insect can safely gather pollen from it. Can't help but wonder if gathering the mushrooms one year might reduce how many there are in subsequent years?
I’m in New Mexico. As far as mushrooms, a fungi network is underground and it spreads from the mushroom spores. You’d have to pick the area completely clean for several years in a row to affect the underground network. Weather though affects growth. We had an exceptionally dry winter, so no snow seeping into the ground. Since I wrote this I’ve heard from other people that this is a low mushy year.
Yes, I knew you live in NM; I was just intrigued by the statement they don't grow in AZ. IF true, I wonder why (but that's a topic for another season!).
In Australia we don’t forage for fungi any more. Too hard to make distinction between edible and poisonous. We just had a big court case here where a woman fed her in-laws Beef Wellington with death cap mushrooms she’d collected. Guilty of murder.
We are starting to eat more bush foods that our indigenous people have always gathered.
Interesting to see the variety of fungi You collected. We have many varieties of multi-coloured fungi in Tasmania -photographer’s delight.
Perfect, you put into words what we all are feeling these days 💕
Interesting I thought: came upon a statement online that said it does not grow in Arizona, but grows otherwise in the western states and Canada. Can't find that it is toxic to touch, but only a certain insect can safely gather pollen from it. Can't help but wonder if gathering the mushrooms one year might reduce how many there are in subsequent years?
I’m in New Mexico. As far as mushrooms, a fungi network is underground and it spreads from the mushroom spores. You’d have to pick the area completely clean for several years in a row to affect the underground network. Weather though affects growth. We had an exceptionally dry winter, so no snow seeping into the ground. Since I wrote this I’ve heard from other people that this is a low mushy year.
Yes, I knew you live in NM; I was just intrigued by the statement they don't grow in AZ. IF true, I wonder why (but that's a topic for another season!).
In Australia we don’t forage for fungi any more. Too hard to make distinction between edible and poisonous. We just had a big court case here where a woman fed her in-laws Beef Wellington with death cap mushrooms she’d collected. Guilty of murder.
We are starting to eat more bush foods that our indigenous people have always gathered.
Interesting to see the variety of fungi You collected. We have many varieties of multi-coloured fungi in Tasmania -photographer’s delight.