We've had a wild and woolly week here in Melbourne. Putting the clothes out today (well they got a few hours fine weather before the rain started again) I saw the yard littered with branches etc., so did a cleanup. Got a big surprise when I got to the grass clippings pile. Mushies! Huge ones! We often have them grow there, but I haven't seen any this big! Picked one sample to bring inside to show the family. Nearly covered a standard dinner plate!
nice find, thats possibly a amanita species, very poison, so dont eat it!, the excess skin on the stem gives it away.
winter is the best season for fungi growth, im abit of a nature freak, though i prefer the term naturalist, hehe, ive found and photographed well over 20 different species of fungi this month, still at it too.
I've never been sure which mushies are safe to eat, how does one tell.
its said that you should never try to identify and eat mushrooms from the wild, because some poison fungi are so identical to edable ones that even if you are experianced its very hard to be certain.
identification is the key, smell, taste, spore print and physical elements are whats used to identify them.
I know i would never eat the ones Erick picked, but we have picked and eaten them from the paddocks all our lives, and I'm still here, it's pretty safe if you know what to look for.
