Why I enjoy watching rather than picking fungi
Post categories: Chris Packham
| 12:58 UK time, Thursday, 12 November 2009
It was late starting but by the end of October there were a good selection of fungal fruiting bodies in the woods where I'm walked by Itchy and Scratchy. There were good numbers of those marvellous pixie plinths, the parasol mushrooms, some deep crimson blushers, puffballs, brackets and those white specked red toadstools, the fly agarics.
The latter are so named because they were once used to stupefy flies. They were ground to a paste and mixed with milk in a saucer on the window sill. The dipterans got drowsy and then drowned in the liquid.
The fungus contained an hallucinogenic agent which had previously been blended with beer and imbibed by the Viking Berserkers before these suicidal warriors charged, axe-wielding into the ranks of their enemies.
I also found no less than six death caps, probably more than I've seen in my lifetime, a lifetime not compromised by eating any of these rare and deadly toadstools.
It's a shame that for many people the reputation of this perilous artefact of nature is enough to stifle any interest in fungi. The fear of their presumed toxicity means that they are given a wide berth from a young age. An eminent mycologist once told me that a mere 1% of the UK species are poisonous, 1% are edible and that the remaining 98% are also edible (but don't taste good). Hardly statistical grounds to justify a fear of fungi.
But then there are plenty who, once properly educated, actively exploit that other 1% and descend on the autumnal forest in a ruthless horde to harvest the edibles. Spurred on by the likes of the enigmatic Carluccio and an increased interest in fine dining, they enjoy the great range of flavours that can be found for free in the woods and fields.
There is, however, a cost to this. These are the 'flowers' of the fungi, the organs which release the 'seeds' in spore form. If they are over-collected might this not have a negative impact on the future population of these species?
Well, perhaps it's a familiar story in human harvesting, in that it's all down to degree. A little local collecting to spice up the menu is likely to have no impact but when, as has happened, it becomes commercialised then surely we must have concerns. And commercial it is these days. Vans full of pickers arrive in the famed or richest areas and clear them out throughout the season.
Worse, often only one person knows which are the target species and the 'team' are instructed to 'clean-up' everything so that he/she can sort it later. The result is huge piles of inedible or fungi with little financial value found rotting on the roadside. An atrocious waste, an ugly by-product of human greed.
This greed is motivated by the rich returns to be had from successful forays. Such are the prices paid for these culinary gems. In some places guidelines or bylaws state that collecting is allowed but only for personal consumption. Recently in one such spot a woman was found with bin bags and boxes filled with 65 kilos of fungi... So that's a big meal then.
Some elementary research has been conducted. It actually seemed to show that such harvesting has no impact on fungal population densities. But I cannot believe that sustained, constant collecting will not have an effect on future abundance. Nature can only afford to produce what it needs; it never tolerates wastage, so it wouldn't produce all these toadstools if they were not actually needed.
For my part, I picked not a single thing this year. Instead I enjoyed watching big, fat, ripe, edible species get naturally nibbled by molluscs and mice and then turn to jelly after productively casting their spores on the wind.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~58~RS~)
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Likewise I look but don't take. Not out of fear from mistaking but in order to let Nature complete the food/life cycle. I find the fascination is watching this progress through the seasons in places one knows well. The same applies to flowers, plants and all living things ...... my garden holds the 'rich pickings' I need with plenty of surplus for visiting & resident wildlife.
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I rather enjoy walking through woodland or across a field at this time of year with my camera looking for photogenic fungi, which make a refreshing change from things that run or fly away! But I have myself been worried by the recent fashion in collecting wild fungi. Firstly from a ecological point of view there removing the next generation of a vital part of the ecosystem. Hopefully the act of picking the fungus will disperse at least some of the spores but eventually the main fungus will die and if its fruiting bodies have been collected there wont be any spores to replace it or colonise new areas.
Secondly it selfishly will prevent anyone else from enjoying one the marvels of autumn
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I just love photographing fungi, although I might pick a fungus that is plentyful like field mushrooms.
Mostly I just find them too beautiful to even touch them, let alone pick and eat.
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It is an interesting and thought provoking comments. I'd agree about the greed of some commercial or large scale mushroom picking in our woods. However, I don't necessarily think that picking mushrooms has a negative effect on fungi. On Continental Europe far, far more fungi are picked in the wild than are ever gathered in the UK. As far as I am aware, there is no shortage of fungi in parts of Europe where fungi are picked in huge amounts. Take the Cep (Boletus edulis). It is used to flavour mushroom soup, and is available from most Supermarkets and Delicatessens. To my knowledge virtually all these are wild picked as it is not a fungi easily cultivated. This level of picking does not seem to suppress the fungi.
Having said this I mostly photograph fungi and just eat the few better species, like Ceps (if I can find the in good condition).
It is an interesting cultural phenomena that we are so fearful of eating wild fungi in this country, whilst in some European countries mushroom picking is very popular and very widespread. The late Gordon Wasson wrote quite a lot about Mycophobe and Mycophile cultures.
Also I hate to say this but I don't think Chris' theory about Fly agarics in beer for Viking Bersekers is correct, or at least there is no evidence for it. Instead it is quite a recent theory (a couple of hundred years old) and there is no traditional or historic evidence for this. It came about when Swedish naturalists started to study the Laplanders and connected their Shaman's use of Fly agarics, with the Viking Bersekers. I know that Linnaeus visted Lapland and knew about the Fly agaric use. I've read very widely on the use of these fungi and plants by Shamans. However, I have never come across any reliable reference to Fly agarics being used in beer. Most of the authorities that have written about this have also questioned the Viking Berserker Fly agaric link. I think this is because Scandinavia has been considered a Mycophobe country and there is nothing in the history or sagas to indicate any use or like of mushrooms, especially Fly agarics. The Saami people of Lapland are not really part of the group of people that formed the Norsemen.
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I mostly just like to look at fungi and photograph it. Partly because I am not always sure enough about what is safe to eat and partly because I prefer to leave it to spoor and spread. I have picked the odd few that I was sure of and as long as they were plentiful so that there are always plenty left for the wildlife and to reproduce. I like having a guess as to what has been nibbling at them :0)
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There's nothing more fun than going on a fungi hunt in autumn! However, I have noticed over the past 5 years that as more and more TV programs have featured the culinary delights of 'picking your own', a lot of species have vanished from my local woodlands; I can't find any chanterelles and overzealous collectors take each and every cep!
In light of this I've stopped taking any mushrooms, not just because of the possibility of them disappearing, but also because they are an important foodstuff to local wildlife; very often when walking through dense patches of spruce at this time of year I find mushrooms that have been 'stashed' in the branches by red squirrels, so I think it is far more important that they get to eat the fruitbodies- and they don't decimate the fungi population in the process!
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It's certainly food for thought and an issue worth raising in light of the terrible greed and wastage Chris mentions. It would be interesting to know if this is also the case in European countries such as France where mushroom picking is part of rural life. Maybe it is less of a problem there because those involved take only what is used in the kitchen. When I lived in France in the 90s information was widely displayed regarding types of edible fungi and correct methods of collecting.
Let's hope that this does not become yet another case of realising the value of something only after we have destroyed it.
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Wastage of the type Chris cites is never good, but on the other hand, porcini (ceps) have been harvested on an extremely commercial basis in Italy for many, many years without any apparent impact on their availability, both fresh and dried, at markets / greengrocers and in restaurants. If anything, they seem to have become cheaper and more abundant recently. However, on the OTHER other hand, Italian porcini collectors have undoubtedly been casting their nets wider into accession EU countries recently, into places where such commercial harvesting may not previously have occurred; so the perception of resilient fungal blooming may be false.
(First time commenter, by the way - Spring / Autumnwatch is one of my favourite progs, and Chris Packham is one of the most informed and charismatic people on television.)
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This autumn has been one of the best here in NE Derbyshire for fungi that I can remember. I am lucky in that the woods that I visit do not as yet seem to be of interest to the commercial gatherers, the possible exception of a few magic mushroom hunters.
I have taken a few field mushrooms, out of my own field, which I ate within minuits of picking but other than those few all the rest I have seen have been photographed and left to nature.
In my local woods this weekend seems to be the end of the display, but it has not been disapointing and I never expected it to carry on into mid November.
A few weeks ago I found some fly agarics under a silver birch, one was rather deformed so I took a few pictures with the idea of returning next day to see how it had developed over night. Next morning I found the same spot only to find every last fly agaric had gone, there were some red deer tracks in and around the area, do they feature in the red deers diet often?
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Toally agree. Foraging is encouraged by chefs and trendies but they forget some species are protected and if everyone decided to give it a go there'd be nothing left. Most edible mushrooms are available in grow-your-own packs so why pick them from wild. As with wild flowers - leave them for others to enjoy; plant your own wild life garden - contribute; don't destroy.
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