Mushroom Picking Parties (Poland tradition)

Get a book and be very careful. I've picked wild mushrooms, but only after research. It's true that mushroomy people give away no secrets. They don't want to kill you by letting you eat the wrong ones, but they won't help you find the right ones.

I spent years of my childhood participating in mushroom picking parties with my parents and their Polish friends in Australia. We collected ridze and maszlaki (I don't even know what they are called in English). My mum would pickle the ridze when she got home and the house would stink like mushrooms for days after. The maszlaki got dried. I now live on a property and every year still collect all the ridze and maszlaki on my property and give them to my mum. They aren't to my liking for eating, but my folks love them and my kids and I love to pick them for Babcia and Dzia Dzia but we are broken hearted when we find only stems left growing on the roadside out the front!

My wife and I will be in Gdansk in early September, for a couple of weeks. We can't wait to go mushroom picking.

SOmeone sent me the URL for this forum. Looking through the messages, I'm reminded of the time I was in Poland when I was 21. I was visiting some friends of my father and they took me out mushroom hunting. I had never eaten a mushroom in my life and never intended to, and was joyful when we found no mushrooms on that particular outing. However, on the way back to their flat, they bought some and cooked them - and I felt obligated to taste them. They weren't as bad as I thought they would be but I didn't eat many.

Years later, I love mushrooms at least some kinds. I have a Shiitake log that produces a couple of batches per year.

Remember folks - that some mushrooms may look identical to ones you know in your homeland but be poisonous in a different part of the world. So make sure to get help from some locals before you eat things in a new environment. For example:

Mushroom Poisoning among Laotian Refugees -- 1981

cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001107.htm

I'm going Saturday with experienced mushroom pickers. we'll be in the in the Tucholskie Bory, south of Gdansk. It's been cool and rainy, so I'm hopeful that there will be plenty of mushrooms to be had.

I used to pick MM in the UK... many years ago, I found they are abundant on the edges of golf courses at certain times of year just after rainfall. I used to look for ones shaped like nipples and they must be dark underneath, not light. No expert on this though and if in doubt, dont do it as the consequences could be fatal. Other than that have no mushroom picking experience, but would love to know how to pick wild mushrooms for cooking.

Take someone with you who knows their stuff - my friends know 3 or 4 varieties and stick only to those. Or, in the Krakow food markets, the mushrooms are all checked by an expert before being allowed to be sold.

the psilocybin that grows in cow ****... doesnt it come from milk cows only?

they don't just grow in cow manure.

mushroom season is really close now.. maybe a week or two depending on temps etc.. can't wait. yum.

Many years ago when in Poland on a mushroom-picking outing I was told by an old mushroom picker that "all mushrooms are edible, but some only once !"

i live in south florida and i've gone mushroom picking before but had no luck.
do psilocybin mushrooms grow down here ?

Hi

I am planning to cultivate mushrooms.

I have seen a book named A beginners Guide to Mushroom Cultivation
Is the book good to learn mushroom cultivation.

Any additional information will be welcomed.
Thanks

Horse manure is good for mushrooms. I got lots of it. You can come and get it.
I love mushrooms, got a mushroom growing kit once but there were too many flies.
Maybe the horse manure is a bad idea....

Hello there I am researching an article for an Irish Newspaper on how the tradition on mushroom picking has travelled to Ireland with Polish people here. Only very few Irish people pick mushrooms and I am astounded by the knowledge Polish people have regarding mushrooms. Can anyone give me more information on this. I am aware that some people have found truffles in Ireland, very few people are aware of this and I think we as a nation can learn alot from the knowledge that has come to Ireland.

Thanks to everyone

Elizabeth

You have to be kidding me, a thread about 'mushroom picking parties' haven't people got better thnings to do with their sat/sun days??? Jeeezzzz what is the world coming too.

I mean i understand a 'mushroom party' now that is probably fun but a 'mushroom picking party' what do you do pick mushrooms while slurping on wine and telling mushroom jokes and rating the top mushrooms. Whats kool and what ain't my goodness i'm hardly able to stay on my chair because i'm laughing so much

Worth taking a pig to the party too......

Why ? Cos ....

allposters.com/-sp/Truffle-Producer-with-Pig-Searching-for-Truffles-in-January-Quercy-Region-France-Posters_i2673970_.htm

And when you found the truffles, you can then roast the pig for Sunday dinner.

I read that dogs are preferred to find truffles cos the greedy pigs eat them when they find them.

Do they have truffles in Poland ?

haha !

:)

OMG it gets funnier by the minute, i'll have to remember to take the pig with me next time, maybe thats why they didn't let me in :(

Tornado, just because its not for you, doesnt mean it isnt interesting to some people. Personally I find this topic interesting and would be happy to learn more about different types of mushrooms. If that makes me a sad twat then sobeit.

first of all most mushroom that have lamellae under on the lower part of their hats are not edible with some exceptions, and most importantly some are very toxic - one species to the extent not much can be done to help a person who digested one - (they are from Amanita genus)

on the other hand most mushroom that have a spongy bottom of the hat are edible - but there are some exceptions

I did not mention other mushrooms (there are other types) 'cause they are rarely picked for consupmtion - there are no truffles in Poland - well there weren't - there are signals that perhaps there a couple locations where you can find them here

you should be careful with alcohol after eating mushrooms - some normally edible species can make you ill after following them with alcohol

I spent most of my childhood picking mushrooms around autumn time. Someone mentioned 45 minutes ? Huh try 5 hours with my parents :) Wake up at 5 am and off we go :)

But it is quite relaxing and enjoyable experience. Just a nice long walk in the woods with occasional back pain from bending to pick them up :)

And nothing better than fresh made grzyby w smietanie when you come back :)
Whatever you say about people picking mushroom - try to imagine Wigilia without pierogi z kapusta i grzybami! I can't so bless my parents for still going mushroom picking :)

Look what giant mushrooms we pick in the forest:


Practically, only one species:

not true - one of the borowik family can be mildly toxic if consumed along alcohol - borowik ceglastopory - Boletus erythropus- quite common where I live - and quite tasty too

there are other members of Boletus genus that are toxic to various degrees for example borowik szatański (Boletus satanas) - still they are not common at all here where I live

True. There are more. I forgot about them.


Not true. :):):)

It happens that during holidays that I spent in the mountains I consume large quantities of mountain borowik ceglastopory

together with large quantities of mountain alcohol:

And guess what!!??? :):):):)
Miracle!!!

PS. Check the mushroom guide once again. The mushroom which causes poisoning with alcohol is Boletus Luridus - borowik ponury. :):):)
Z grzybiarskim pozdrowieniem: Darz bór!!!

Mushroom picking plays a large role in many cultures. In Indiana and the states surrounding it, there are mushroom festivals every spring dedicated to morel mushrooms. Their popularity stems largely from the fact that they are very hard to misidentify (see my avatar for an example). That, and they taste REALLY good.

lmao! that's like one of those chain-email things which goes around sometimes...

"The operation was completed successfully, but the patient died soon after".

Not quite so "successful" then! :D

Sep 24, 09, 13:02 - Thread attached on merging:
Mushroom picking

Where can i pick mushrooms for free in poland?

Mainly in the forest.
It is the season now and I see many people picking them.
I don't know how much you know about mushrooms but many are poisonous and you must know what to pick.

I love to go picking for Kurki and Podpinki in the Kaszuby area .Mushroom soup made from these is the best !!!

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Does anyone find mushrooms like these in Poland? I picked 50 pounds of it this past weekend. They are very good for building your immunity, so I try to eat a little every day through the winter. The Japanese cultivate it as a medicinal mushroom they call maitake. It is Grifola frondosa, commonly called the "hen-of-the-woods." Delicious, too.

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  hen-of-the-woods
  

i think this is what japanese call Shiitake (looks like that to me) - I have never seen them here but have heard that people buy their spores and plant them on some trunks in the wild to pick them later - maybe they go wild then and spread around Rakky