MmmmMM Shrooms

I've decided that this is break time. Are you getting tired of constantly reading about me me me ... and ME? I am! I have read alot of good stories that have been sent to me as responses to this blog, but no one has yet to offer up their story for a new post. I understand. It's hard to put yourself out there and expect the worst but still hope for something more positive. It's hard for me too. Especially as I consider inviting more and more people that know me. But anyway...I appreciate all the good responses and for the shared confidence of your stories.

Mushrooms!!!

I was thinking the other day about them. I don't remember just yet what the relevance was but I think if I talk it out something will emerge. Worth a shot =)

Have you ever thought about mushrooms?
Besides the ones that come on my pizza or steak, I hadn't either.

Just this past fall, I stumbled upon the motherload of mushroom patches (Is that what you call them? I don't know.) I became concerned about the close proximity of all the fungus growing around the toddler playground outside my son's preschool. So I did what any over concerned easily given to paranoia mother would do. After about an hour of being on my hands and knees (not to mention many strange looks from numerous teachers and students that came around), I had every kind of mushroom I could find in a plastic container ready for the dumpster.


After I got home I couldn't stop thinking about all the different shapes and colors and sizes of mushrooms that I saw and touched - yuck! I was curious about what they were called and how you can know a good from a bad one - Poison from gourmet.

Of course, for my expert opinion on subjects deemed so worthy I turn to my fastest source, the Net.

Apparently, there are close to 5000 different types of mushrooms growing in the United States. A great many of those are edible but the trick is knowing what's "poisonous" and what's safe. Below is some info that I copied and pasted from a website about mushrooms.


FICTION: A mushroom is considered safe if:

The mushroom grows on wood

Slugs or other insects eat the mushroom

Squirrels, rabbits, or other wildlife eat the mushroom

The mushroom is dried, boiled, salted or pickled in vinegar

The mushroom does not have a ring or skirt on the stalk

The mushroom is pure white in color

Just because someone else says “I have ate those their safe”



FACTS:

Some people can have allergic reactions to eating "safe" mushrooms.

Some mushrooms are only poisonous if eaten in large quantities.

Some mushrooms are poisonous when raw but become harmless when cooked.

Some mushrooms are poisonous regardless of how they are cooked or prepared.

Some mushrooms are poisonous only if eaten with alcoholic beverages.

Some mushrooms are classified as poisonous because they are hallucinogenic.

Stewed Mushrooms juice is a dangerous hallucinogenic drug, that can cause serious damage
to your health permanently even death.


MORE FACTS:

Some mushrooms that are edible when fresh and young, poisonous when they are old, hit by
frost or decayed.

Some mushrooms, for unknown reasons, are poisonous in one part of the country, are not
poisonous in another.

Some mushrooms that are poisonous to animals do not cause major problems in humans.

Most mushrooms are more dangerous to young children, the aged and the very ill.
Ideally, people and animals should never eat mushrooms that have not been identified by an expert
or bought at the store. Unfortunately, many mushrooms are difficult to identify even for a trained
mycologist, a biologist trained in the study of mushrooms.


That last part is the disclaimer
Every resource site that I have come across concerning how to identify mushrooms, had one of these.

There are so many variations and many of them look the same.

Example:
You have two mushrooms growing right next to each other and you know (because the expert told you) that this kind of mushroom is very good to eat. But what you don't see or notice is that the other mushroom growing right next to it is NOT identical in every characteristic. Where the one that is safe has a "fin" shape underneath the top, the other is only bumpy. Sometimes the only difference is on the inside with variations of color or even odor.

It takes someone who KNOWS, really knows, and has a properly trained eye to identify it correctly.
Kind of scary, huh? But not really. It's not like they are gonna jump up and shovel themselves into your mouth. I guess if you are pretending to be "survival man" an expert opinion is a must to consider before chomping into anything growing out of the ground, but especially if it's a fungi.


Life application:

I'll let your mind fill in the blank.


Procrastination completed.
It's time to move on with the story...