Mushroom Hunting

[Vigilante]

Well, for me.. It's that time of year again to get out in nature and go exploring. Wait, I do that shit all the time.. lol. But it is ginseng season. I know your probably thinking, what the hell does that have to do with mushrooms.. and quite honesty, very little.

In my area it's that time of year where the humidity is up, it rains at least once or twice a week, and there is a steady albeit appropriate amount of heat to make those mushies grow. Now I could just set up a relatively inexpensive incubator and turn out mushies year round, but.. whats the fun in that. Or perhaps, that's exactly what I intend to do after locating my very own spores..

My plan, kill two birds with one stone. Ginseng prices are still on the up and up, and you can make some pretty good bank on a relatively small amount of herb (not weed for the stoners following along). But since I'm already out there, enjoying nature in its magnificence.. Why not be aware and on the look out for some mushrooms.

So I've done my research, and what I've deduced is that there will probably be (3) speciifc varieties I will be searching for.. They are..

Gymnopilus spectabilis - Or better known as the laughing Gem.. These are big and grow primarily on wood, but elsewhere is possible.

Psilocybe coprophila - Or what you would consider as the magical mushroom that grows on cow shit.. Farms are in excess in my area, and I have prior experience with ID'ing and harvesting this specific type.

And..

Psilocybe caerulipes - More commonly known as the "Blue Foot", I believe I have come across these in the past without being aware of what they are. They are considered to be a rare species and I'm excited to harvest my first specimen.

If all goes according to plan, I'll have a nice sack of ginseng and enough mushies to harvest spores and perhaps, ingest.. I've only ate mushrooms I've harvested in the wild a couple of times before, and although they were pleasant trips later on, the initial paranoia of maybe "being wrong" was not.. enjoyable. I don't suggest anyone eat any mushrooms they find in the wild, even after they have been assumed to have been properly ID'd. Better safe than sorry. I'll update with my progress at least once a week, if not every few days.

[Malice]

How much do you think you'll make from ginseng.

[Vigilante]

I'm expecting about $350 a pound.. There has been alot of talk that with the drought most of the United States has been under, that the bad season could drive up demand, and theres no telling how high prices could go. I know in years back it was upwards of $600 a lb. or more. I've already got some saved back from last year, and let it dry out for a good long time.. And I've already scouted out more than a few little patches.. I'm optimistic of a good haul, and a good little chunk of change coming my way.

[tibberous]

Don't you hunt ginseng with dogs? Like you would truffles?

[bumble]

Cowboy Bebop OST 3 Blue - Mushroom Hunting - YouTube

Cowboy Bebop OST 3 Blue - Mushroom Hunting - YouTube
Video: click to display

relevant?

[Vigilante]

Originally Posted by tibberous

Don't you hunt ginseng with dogs? Like you would truffles?

I've never really heard of anyone doing it, but I suppose, it could be a possibility. Honestly though, unless you own or are allowed to search for ginseng on a big tract of land, chance are you might not come up with much. A lot of ginseng hunters don't always search on property they own, and the use of dogs would only make their unwanted presence known. I like the creativity though.. who knows, you might be onto something..

[Vigilante]

Originally Posted by bumble

Cowboy Bebop OST 3 Blue - Mushroom Hunting - YouTube

relevant?

Idk, maybe.. I do have a lot of appreciation for Cowboy Bebop though, and I'd probably listen to that while Mushroom Hunting. ::

[36fuckin5]

Originally Posted by Vigilante

So I've done my research, and what I've deduced is that there will probably be (3) speciifc varieties I will be searching for.. They are..

Gymnopilus spectabilis - Or better known as the laughing Gem.. These are big and grow primarily on wood, but elsewhere is possible.

Have fun eating a half oz or more of these, only to get a mild trip with ridiculous amounts of GI discomfort. I also hope you know how to ID very, very well, because there are poisonous Gyms.

Psilocybe coprophila - Or what you would consider as the magical mushroom that grows on cow shit.. Farms are in excess in my area, and I have prior experience with ID'ing and harvesting this specific type.

These aren't active or edible. IDK why you would pick them. Chances are you misidentified some Psilocybe Cubensis.

Psilocybe caerulipes - More commonly known as the "Blue Foot", I believe I have come across these in the past without being aware of what they are. They are considered to be a rare species and I'm excited to harvest my first specimen.

If you ACTUALLY find some Ps. Careulipes, please send me a print. Chances are that what you'll find is Psilocybe Ovoideocystidiata, though. Nothing wrong with them, they're very potent woodlovers, but I doubt it's Ps. Caerluipes. Also, both of these species fruit mostly in the Spring, and very rarely in the Fall.

If all goes according to plan, I'll have a nice sack of ginseng and enough mushies to harvest spores and perhaps, ingest.. I've only ate mushrooms I've harvested in the wild a couple of times before, and although they were pleasant trips later on, the initial paranoia of maybe "being wrong" was not.. enjoyable. I don't suggest anyone eat any mushrooms they find in the wild, even after they have been assumed to have been properly ID'd. Better safe than sorry. I'll update with my progress at least once a week, if not every few days.

I hope you REALLY know what you're doing if you plan to grow any of those species, especially from wild prints. They are going to be dirty, and you're gonna have to do ridiculous amounts of isolation to find a fruiting strain. It's much better to go with a proven strain, especially for your first time.

And yeah, definitely make sure you're 110% sure of your ID before you consume ANYTHING you pick. I suggest sending pics and descriptions to MushroomObserver.org

If you want some clean spores for microscopy (you know, to judge against what you find, not to grow) check out my thread in the trading pit.

['Ed Rush]

Thread reported. Enjoy your prison sentence, hippie.

[SHARP]

Originally Posted by 'Ed Rush

Thread reported. Enjoy your prison sentence, hippie.

Please do not contaminate an otherwise successful thread with off topic posts, if something needs to be done in regards to this thread I'll bloody well take care of it myself!

^^That was the official reply, I hope you get the hint.

What people do with their knowledge doesn't concern any of us, unless they present a danger to innocent people, which clearly isn't the case here.
Please be aware that your posting privileges in this forum can be revoked, and that the caretakers of the forum have a few more options at their disposal, than the regular user. I'll leave it up to your imagination to figure out exactly what I meant by that, and what consequences your posts might result in.

^^That was the personal reply, I hope you get the hint.

[LSDaamn]

Fuck ed go shrooms

[( )]

Originally Posted by 36fuckin5

Have fun eating a half oz or more of these, only to get a mild trip with ridiculous amounts of GI discomfort. I also hope you know how to ID very, very well, because there are poisonous Gyms.

Nah, no poisonous Gymns although there are mushrooms of the same habitat that might look similar to an untrained eye which will cause you to shit out your organs. Regarding the large dosages and Gi discomfort, luckily most species are pretty damn large to begin with and tea rather than eating will reduce a lot fo those symptoms.

[skygear]

Post up some PIC's of the Ginsing and the habitat if you would. I'm outdoors all the time and surely have come aross it and didnt know it.

You have some good books for the identification? Mushrooms Demystified comes to mind. Also, I have a great app Audubon Mushroom $

I use an android device... But also have all the PDF's and hard copy's of all the books. If you find any other apps relevent or good books too let me know.

I searched and found this http://www.ecowatch.org/pubs/aug09/ginseng.htm

I deffinately know where I saw these in the wild.