Field Guide To Mushrooms

I once had a book that tried to explain to me which wild mushrooms were safe to eat. It involved doing stuff like picking unknown mushrooms and then letting them sit on white paper over night. During the night, the mushrooms would spew forth their spores onto the white paper. Then, in the morning, you could examine the spores. Trouble was, color was a key factor in determining whether not eating said mushroom would be just tasty or tasty and deadly, too. You may recall I am color-blind.... so I gave up on that hobby.

I've figured out which mushrooms are safe to eat in Hereford. Those would be the ones that we grow in our pantry. Awesome. We harvested our first crop of 'shrooms this week and we can barely keep up. The experience was so rewarding we then went on a hunt to farm and garden stores across all Herefordshire looking for more mushroom kits. We found one -- just one -- on closeout. My dream of having fresh homegrown mushrooms year round might be in jeapordy. Are you listening, Señor Unwin? Show ... me ... the ... mushrooms ...

Thanks to Rachel on this one: check out the Vanna White-style technique on the mushroom presentation. Nice!