Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption
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OtleyLad
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Mushrooms - tPick wild or grow your own?Having recently got into hunting for wild mushrooms (and it is great fun) it has occured to me that thes things are relatively scarce and that as more people pick them they will eventually dissapear.
Various guideline suggest picking only half of the caps, but that is a nonsense because the next visitor will pick half and so on until there are no mature fruiting bodies left to disperse the spores.
On this crowded island we inhabit it seems we should hunt for identification purposes but only collect spores. Its quite a challenge i think to grow your own - there are sites where you can get spores, etc of a variety of edible shrooms.
I do think that the current 'fashion' for picking all things wild is endangering all sorts of species.
Don't get me started on all these guides popping up in newspapers, etc on picking hawthorn leaves from hedgerows without any mention of pollution from traffic, agricultural sprays, etc
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cab
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I think that it depends on what you pick and where you pick. Its probably fair to say that there are places around London where highly prized species get way overpicked, hence there are patrols on Wimbledon Common in mushroom season and licensing in places like Epping Forest. But then there are still scrubby little suburban/rural woods up and down the country where very few people pick anything much at all.
I would say that a good forager is a responsible forager; part of that is learning to see the signs that someone else is on your patch.
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jp
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Another important factor is to ensure you don't damage the plant itself - the mycelium. Provided this is left intact, & spores from some mature caps are allowed to disperse, then the the plant has a reaonable chance to survie & reproduce. Hvaing said all that, I too am concerned at over-picking in some places. Bigger threats though, in my view, are pollution & destruction of habitat.
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OtleyLad
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| jp wrote: | | Another important factor is to ensure you don't damage the plant itself - the mycelium. Provided this is left intact, & spores from some mature caps are allowed to disperse, then the the plant has a reaonable chance to survie & reproduce. Hvaing said all that, I too am concerned at over-picking in some places. Bigger threats though, in my view, are pollution & destruction of habitat. |
The problem there is that you might leave a sensible number of mature caps to grow on, but then the next person comes a long and takes their 'reasonable' cut.
Living out in the countryside there are lots of places around here (Wharfedale) where mushrooms grow but everytime i have visited them some mushrooms have already been picked.
As you say, pollution and habitat destruction are also big factors in reducing numbers.
I think the only responsible solution is to grow your own.
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cab
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| OtleyLad wrote: |
I think the only responsible solution is to grow your own. |
Oh, I think there are other ways around this. For a start, learn more species; many edible shrooms get completely ignored by many pickers. And, of course, in those areas where we do get overpicking we can have licensing, but in my own experiene those places are few and far between.
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jp
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| Quote: | | Oh, I think there are other ways around this. |
I agree. Mind you, I would love to see Blewits poping up in my back garden like Starmoonlilly...
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doctoral
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| cab wrote: | I think that it depends on what you pick and where you pick. Its probably fair to say that there are places around London where highly prized species get way overpicked, hence there are patrols on Wimbledon Common in mushroom season and licensing in places like Epping Forest. But then there are still scrubby little suburban/rural woods up and down the country where very few people pick anything much at all.
I would say that a good forager is a responsible forager; part of that is learning to see the signs that someone else is on your patch. |
 On Chobham common (N. Surrey)you are only allowed to pick 2 kilos of mushrooms, but this is surely enough to depopulate the area if everyone goes foraging for them. The truth is, that at the moment, there are not enough people knowledgable in mycology to know the difference between a deadly amanita and an edible variety. It takes years to learn the subject and I applaud anyone who manages to do so. Wild mushrooms will be around long after humanity dies out. 
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Anne1
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Maybe the person who said "Take only photographs, leave only footprints" or words to that effect, had the right idea. As I use photos a lot to draw fungi, I leave the fruitbodies in place. Mind you, doing it that way will leave some of you hungry.
Anne 
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