survival, foraging, etc

Jesus, the memories. I used to ride bikes weekly with the g- parents, one big ol 20mi / 8hr loop through Amish country. Stopping to fill the basket with collected pods was always part of the trip in late summers.

I can't recall the last I've seen one. Too shady and woody round my parts, I reckon. Seem to recall them near but out of wetlands, somewhere that got full sun / no trees.

Might have to plant some. Used to love raising monarchs and having a giant release at the end

I know a number of middle aged women who are part of a network of raisers of Monarch Butterflies. They can even tell the sexes before they release them.

It's the pods I've collected, to get started. I wouldn't mind some tips about how to go about getting plants going, if you know some

and what that big release business is about!?

MilkweedMatters. Org .
Iowa Monarchs is best organized group. They are on facebook as well.

It might be coming down to whether or not I trust my life to some dude on youtube. Would you?

Well, he's evidently not just some dude, but somebody who seems to have some credentials, though I have to say they are of the minor league type. He comes across as very credible to me, so, yeah, that gets back to the trust thing.

The first link below indicates some credentials, the second link is one of his youtube videos.

https://www.pittwire.pitt.edu/news/nutrition-alumnus-goes-wild-foraging

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvbeBEF1cBE&t=63s

If that video has it right, I have in my possession a good amount of "chicken of the woods" - Cincinnatus variety I'd say. It clearly is *not* what he says you might misidentify as chicken of the woods, and from what he says it would be hard to do, it is definitely not what he cites as the only possible mistakes, though I would add 'something slimey' to the two he mentions. If it turns out to be poison mushrooms, it would appear to be a case of discovering a variety previously unknown, that doesn't seem likely. These were growing on a stump [first pic with beer can for scale], growing shelf-style, not slimey, no gills. It just has to be 99.99% chances they are the real deal, 99.999% chances they at least won't make you sick assuming no allergic reaction. 99.9999% that it won't kill me. *If* the video has it right!

Second image [a quarter for scale] is most of what I have left after using a bit of it to seed about 6-7 big logs and trunks laying around in some woods handy to me and not handy to others [just off my property]. So I was confident enough about the ID to get started trying to make it spread. I'll use some more, too, to seed some other downed oaks that won't be as handy but not that far either.




I've searched the internet and mycologist help is not that close. I emailed though the local agricultural extension guy to see if he can help.

Will I eat some if he can't? I'm getting pretty close to a 'yes' on that, starting with just a bit of course.

Quote: odiousgambit

I emailed though the local agricultural extension guy to see if he can help.

well, either that email address is a black hole or the guy is on vacation; haven't gotten a reply

I took the plunge and cooked and ate a bit of it, so it's either "been nice knowing you, checking out", or the stuff doesn't agree with me and I don't want any more of it, or I have a batch of delicious mushroom to use with uncertain further harvest, or a batch now with a bounty to look forward to due to the seeding I did. Failing that, the stuff grows back where you cut it too.

I put the odds that it will kill me equal to the odds that someone with some credentials could put out an irresponsible video that has 153,476* views so far, continues to show the video, and is making new similar videos ... and other videos confirm the content... OK, not astronomical odds ... but they have to be way out there.

*the kind of video you watch 2-3 times, granted, but not more than that either

You are probably better off to make contact with a local mycology club since their response times will be shorter and their enthusiasm will be higher. Many of those extension services places are set up to do little more than mail general pamphlets and consider contacts by businesses to be more important than contacts from individual members of the public.

As to web videos you can watch some you tube videos on 'human torches' by amateurs and 'human torches' by professional, well-trained movie stuntmen. Jerks who set themselves on fire without proper training, proper equipment and properly trained team members usually make their videos from hospital beds in major burn units.

Quote: Fleastiff

You are probably better off to make contact with a local mycology club since their response times will be shorter and their enthusiasm will be higher. Many of those extension services places are set up to do little more than mail general pamphlets and consider contacts by businesses to be more important than contacts from individual members of the public.

can't seem to tune into anything local enough to suit me, ain't driving for an hour

you know, a funny thought came to me, I don't want anyone too damn local either ... they might realize they could also be harvesting some 'shrooms in *my* spot!

still alive and kicking while today would be about the time the most horrible mistake you could make would kick in - that is, eating something like the 'destroying angel' by mistake

the addendum to the story in the link says what I'm thinking for me. Honestly I studied and studied this before taking the plunge. Books, field guides, good you-tube videos [having the former helps with the latter in weeding out dubious videos]

Quote: link

No one with a reasonable understanding of the importance of properly identifying mushrooms – with a serious awareness that some species are fatally toxic – falls victim to the Destroying Angel. The folks who eat Destroying Angel do not use field guides: they just pick the damned things and eat them. No trip to the library. No reading. No spore prints. No idea what a “partial veil” is or what “gill attachment” means.

So… Is it really dangerous to eat wild mushrooms?

How dangerous is it to drive a car? If you’re drunk or careless, it is VERY dangerous; if you’re sensible and pay attention, it is reasonably safe.

Consider this: Would you pick and eat an unfamiliar berry simply because it “looked good?” Of course not. Finding, identifying, preparing, and eating wild mushrooms can be a delightful pastime–IF it is done intelligently.

Otherwise, it is a terrible “accident” waiting to happen.

https://blog.mycology.cornell.edu/2006/11/22/i-survived-the-destroying-angel/

Quote: odiousgambit

you know, a funny thought came to me, I don't want anyone too damn local either ... they might realize they could also be harvesting some 'shrooms in *my* spot!

That is why mushroom brokers never reveal exactly who or exactly where. Fortunately the internet can reduce the time involved if you send images but will keep the geographical distances safely intact.