Foraging For Mushrooms - The Oyster Mushroom 

Paul Bazeley me too!

👍😊

Lekha Pillai hi, this is Pleurotus ostreatus, or the grey oyster. The following is from wiki- Description DescriptionPleurotus populinus, the aspen oyster mushroom, is a gilled fungus native to North America. It is found on dead wood of aspen and cottonwood trees. Although morphologically similar to Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus pulmonarius, it has been shown to be a distinct species incapable of cross-breeding.

@@SelfSufficientHub I found a similar-looking patch nearby (in NW, USA), except it is sessile and the regular oyster I see in pictures show well-defined stalks. This one looks white in the beginning, turns slightly grey as it ages. Supposed to be edible, but troubled my stomach! Thanks for the video and reply! Best!

Thanks GVG! Glad to have you here.

Hi Anna, please take a look round my channel, there are videos on many types of mushrooms!

Cheers Alex ! Great to say hello here 👍😊

Hi Amy, Yes they do grow in America. I like to shallow fry them in butter- particularly the caps.

Cook with oil and garlic soy sauce or thai tumym

Hi in Louisiana! Always double check for poisonous lookalikes that grow in your area. My ID tips work everywhere but don’t necessarily rule out some mushrooms that may grow outside the uk 👍

Nice one! Great feeling when you find a new one isn’t it?!

Hi James, Thanks for your comment which made me laugh. I will absolutely add videos on poisonous mushrooms as I come across them. The problem is I make these ‘in the field’ when I happen upon a mushroom and it’s rare to have a poisonous lookalike there at the same time, and I certainly would include them if they are!

👍😊

What sort of edible mushrooms do you have out there at the moment?

Hi Robert, I wouldn’t even worry about drilling the holes. You might benefit from cutting with a knife a little but even that might not be necessary. Oysters are famed for being one of the readiest colonisers. I personally have chosen just to lay some caps out on my fallen bow and let nature do its thing. I think the key is in getting the spores from point a to point b and I don’t think my delivery system could be any better than nature’s. I may be wrong though, let me know how you get on.

Awesome!! They are great fresh!

I am not familiar with the term gill-knot so not sure how to help. Can you describe it?

​@@SelfSufficientHub From what I've read today it's an egg-sac of some sort of parasite. It looks like small bumps, or round growths near the edge of the gills. Some are sugar crystal size, others area few millimetres across. Anything that says 'nematode' or 'parasite' suggests t me it isn't safe to eat but I can't find any information about it.

@@Angelinasmonkey well there are no animals (parasites included) that are poisonous to eat if cooked well apart from some very specific parts of specific species, (blowfish anyone?) so I personally would have no issues at all with trimming away the worst effected areas and cooking up the rest. Take that for what it’s worth, sorry I can’t be more helpful.

@@SelfSufficientHub Thanks for the info! I'll be a bit braver next time. Tried some of the cleaner pieces and they tasted incredible!!

Agreed!

👍😊

Glad you found it useful

Absolutely! 😊

👍😊

You’re very welcome, glad you found it!

Im glad i found it because i didnt know oyster mushrooms grew in winter, il be out trying to forage some this weekend, do you know if they grow in frost at all?

@@philipboffey8630 They do! They will go all winter

Thank you very much sir you have helped me alot