Mid-Winter Foraging July 2019 (At 4k resolution) 

Hello Rosemary: yes and yes: youtube has a 'business contact' email thingy, and, failing that, my Hoki video has something informative at the end: I await your email. Regards, Diarmuid.

Glad you enjoyed it Bolanz.

Thanks Winnie. There is a new Foraging video up there now, and an edible-garden one also.

So far only friends and family, but I would certainly consider any request from a good, keen, honest local.

I would pay for something like that!!

These ones were growing on Poplars: I've never seen them growing on Pines. They grow on dead wood; not living trees. I hope you enjoyed the video?

@@DiarmuidNZ yes and the other ones too

@@timtrial3971 Thanks Tim. I rarely find any edible action in Pine plantations (other than Coral fungi: I skip the ubiquitous Slippery Jacks). Befriend some Old Man Pines, Silver Birches, Oaks and Black Poplars - the wetter the better - and you might acquire some wonderfully productive woody friends for life :). Happy foraging.

Sorry Maurice, but I don't have or know of such a book. The two links I gave in the video description have been very helpful to me, as has Michael Kuo at www.mushroomexpert.com/. Also LandcareResearch provides some local info. Remember that good books can be out-of-date, and report 'choice edibles' that have since been shown to be toxic (e.g. Grey Knight). Do lots of research before trusting any one source, and never trust a photo!

I have recently found clusters with lighter stems, but they all have that distinctive 'velvet' texture. Some have dark/blackish velvet all the way up to the cap while some have it just up to about half way to the cap. That 'black velvet' stem certainly helps me to identify them.

@@DiarmuidNZ are they willows your finding them on? and are they dead?

@@georgefairweathermoonlight4 Not willows: possibly beech and birch, and mostly on dead wood but sometimes at the base of living trees - possibly on dead bark!

Finally identified them as 'Poplar' trees, and always on dead logs, or dead side-shoots, or fallen branches. Nothing on Willows or living tree-trunks.

Quite right Hikurukutai: I always treat any new species of fungus as potentially deadly to me, and so follow the good advice to do lots of research, do a spore print, if in any doubt don't eat it, then, when it all looks and sounds good, try a little bite, then wait for my system's reaction, before trying just a little more the next day, then slowly working up to a tasty feed many days later. Even a perfectly edible mushroom can make some people sick: we're all unique.

Glad you appreciated the vid man. Do watch out for that deadly 'Galerina' one: I nearly made a big mistake just a few days ago! I found both species this week (Autumn in NZ), and they were the same size and shape and colour and in the same location. After picking two small, individual ones I realized the ones I was picking did not have a 'Black Velvet' sock/stem, and were growing separately!! They were actually deadly Galerinas!! They had that wee brown ring on the brown stem: a danger sign!! If they are not in a cluster, and don't have the 'Black Velvet' stem, then move on and keep looking. The proper Velvet-Shanks are tasty, and reportedly have good cancer-preventing properties, and are now one of my favourites, and yes, they do grow in the Autumn as well as in winter. They both can grow on the same dead log at the same time, so please be cautious!

Thanks Alexander. I didn't spore-print the 'deadly Galerina', but Wiki says ' light brown to cinnamon-brown spore print' (I just say 'brown spore print' in the video). The delightful, edible Velvet Shanks have a 'white' spore print, as checked and shown. I did once pick one of the wrong ones, as they can grow side-by-side on the same dead log, and can look quite similar - if you are not attentive. The Velvet Shanks tends to be in tight clusters and should look 'flaming orange' with 'black-velvet stockings' (that's what I check them for). The deadly Galerina are much duller in colour (never 'flaming orange') and are usually individuals, or small groups of individuals, and never wear 'black-velvet stockings'. If ever in any doubt, whatsoever, leave it and move on. Happy foraging.

@@DiarmuidNZ Thanks for the reply. I have a tree that grows them each winter but have been gathering knowledge and courage . Ive found and tried Wood Blewits this autumn which were nice . Ive also ordered some Black Morel spawn with the hope of establishing it on the farm.

Yes Cayuga: also known as 'Flammulina velutipes'; Enokitake; Velvet Shank; Winter Mushroom; Seafood Mushroom. Reportedly very good at fighting/averting cancer and very pleasantly crunchy in a soup or omelette.

@@DiarmuidNZ Noice :D And also how do u avoid getting ones with bugs in them? Do u know? Or is the only way to avoid bugs to wash the mushrooms or pick them out??

@@cayuga2532 I don't recall ever seeing bugs in these Velvet Shanks: they live and grow for many days and just turn browner over time, not buggy.

@@DiarmuidNZ ayyy noice

Thanks harryh: glad you appreciated it.