Not sure you can ever end a debate entirely, but thanks for trying, :) I have a question, Are Mushrooms more closely related to animals, insects or plants???
Lots of great questions. One I would have added is whether it's really true that using a woven basket aids in spore dispersal. I never see spore prints inside my basket so they can't be dropping much. On the other hand, maybe it only takes a few spores to generate a new mycelium patch. I think it would be helpful to understand how likely it is for spores to grow into mushroom patches.
I just want to say around a year ago my gf and I learned how to Identify chanterelles, from Rachel. The year that has passed has brought a wealth of information I spent years of my life wondering about, that now seems so so second nature I cant imagine not knowing it. I think these are the best videos for beginners, by far. I cant wait to see what comes next!
Hi Elanor, I am from the Uk and born in Germany and do a lot of muschroom foraging. Some informative videos you have done, thank you for sharing. In conjunction to the cut or plug issue. I came across a 30 year study from Germany through another youtube channel called snokri. The study also produced no effidence wheither to cut or plug. The study was designed to cover all species growing in that dedicated woodland. The only remark was that there could be a chance of infection to the mycelium network if the mushroom is cut. bacteria could enter the network through the cut while it is still attached, but it was never proven. Also trumpling on the surface did not make any difference (look at public parks or even football pitches, found lots of mushrooms in these areas). The only impact is the environment, weather, pollution etc. Hope this will contribute. Happy foraging
Wow you are the prettiest mycologist in the world!! But seriously you are a well spoken and great host with some awesome insights. Thanks again from an amateur mycologist in 🇨🇦
Just wanted to say thank you for your videos. I am just getting into mushrooms. Watching videos like yours and studying before I head into the woods to look for and identify. Videos like yours have been helping me a lot. Looking forward to heading out and enjoying the new experiences.
There are several RU-vidrs out there with mushroom channels, and I like them all. But to me, you're the best! Your videos are the right balance of educational and fun. You're very well spoken, passionate, and very likeable. The guy shooting and editing your videos is doing a fantastic job as well. Keep up the good work!
Really happy you're back. I enjoy listening to and watching your videos. Very informative and I sure missed you. Looking forward to all your videos to come. Thank you for your time and knowledge
Thank you so much for linking the studies in the description. Your description area is wonderfully resourceful to me & I'm stoked to discover this video is the first in a series!
I’d say the debate is beautifully settled, Picker’s Preference! This series is going to be so informative, I can already tell my go-to answer for people who ask me mushroom questions is going to be “There’s this RU-vid channel you need to watch.” I can’t wait for the next video! (No pressure or anything.)
I watched this video when it came out years ago and I just want to say this has been so invaluable when responding to people who angry at me for pulling mushies!! Lol anyway, I’ve shared this several times in the past week and wanted to just say THANK YOU SO MUCH! love you and all that you so mush, mushy gal pal!
Thank you! It’s a never ending and ongoing conversation every mushroom season isn’t it! And I’m glad you messaged me, because it reminded me that I saw you in the Mystery Doug video about mushrooms! The 2nd grade class I was in was quite impressed that I knew who some of the folks in the video were 😊
@@YellowElanor wow! I’m so flattered that I was in a Mystery Doug video. I had no idea! But I’m even more flattered that you know who I am☺️! I admire you and your work - I’ve learned so much from you!! 🙏🏼 I hope you find many more mushies this season! They’re really start to pop up here on the coast!!✨🍄❤️
Awesome Elanor! I’m so glad you’re back, and as lovely and bright as ever! Thanks for the look at the NAMA meet & finally settling the plucking question lol:)
I am glad that you mentioned you need to pull the whole mushroom when trying to determine what it is you're eating also I had one tree where I could find morels every year they were the first to pop underneath that tree they came through cut the tree down to put in a fence and there hasn't been a mushroom growing there since
Just found your channel on my recommended , I'm starting my journey in the mushroom world, appreciate your video and the quality is great! Hope to see more from you
Thank you for this great video, Elanor! I'd grown up in the Czech Republic where mushroom foraging is pretty common but now live in the Netherlands where people assume most mushrooms are deadly poisonous - interesting how the perspective is so deifferent even though the countries are so close to each other... Btw I remember my aunt used to taste-test russulas :)
The mushroom I ate told me to run around naked, rip mushrooms out of the ground wildly and toss them around like crazy. I believe that is the only proper way to pick mushrooms.
Another wonderful video thanks for sharing, long time subscriber. I live in your part of the world and it would be so helpful if you did a video on harvest timing. When should we start looking for morels, chanterelle and others. What are the general growing elevations of each mushroom, weather conditions wet dry weather temp etc. I live in the desert between two forested areas 100 miles to Spokane area or 100 miles to the Cascade mountain area. There are videos that talk about the best time but almost all of those are Eastern or midwest states. I really haven't found a good video about the best timing and way to find PNW mushrooms. Its a bit of a commitment for my family to hunt for these with the drive and any insight would help a lot. Thanks again for your videos I have been waiting along time for you to return and am so happy that you have. You settled the debate for me, science who knew? LOL
Thank you, I'm glad it helped settle the debate :) And I've thought about a seasonal/environmental episode...so I'll be likely doing something along those lines in the future.
What is really the best way to harvest a mushroom? The way that Nature does it and has done it for millions of years seems appropriate. BREAK OFF or Pinch n Pull. 👍👁 I know the truth. Always ask yourself "What would Nature do?" " How do mushrooms get harvested by Nature and still flourish?" The correct answer has now been given.
Thank you so much for the video and the Pluck vs Cut answer. I believe it doesn't matter as well and that research shows that. I'm tired of people continuing to tell me to cut the mushrooms and i'm ruining the future of the patch. When you show them the research they say that its a mushroom conspiracy. Crazy people some of these fungi pickers.
I pluck mushrooms to ID or photograph, and cut them if I am collecting them to eat. The later is so that I don't bring a lot of extra soil into the collecting basket.
Well done videos. Glad I've found your channel. Great speaker. Great energy. Fun. As a beginner forager I would request having a few videos with some identification videos for intermediate mushrooms. Ive found that once I get past the morels, turkey tail, COWs and hens, there is a stressful wall of knowledge to climb. Also, a lack of well produced videos helping teach genus/species. Thanks! Keep up the great work.
a mushroom is a fruit of a mushroom plant u dont cut cherrys or apples u dont need to cut shrooms but dont let the plant get damaged by leaving it exposed and dried out
Nice set of questions and answers! It's fun seeing all those NAMA faces again, from such a great meeting -- mushroom camp! I liked having access to that whole gym of mushrooms, any time, to pick up and look at all the different specimens. And meeting so many people that liked to talk about mushrooms so much - breakfast, lunch, and dinner! See you next year at the NAMA meeting in the Adirondacks! :D And I pull. And then I trim the base to keep any insects from tunneling up the stem. Destruction of habitat is the biggest problem, whether from clearcut limber harvest or development, or changes in the forest through succession, thinning, or pest infestations. Since you asked for other papers, here's one, specifically about chanterelles, that suggest air pollution as a problem, too -- not cutting or plucking. www.jstor.org/stable/4313357?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents And this one, about the decline of matsutakes in Japan, is interesting, because the decline seems partly due to abandonment of intensive forest management: mycolabsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Edible-Ectomycorrhizal-Mushrooms-Challenges-and-Achievements.pdf So like all things fungal, there's a lot more to know, the deeper we look! Happy mushroom hunting!
Thank you so much! I appreciate the links and the insight! And yes, the mushroom conversations alone make the whole event worth attending, I loved it. See you next year!
@@coleomo They do! Pick the freshest, whitest ones in the morning and have them with your breakfast. And if you've had alcohol recently, be warned they could cause some issues...but you're probably aware of that if you've already gotten to the point of identifying them.
@@YellowElanor Yes' Am aware, luckily for me I dont drink :p thanks for taking the time to reply to me I do appreciate it, you and your videos' are awesome :)
nice to know i have been doing it wrong this whole time !LOL. story of my life. Kinda like,how do you know if a mushroom is poison. See if you die ! Thank God for the people that went before us and figured this stuff out. kinda. Go Rachael
Things I Learned: Get touchy/feely. Spit, don’t swallow. Cut or pluck, doesn’t matter as long as you tap those caps and use a porous collection vessel. 🙏🏼 Oh, and Elanor’s mannerisms, Smarts & Expressions of knowledge are purely captivating! 🤩
Sometimes I'm sure everyone who gets out there stumbles across a mushroom and doesn't necessarily have a knife or pair of scissors on hand, so pinching them off with the same intention not to disturb the mycelial/soil relationship. Absolutely tho on the point of scale (many people doing it) please cut, partic vs plucking, as Eleanor deftly demonstrated
Turkey rake the soil digging up truffles ... Best study as to whether plucking or cutting is best seems to me is, how do the wild life harvest mushrooms??? Can't get much more natural than nature !!!
You didn't touch on the stealth issue of cut vs pluck. If you pluck then cut the butts off like I do you leave all the evidence on the ground of the productivity of the patch. When I get done harvesting a good patch there are little butts everywhere and some species don't decay very fast. I just pick for fun and personal use but I know "professional" pickers who never leave the butts behind. They either cut or pluck and cut the butts after leaving the area.
i am bananahead fool for Christ..and i have been hunting mushrooms since 1982.. so i have both plucked and cut mushrooms.. it depends on the species.. i cut chantrels but i pluck black trumpets.. thanks for the informative vdeo
Also last series I asked a question have you ever heard of anybody getting sick from eating a hericium both my wife and I did I have never heard of it but we will never eat another one
Thank you for your videos, as I’m somewhat new at foraging in the PNW. I’ve seen many RU-vid videos but must are from the east coast or mid west. I started with Chanterelles about 6 years ago and now Im learning about so many others. I’m over in the Olympic Peninsula area and have found a mushroom I haven’t seen you talk about. From what I could find on RU-vid, it looks like a Elfein Saddle... it is Thanksgiving week of 2019 and I’m still finding Chanterelles out here and with the Chanterelles I found the Elfein Saddle. Have you ever found or do you know more about them? I have also found (in September 2019) a Earthstar (Geasrum saccatum). I have never seen this before and I have a few wonderful pictures, at the time I had no idea what they were. I hope to see more again next fall... thank you again from another self taught (but nothing like you) girl to another. I’m enjoying the hunt and having you to watch has made it so much more fun.
The Cut vs Pluck debate is "easy": Cut is requirement from the kitchen, less work to clean when you prepare the harvest for cooking. Pluck is better for identification. For conservation and reproduction matters, wouldn't it be a reasonable rule to leave always at least one mushroom to do the very own whole growing and decaying cycle and/or harvest only fully grown mushrooms as late as possible so they can spread their spores? At the same time: What about the mushroom flies and their larvae? Harvesting late probably supports their cycle so they thrive and I guess you loose harvest, but isn't it reasonable to consider that those insects probably participate in the dissemination of the mushroom species them selfs?
How long after it rains do you find the most success in mushroom bounty? Or is there a particular formula you follow: go out whenever you want, and if you know where to look, you increase your chances of discovering them? - Kyle, from Athens, GA
Different mushrooms will have different patterns, and different environments will also fruit at different times--which makes a direct answer quite challenging! But, in general, whenever there is moisture it caters to mushrooms fruiting. So a good rain can result in new mushrooms popping up within days, going out after the rain every few days can up your chances of finding new things.
Yellow Elanor Thanks for your reply! You have no idea how much I look up to you, your knowledge, and as always, your enthusiasm for mushrooms the same as myself and many others. Thank you for all that you do, by the way! :-)
