Sunday 9 October 2011

Interesting Mushrooms

I was passing Rose's Bookshop when the chap from Outcast Books came up behind me.
"You know about - everything," he said. "Come and have a look at the mushrooms in my garden - I want to make sure they're safe to eat."
I wasn't so sure I could help him with that. I know a bit, but the real expert was my late husband, who used to lead fungus forays for the Wildlife Trust.
So, we went round the side of Rose's, past Outcast Books, and into the long narrow garden beyond. There was a dead apple tree there, and growing all around its base were yellow mushrooms.
I didn't know what they were.
"I think I probably wouldn't eat these," I said, "just to be on the safe side," and I recommended that he look out for Roger Phillips' book on mushrooms, which is the best one I know of.

1 comment:

David at Outcast Books said...

It's actually a large hawthorn tree, which seems to have perished due to the recent cold winters. I checked the internet after you'd gone, and decided the mushrooms or fungi might be Autumn Skull Cap - which are poisonous, so I haven't eaten any. Just as well, because they've now started decaying and turning black, which would probably have happened to me too.