Wild mushroom and berry picking in Oregon forests? (Portland, Bend: to eat, pine)

[Steve Pickering]

Feldspar ?

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

Feldspar ?

Correct, feldspar of the andesine family.

[PNW-type-gal]

The come in yellow, "peach" green, blue, pink and a ton of other colors, depending on what other minerals/trace elements are included. The best examples have good shiller, which gives them a nice glow. I have one in a teardrop briolette facet - a little over an inch in length and a nice peach color.

They remind me of a clearer labradorite (also a plagioclase feldspar).

[haggardhouseelf]

I came upon this thread where people are talking about hunting morels, thought I'd post it here in case anyone is interested: Oregon Morel mushroom hunting - Mushroom Discussion Board

I am always afraid to pick the wild berries because I never know what has been sprayed and what hasn't. The U-Pick berries are awesome, though, and I feel like I'm doing my part to support local growers, too.

Does anyone know if these are edible?

or these:


They grow all over the place in Eugene where my husband and I like to go for walks.

[Larry Caldwell]

The big orange ones are definitely poisonous. They are amanitas. While they may look like Caesar's Amanitas, that species does not grow in Oregon. I would have to see the gill structure and a spore print of the small white ones to tell if they are edible or not.

[Steve Pickering]

Fly Amanitas will ruin your day for sure.

Stick with the easy to identify like Chantrelis and Bolitus. Shaggy Main is also a good one to ID easly.

[haggardhouseelf]

We buy our mushrooms from the mushroom guys at the Saturday Market... gosh they have some good ones! But I was just curious about those (photos above) since we see them all the time. I love to photograph wild mushrooms but I don't have the knowledge or courage for foraging for them for edible endeavors. I don't even touch them - just take pretty pictures. I have heard there are quite a few look-a-likes in Oregon that often trick people - they pick them thinking they are one edible thing when actually they are an evil poisonous twin. That scares the dickens out of me! I have a lot of respect for you people who know enough and are brave enough to hunt for wild foods. It's a very cool thing to be able to do - I'm just not cool enough!

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by haggardhouseelf

I have heard there are quite a few look-a-likes in Oregon that often trick people - they pick them thinking they are one edible thing when actually they are an evil poisonous twin.

There certainly is! I'll eat ferns, cat tails, camas, dandelions and a lot of other wild foragables. Even some questionable ones such as wood sorel that should be eaten in major moderation. I will not even think about eating most mushrooms for this very reason.

[*anya*]

I grew up picking mushrooms, but it's been almost 20 years since my last trip. Plus that was on a different continent, I'll definitely have to brush up on my shroom knowledge lol, so very excited though! I paid $10 for a small basket of morels and the Farmer's Market today in Cali, ridiculous!

[Larry Caldwell]

Mushroom hunting is not for the casual dabbler. It's like hunting brown bears in Alaska. You only miss once. Even the popular morels and chanterelles have look-alikes that will make you really sick, though you probably won't die. I always clean mushrooms at the kitchen sink under a very bright light, and many times have thrown out mushrooms that were not what I thought they were in the underbrush on a dark, rainy day.

And, unfortunately, even if a wild mushroom is edible, many of them taste just like what they grow in.