The Beginner's Guide to Mushrooms: Everything You Need to Know, from Foraging to Cultivating Paperback – December 22, 2020

I took a course with Tavis & his book is a great reference guide!

Good book for beginners, easy to understand.

When it said everything you need to know from foraging to cultivating…but not much here in cultivating. What is here is extremely helpful but it’s only about cultivating three types using mostly straw. I was hoping for more species coverage and using plugs in logs too. Not here.

Great book! Best of all the mushroom books I bought. Not real complicate and easy to read. A great first mushroom book.

loved the book very informative and love the pics

A great first book for anyone curious about harvesting or growing their own mushrooms. The author includes etiquette for when you work with other foragers, safety tips to avoid upset stomachs, and many recipes. Some might find the safety part a bit thick, but I can see that it's all necessary especially when some mushrooms are poisonous enough to kill.The recipes and pictures sound so good! They even include tips on which mushroom types work best with different cooking methods such as frying or drying so you can incorporate them into dishes you already love. As someone who gets nervous trying new foods, the author makes these dishes sound so good I would happily try them at least once.I would recommend this book to anyone who loves to cook or eat mushrooms, as well as those who like to get their food straight from the ground instead of the supermarket.(I read and reviewed this book for free through NetGalley)

This book is very comprehensive for anyone interested in growing and types of mushrooms that grow around mostly found in North America and Europe. It is a beautiful big book with a lot of information on the identification of types of mushrooms - lots of photos and description - that are available to be seen around - there are plenty that will poison. This take up a good deal of the book.The second part of the book deals with cultivation and cooking and preservation which again is very detailed and informative.Nice book for all sorts of reasons.

This book consists of five parts: mushroom basics, mushroom identification, mushroom cultivation, and mushroom culinary uses and preservation.Being skilled at mushroom identification is vital because if you fail to properly identify a mushroom, you might accidentally consume a poisonous or even lethal mushroom. Therefore, you need to know where certain mushrooms grow and when they grow. You need to be able to identify the macro characteristics (those seen with the unaided eye) as well as the tastes and smell of the mushroom.Although the authors provided fifteen guidelines for collecting wild mushrooms, I will only mention the ones I consider most important: (a) eat only mushrooms known to be edible, (b) eat only young, fresh, cooked mushrooms, (c) eat only a small amount the first time you try a new mushroom, and (d) obtain books on mushrooms and cross-reference your information.The mushroom forager must also know the substrate of the mushroom he seeks to collect. For example, does that mushroom grow on the forest floor, on fallen rotting wood, standing live wood, a lawn, or a flowerbed mulch? Take a few photos and write down a few notes.The forager must also notice the stem, cap, gills, and spores (if present).Here are a few interesting facts about mushrooms.The yellow-green death trap (Amanita phalloides) is annually responsible for at least 90% of all mushroom poisoning deaths worldwide. They kill people who eat them by producing amatoxins, which block DNA transcription, and cell division, and later cause death due to organ failure. Some mushrooms (like the Blewits) are mildly toxic when raw but edible when cooked thoroughly (p.43). The Psilocybe genus of mushrooms contains most of the hallucinogenic, or “magic” mushrooms (p.52). Occasionally there are poisonous mushrooms, which are similar in appearance to edible mushrooms. For example, Chanterelles (pp. 19-21) are similar to the poisonous jack-o-lantern mushroom. Also, the velvet foot mushroom could be mistaken for Galerina marginata, which is potentially lethal if eaten (p.22).The luminous panus, Panellu stipticus, is a showstopper at night because the gills and mycelium give off a greenish glow in the dark.Squeezing the small puffball mushrooms, as with other Lycoperdon species, can be irresistible for children. Curiously, the genus name, Lycoperdon, translates to “wolf fart.”The Fistulina hepatica, the beefsteak polypore, looks like a piece of raw meat or liver. This one is collected as an edible in Europe (p. 82). L. gilbertsonii, and L. conifericola have a taste and texture remarkably similar to the white meat of chicken.Mushrooms have a wide range of smells. Some mushrooms, when dried, like the black trumpet (Craterellus cornucopioides), smell like Romano cheese. Others, like Collybioid Mushrooms such as Oudemansiella radicata (Xerula radicata), have an odd fishy flavor, which is not generally viewed as favorable (pp.22-24). Some, like the Matsutake Mushrooms (p.28) have a spicy smell similar to cinnamon candy and cedar. The Tricholoma caligatum smells really foul (like urine) (p. 28). Lactifluus volemus and Russula xerampelina have an odor similar to that of a shrimp or crab (pp. 33, 36). The candy caps, a group that includes Lactarius camporatus, L. rubidus, L. rufulus, L fragilis exude a clear watery milk and have a smell like fenugreek, maple syrup, or burnt sugar. The aroma gets even stronger when these mushrooms are dried. Blewits (p. 43) have a distinct fruity or citrusy odor. The miller, Clitopilus prunulus, smells like yeast or wet grain. Mushrooms in the Hebeloma genus have an odor resembling radishes. The Agaricus augustus smells strongly of almonds.Regarding mushroom cultivation, the authors note that Blewits grow naturally on leaf litter on the forest floor. Also, Oyster mushrooms and Blewits do not require soil contact. The authors provide detailed instructions on how to grow these mushrooms in containers or plastic sleeves. On the other hand, Wine caps (Stropharia rugosoannulata) are a great mushroom to grow on the ground with little chance for failure.Regarding preserving mushrooms, the authors note that drying them is the preferred method of storage for most mushrooms. Morels, candy caps, and shiitake mushrooms dry extremely well and can be kept for years.The book ends with twenty mushroom recipes you can try at home.Suggested improvements.On page 13, the authors appeared to show a photo of someone using a cell phone app for identifying mushrooms, but they did not provide the name of that cell phone app.Some mushrooms (Hedgehog Mushrooms and Hawk’s Wings) had no associated photos. It would be helpful to have photos for all mushroom families mentioned.For some mushrooms (Stalked Polypores, Small Cup Fungi, Tiny Cup Fungi, Club Fungi), the author does not say whether the mushrooms were edible or not. It would be helpful to have this information for all mushrooms mentioned.Overall, I recommend this book to all mycophiles.