Wild Mushroom Picking

While up at Uncle Bernd and Auntie Karen's in Pinecrest (10 min south of Whistler) for Thanksgiving I had the unique chance to harvest some local fungi. While ATVing we noticed people with buckets around the area searching for the strange things growing out of the ground. We then thought it would be interesting to look for ourselves knowing we could venture deeper into the backwoods. With the knowledge that some types of mushrooms were being sold at $40-50 a pound, my business savvy nature immediately was sparked. Without knowing what colour, size or shape we were looking for we snatched up every different kind we could find to do some research later. Upon returning it was straight to the computer to see what the valuable mushrooms looked like. Turns out that there are two main types that are sought after. The Tricholoma Magnilivare aka Matsutake aka Pine Mushroom is one kind. The other is the Chanterelle. Both are worth some decent money is you can find enough of them.

After knowing what we were looking for and some time to kill while the turkey dinner was being made we had a successful attempt at Mushroom Hunting. Finding our first Pine Mushrooms was exciting and as we went, found lots more along the way. Not being fully sure if it was the real thing, we decided not to snack as we went but had a heaping load when we returned.

What I learned was that all species descriptions are based on features of the cap, hymenium and stalk. The gills, folds, pores or spines are attached to the stalk in a variety of ways and takes some time to recognize the differences. In Asia, mushrooms have been used for centuries for culinary, medicinal and aphrodisiacal purposes. The amount of different species is incredible. Every colour, shape and size grows out here in British Columbia. Amazing to see.

Looking forward to hunting for more!