They say all mushrooms are edible — once .
I have been hunting and consume risky mushrooms for more than 20 year . What makes me an expert ? The fact that I ’m still live . I ’ve taught thousands of others to do the same , and they ’re all experts , too .
The world is full of expert forager . much none of them have ever pluck up an identification Quran . How do they survive ? They do the one thing anyone who wants to scrounge safely needs to do . It ’s what you do when you ’re not sure what you ’ve witness is edible . It ’s the only thing you require to recall , and it ’s just one word . It ’s a verb with just three letters .
Here ’s a hint : it ’s noteat , try out , footrace , seeordie . It ’s not911either , though that ’s penny-pinching .
Give up ?
The Holy Writ isask .
To ask mean to confabulate another person — particularly someone who knows more than you do . I highly warn beginners from using recognition books . They can have more harm than good . At right , you ’ll spend two hours on what would otherwise take two minute . At forged , well , you know the expression , “ If at first you do n’t succeed ? ” … it does n’t apply to mushrooms .
In unforesightful , the only good study guide is one with two legs .
When I show masses an edible mushroom-shaped cloud side - by - side with one they consider a dangerous look - likewise ( or if you prefer , a “ dead ringer ” ) , they ask me the million dollar question : How in the human race can you say those two asunder ?
They ’re doing the right thing : they’reasking . In Southern Africa , where they run through a lot of mushroom , there ’s a well - known adage : “ The one who ask is the one who does not get envenom by mushroom . ”
My answer is simple : experience . Could you pick out your own mother in a crowd ? If you said yes , it ’s surely because she is literally conversant to you . Can you tell cabbage from iceberg lettuce ? If you said yes , did you learn that in school ? Did your parents ever sit you down and explain it to you ? No , you know this from experience .
Mushrooms are no different . Grow up with them , spend fourth dimension with them , and they are easygoing to pick out . You ca n’t find out it from a record book , and I ca n’t just explicate it to you . Trying to do both would do more scathe than unspoilt . Only practice makes perfect .
Learning to scrounge is simple . You do n’t demand a book . You do n’t need a fancy app . You do n’t even need to take a category with me . But you do postulate to do the one affair that for most people is scarier than even eat a potentially poisonous mushroom-shaped cloud , and that is toask for aid .
Remember the African proverb , and good forage is easy .
