This past Saturday I had a lovely afternoon of foraging in Prospect Park with friends Leda, Meredith, and Liza. We spent most of the expedition picking garlic mustard and bishop’s elder, and digging up field garlic. But then eagle-eye Meredith spotted the mother lode – oyster mushrooms!
If I had to guess, I’d say it was about 5 pounds (or more) and I had to use my trowel to divvy it up. Each share was at least enough for a dinner for two. It was the first time I’d ever found an edible mushroom – I usually buy them (for a pretty penny) at the farmer’s market.
That is a big mushroom. I also love mushrooms, but I still have to buy those in cans at the grocery most of the time. And every time I find mushrooms somewhere, my problem is I don’t know if they are edible or not.
linkIt was a pretty big mushroom. Three of us split it and I got two meals from my portion alone!
I normally wouldn’t forage mushrooms – this time I had an expert forager ID it for me. Though I’m pretty confident that the next time I see a large oyster mushroom, I’ll know what it is.
I’ll admit, I was a bit hesitant to eat it. But I took the leap and it was delicious!
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