How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Identifying 29 Wild, Edible Mushrooms

Loved this book! Read it cover to cover. I bought it both in paperback and in Kindle so I can either carry it in my day pack or open it on my phone. It's a beautiful book with really good descriptions and beautiful, clear photographs. Plus it has information on look a like mushrooms that are dangerous and how to tell them apart from what you're looking for to help keep you safe. I'm all excited and off to hit the woods!!

I bought it as a present for a beginner mushroom hunter and it's the perfect book. It didn't have too many mushrooms but it is a good thing because it's not confusing. The rule is simple, of it's not on the book, just didn't eat it. It really does what the title says; it allows you to get some edible mushrooms without dying.So far, were alive, so it worked.

“How to Forage for Mushrooms Without Dying” is quite the mouthful, but most guides are. Yes, it even has a longer name—did you want to see that? Sigh, well. It’s “How to Forage for Mushrooms Without Dying: An Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Identifying 29 Wild, Edible Mushrooms”. Now that’s a title. But again, most are. Otherwise they’ll be just one word, like “Change” or “Dust” or “Mushroom”, that sound cool and chic and all, but don’t actually explain what it is they focus on. Usually these will keep you in the dark until you’re halfway through—or have given up and moved on to something less abstract. This title here isn’t too abstract. In fact, it tells you exactly what this book is about, and what wisdom it hopes to impart. Namely, how to forage for mushrooms. Without dying.Originally, I had just planned to review this by saying I’d foraged for mushrooms and not died. Problem is, I read this at the start of winter. And I live in the Rockies. Most mushrooms in this book aren’t found in the Rockies. Like, at all. The ones that are have seasonal availability, but uniformly aren’t present in winter. Except for Oyster Mushrooms. I know they grow in winter because I’ve found them before. The thing is, I’m not about to go out in the cold and snow just to find them. Guess I’m just not that dedicated. Plus I get cold easily.I received a free ebook copy of this in exchange for an honest review. But… I liked what I saw so much that I wanted an actual print copy. To like, take with me. While foraging. (Also, I kinda thought that color pictures would be nice, and with mushrooms I don’t like to take chances.)Luckily, the author of this doesn’t like taking unnecessary chances either. As such, he’s only included mushrooms that are easily identified, plentiful, and don’t share characteristics with any poisonous fungus. See, this isn’t an end-all guide. It’s very much a beginner’s guide—for beginners. I may have been foraging before, but I’m very much not an expert.In the beginning, the author (Frank Hyman) explains the concept of mushrooms. Their structure, growth, reproduction—things like that. It’s all very basic, and he doesn’t go into great detail. Again, this is a <i>beginner’s</i> guide. If you want to know more, ask a mycologist. Or get a thicker book. Or both. After the chapter on getting to know mushrooms, there’s a “how to” chapter on foraging. It turns out that even with mushrooms that are edible, you need to be careful about how you cut them, store them, otherwise they might still make you sick. Three important points I picked up from this include: 1) if you’re not sure what it is, don’t eat it. This one seems straightforward, but bears repeating. Don’t eat it unless you’re as sure as sure can be. 2) even if you are sure you know what it is, only eat a little. At first, at least. If it doesn’t kill you, doesn’t make you sick, you can always try more. But there’s no reason to overdo it. In mycology, as in most things, a little caution can’t hurt. 3) try to store your mushrooms in a paper poke, or on ice. This will keep the fungus fresh longer. You know when you get mushrooms from the store and put them in the fridge for a few days and after a little, they get these soft, greyish, bad looking spots on them? Yeah, those are actually another kind of fungus or mold that can make you sick if you eat it raw. It’s more prevalent on wild mushrooms, but still. Anyway, there are more tips and tricks inside.The third chapter gets to the heart of the matter. Foraging. Mushrooms. What to look for, how to identify, how to double-check, where to find and in what season, how to cut, cook, and preserve. The next three chapters deal with foragables—detailing different kinds of mushrooms and what will help you find them.The next chapter is brief, but important. It shows you some commonplace, but vital, mushrooms to avoid. Ones that will make you sick if eaten. Or maybe even kill you. I would’ve liked to see this section farther away from the edible mushroom one, though it still slaps icons and X’s all over the place to help avoid confusion.The next two chapters deal with cooking and preserving, and an overview of the various tools of the trade that will help with mushroom harvest. These are more of an afterthought to the beginner (to me, at least), as you can only get so into something before you’ve actually done it. Foraging comes first. If you’re serious about it, you can worry about the tools and the recipes later. The final chapter concerns where to go from here. If you enjoyed the book and the foraging, it suggests further guides, books, and reference materials. If you didn’t, well, you’ll still have this one guide in case you ever want to try again!I’d definitely recommend this guide (though only so much as I haven’t used it in the field yet) to anyone interested in the basics of foraging. I’ll be sure and post a followup once I actually do use it in the field, but in this one case I think I can definitely say that I’d prefer the physical copy over the ebook. Ease of access is import here; being able to flip through the book without having to worry overly about the wet or damp or dirt (there are some nice water-resistant glossy pages in its paper form), but a more important aspect is the pictures themselves. My e-reader, while useful, doesn’t do color. I put a copy on my phone, but it wasn’t great for showing the whole picture, the text, and the detail in a helpful manner. A tablet would work, but would also be clunkier. Nope, I’d recommend the paper copy if you mean to use this in the field—without dying.

Easy to read and good photoes

I have several mushroom foraging/growing books on my shelf. This book is so much more helpful in many ways! First of all, it specifically describes the differences in poisonous lookalikes, which every mushroom book SHOULD do. Also, the pictures are obviously professionally taken and do not leave you squinting at the page. The author understands that no novice mushroom hunter is going to know the names of mushrooms and look them up by name, so he categoried them in ways that make the mushroom you're looking for easy to find. For example, if I find a mushroom growing on a tree without gills, I know where in the book to look. This is the perfect book for beginners! I've always wanted to hunt mushrooms, but never before felt confident enough to identify anything other than morels. Now I feel like I could safely identify any mushroom in this book!

Awesome guide. Very worth the purchase 👌

This is so great for beginning foragers. The pictures are great. The descriptions, and advice are spot on. I really like that it jump starts any further research for each species. I use it all the time. Glad I got it!

i have hunted mushrooms sporadically for 15+ yrs so i sort of know all the mushrooms in the book, but I started with an Audobon guide, which is huge and has lots of things of no interest if you're foraging. I still enjoy the Audobon guide, and a handful of others, but I got this book for my brother who has been afraid to take the leap.For someone new, this book lists 30-some "EASY" mushrooms, those that, if you're paying attention and using even a bare minimum of care, should be safe. It also explains what "makes" them a safe species vs any possible lookalikes, describes where to find them, etc.Its the best starter book I have found. Just wish the text was bigger, my brother's gonna end up in the woods in reading glasses....

Did you know mushrooms should be stored in paper bags? Did you know far more people get sick from mishandling edible mushrooms than from eating poison ones? I didn't, even though I had a mushroom guide book, I joined in online forgaing group and used foraging apps. I was was still woefully unequipped and nervous. If that sounds like you, buy this terrific book!It tells you EVERYTHING you need to know and it does it concisely in simple language. It removes all the confusing obstacles that stands in a newbie's way like me, It's also funny, entertaining, and the pictures are beautiful.It's compact as you can see in the photos I have it compared to a standard size and medium size book. The covers are water-resistant and the pages are high quality.I highly recommend this to all beginners, and maybe even some intermediate foragers.

It is very useful having a good guide while I am in the field looking for mushrooms. Very useful with the identification.

This isn’t an encyclopedic guide but it’s super practical by focusing on general foraging tips and helps you more confidently identify the most common mushrooms you’re likely to encounter in North American woods and, conversely, the most important pitfalls to look out for. Strongly recommend, even for moderately experienced foragers. And the author’s technique for cooking mushrooms is a game changer!

I absolutely love it. Book is relatively small (smaller than A4). Colourful pictures are accompanied by great explanation of main aspects of habitat, look-alikes, cooking advice etc. Written in normal English language, easy understandable by any person. No academic or scientific fillers. Everything is short, simple and efficiently made.

This is a really good book on mushrooms... details of mushroom anatomy, colour pictures and excellent tips. This is one of the most complete and useful mushroom books I have ever bought.