Q. How long have you been studying and hunting mushrooms?
A. About 15 years now.
Q. What makes Western North Carolina an ideal place for a mushroom foray?
A. It's one of the most bio-diverse areas of the country, and it's not overrun with mushroom hunters as in the Northwest.
Q. How many kinds of mushrooms can be found in Western North Carolina?
A. I'd say over 3,000, depending how you count. New ones are being named every day.
Q. Is mushroom foraging a year-round activity? Or is there an optimal season?
A. The mushroom season in Western North Carolina runs July through October: basically the warmer months. There are a few exceptions, including morels in April, reishi in May, sulfur shelf in June and oyster mushrooms into the winter.
Q. What do you love about mushroom hunting?
A. It gives my mind–that loves to get something for nothing–a reason to get out into the woods. It reminds me of nature's abundance. Every outing has at least one surprise. Sometimes it’s finding nothing–except exercise–so it's also a Zen practice as well. It's also nice to know that when you pick mushrooms, the fungus that made them is still there, so it's like picking apples from a tree. Harvesting, selling or eating mushrooms is a sustainable industry.
Q. What is your favorite local mushroom?
A. It depends a lot on where it's growing, how old it is and how it's prepared, so it's hard to say. But the young reishi mushrooms in June are a little-known delicacy that come to mind.
A. The most common and popular mushrooms in the area include:
- Lobster mushrooms, which look and even taste mildly like lobster
- Sulfur shelf, also known as the chicken of the woods, which really does taste like chicken breast
- Chanterelles, which have a firmer texture than button mushrooms and a faint smell of apricots
- Maitake, also known as the hen of the woods, which has firmer texture with a meatier and nuttier flavor than the chicken of the woods.
- Honey mushrooms, also nutty but slightly sweet and tangy as well.
Q. In general, where can you typically find mushrooms in the wild?
A. Wherever it's moist. Often that's higher in the mountains, especially in mature woods. But I find just as many mushrooms in people's front yards because there's a lot of organic matter from recent landscaping. Or because the trees in the yard have little competition and the mushrooms are in symbiosis with the trees, so they do well, too.
Q. Please explain the dangers associated with amateur mushroom hunting--and recommendations for avoiding those.
A. Most of the danger has to do with pollution, not the mushrooms themselves. Although several hundred mushrooms are known to make at least some people sick, there are only a handful of deadly ones, and these are easy to learn to avoid. All mushrooms soak up environmental toxins however, so you want to be careful where you pick them. Unfortunately, power plants can spread mercury, cadmium and other heavy metals quite a distance. Whether it's fish or fungus, pollution is a global problem.
Q. What is your advice for just getting started?
A. Find a friend. Learn from a human field guide, not a book. There are clubs across the country.
Q. Is there a mushroom community here in Asheville?
A. The Asheville Mushroom Club is one of the largest and oldest mushroom clubs in the country. There are also many "feral foragers" in the area living self-sufficiently to some degree. Both groups love to share homemade wine and mead. For mushroom-hunting tours, visit my website.
If you’re interested in foraging for mushrooms, contact your local expert or mushroom club for tips and advice on how to safely harvest edible fungi. Learn more about Asheville’s Forest-to-Table legacy.
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