On a recent trip to Epping Forest, I came across some bracket fungus growing on an old log pile. I didn’t know what it was at the time, so I took some pictures with the intention of identifying it later.
So here I am and it looks like it was Turkey Tail Fungus, one of the polypore mushrooms. It has many pores on the underside instead of gills to distribute its spores.
I’ve done a bit of research and I’ve found that whilst it’s not dangerous to eat, it is tough and tasteless, so not worth the effort.
Well, according to many reputable sources, Turkey Tail fungus (Trametes versicolor) is very useful as a medicinal. A simple internet search brings up many brands of Turkey Tail fungus extracts for multiple ailments all around the world.
The big news appears to be that Turkey Tail fungus could be useful alongside conventional therapies for fighting cancer (https://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2012/251632/). Apparently it has good immune system boosting properties. However, due to the fact that it has been used widely for a long time, it is unlikely that it could be patented, therefore the pharmaceutical companies wouldn’t be able to make money out of it, so research is unlikely to continue to be funded.
Some websites claim that studies in Asia have found that it can double the life expectancy of cancer patients, but they don’t cite their sources so it’s hard to verify.
Huffington post has an extensive article if you want to know more – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-stamets/mushrooms-cancer_b_1560691.html
Nowadays, you can buy extracts from organically grown Turkey Tails. Traditionally, it was either boiled into a soothing tea, or chewed like gum! I may well give the tea a try, but I won’t be using it as gum! Boiling will kill any contaminants (including bugs), soften the flesh and extract the soluble polysaccharides (which are the medicinal compounds).
This site has some well structured information for identification etc. but basically, it has the multi-colour, fan shaped upper side that you can see in the pictures above. It has a white underside, with barely visible pores (up to 3 per mm), and white flesh. If it doesn’t have the white underside, it could be Velvet-Toothed polypore (Trichaptum biformis) with a violet, toothy underside, or the False Turkey Tail ((Stereum ostria) but that is more petal-shaped, hairy, and has a brown underside.
I had a couple of hours spare so I thought I’d go foraging the edges of Epping Forest in Winter (late January to be precise).
Not much to see today, but then it is absolutely freezing. The wildlife clearly has more sense than me! However, I did see a lot of Redwings on the village green, which was quite nice and not a bird that I was familiar with. I also didn’t have my camera handy, so this picture is courtesy of the RSPB website (www.rspb.org.uk).
Now this is something I’ve been trying to work on, identifying trees (especially deciduous trees in the winter). Silver Birch are pretty easy and straight forward any time of year, Elder is also fairly easy for me as I have one in the garden. Oak is quite easy, especially with all the Oak leaf litter around it. New to me was Hornbeam. Similar to Beech, but it has papery, winged fruits called ‘samara’ which contain the nuts/seeds, which in winter, hang down like brown papery decorations. Also plentiful out in Epping Forest is the good old Beech tree. Obviously, there are plenty more, but there’s only so much I can take in in one day.
Onto the key part of the day’s activities. Well, the sap isn’t up in the Birches yet, so they weren’t much use; the Elder is bare and didn’t even have any Jew’s Ears fungus either, however, the nuts from the Hornbeam Samara are edible, and there were still plenty of Beech nuts around too (although this is probably the last that they’ll be any good for eating).
The Hornbeam nuts are rock hard and tiny, so probably not much use except in dire circumstances, and with Beech nuts around, why would you bother? The Beech nuts are lovely. Opinions vary, but I think that they taste like Almonds. The Beech cast is the spiky part, inside that are the three-sided nut pods, however, the nut itself is inside that pod, so break them open first (yes, I have tried to eat the whole pod before, and while it still tastes nice, it’s a bit spiky!)
Once prepared, the Beech nuts look a little like pine nuts (in my opinion) which got me to thinking that they could probably make a nice alternative in a wild pesto (using nettles, or wild garlic to replace the basil).
Finally, on my way home I came across some crab apples. They were the last on the tree and well past their best, however, the recent frosts had managed to get rid of some of the bitterness.
So, in general, the Beech nuts were the only thing worth having on this trip, but I’ve learnt quite a lot too.
I was thinking about a new addition to my foraging gear/foraging pack, and I thought it might be worth sharing the rest too.
Of course, when I say my standard foraging pack, I mean my standard walking pack. After all, you wouldn’t want to come across a bumper patch of something special but not be able to take advantage of it, would you?
There’s also a handful of bits and pieces I take that I would class as foraging gear; That’s just stuff I’d have on any walk. It includes: Tissues, hand wash gel, pain killers, plasters, dressing and bandage, whistle, and compass.
I’d be interested to hear if anyone has anything different in their foraging pack?
My first crow garlic video, please bear with me and I’m sure I’ll get better with practice.
A short talk about foraging for Crow Garlic, how to recognise it, and how to bring it home and use it. Including looking for the dark-olive colour and height/stiffness of the blades (compared to grass), looking for the bulbs, recognising the smell from crushing the blades, or from bringing the plant into a sheltered area
Now I have a pot of Crow Garlic in the garden; It’s simple to snip some off, give it a quick rinse and chop it over this lovely chicken dinner; Which was already lovely, now it’s a bit more garlicky.
When I think about where to forage from, for such things as berries, fruit, leaves, seeds, nuts and anything else that doesn’t involve taking a whole plant, I take from anywhere apart from private property, unless I have permission to take from the private property. EXCEPT, and this is quite important; I don’t collect from busy roadsides or anywhere where pollution may be possible. Plants will absorb a lot of pollutants and toxins, and if you eat them, you absorb the baddies too.
When it comes to whole plants, there’s the law and also a little common sense too. By law (at the time of writing), you are not allowed to remove whole plants (so roots etc can’t be taken) without the landowners permission. That much is obvious when you’re talking about private property, but what about public parks and woodland etc? Well that’s not always simple. Contrary to popular belief, sometimes they are privately owned but with public access granted. In any case, you have to use your common sense. If you’re stopping to get one pignut in a big field, I’m pretty sure no-one will care; If you find a massive patch of crow garlic, it’s probably OK to take a few bulbs for your own use; But if there’s only one or two of what you want, it’s not just that you’re taking without permission, you’re also damaging the environment. Those plants may not grow back.
Most of all, it’s about common sense. Does your choice make sense when it comes to protecting the environment? Does it make sense when staying on the right side of the law? Are you really going to make use of all of that?
Soon to come, my first video entry; I’ll be digging up some crow garlic (with permission of course).