Anyone who knows me, knows I am a mushroom maniac! When August rolls around and I find my first mushroom in the woods, the race is on between work, getting the garden tended, getting the winter wood in the barn and foraging for wild mushrooms! I have been foraging for mushrooms for about 20 years, but up until three years ago, I only picked one type, Hen in the Woods, also called Seniorina or Maitake. Scientific name: Grifola frondosa. Now, David (my husband) and I are up 7 different varieties that we pick in the woods. Black Trumpet, Chicken of the Woods, Oyster, Bear's Head Tooth, Morel, Giant Puff Ball and of course the big daddy of them all, Hen of the Woods. By the end of November, every meal is made with fresh mushrooms, the freezer is full of mushrooms and my dehydrator has been working full time! I just want to say here that I have done a lot of research on the mushrooms that I pick. I would never encourage anyone to go out and just pick mushrooms without any knowledge of what he/she was picking. Many people are skeptical about wild mushrooms, and they should be. I do; however, encourage people to research the benefits of mushrooms.
I was first introduced to Hen of the Woods or Seniorina mushrooms in Rhode Island. Many of my friends foraged for them and would bring them to us and they were delicious! I wanted to pick my own and tried to convince my friends to show me where they grew and how to identify them in the wild. Well, it took several years, but finally one of my friends took me out to search. You see people who forage for mushrooms are very protective of their "territory"! The wonderful thing about these mushrooms is that they will grow in the same spot for years. So, if you find one, you can almost be guaranteed ( if you pick it properly) that you will find another one in the same spot the next year . After I found my first mushroom, I was hooked and I have been foraging ever since.
Now I used to forage and eat mushrooms because it was fun, a great way to get exercise and of course the added bonus was free food. Let's not forget they were so delicious! And I still forage for the same reasons, but now the more research I do on mushrooms, the more I find out how beneficial they are to your health. This time of year when it is flu season they can help to boost the immune system. I attribute the fact that we have been healthy all winter to us eating at least 3 meals a week with the mushrooms we have saved. Hen of the Woods is one of three mushrooms that I pick that are helpful to defend against the flu. The other two are Shitake and Reishi. Shitakes are commercially grown and found easily in the grocery store. Reishi mushrooms can be found in tea. ( Reishi or Turkey Tail mushrooms are very hard and are ground up to make the tea.) Hen of the Woods can be found dried, ground in capsule form and tea.
I also found out recently that mushrooms can absorb vitamin D by drying them in the sun. They will even hold the vitamin D in them up to a year or more! I will be doing that in the fall when I start to forage again. Vitamin D helps keep the immune system healthy and is something we Northerners are lacking due to where we live.
So now you know just some of the reasons I am a mushroom maniac! Mushrooms rock my world!
Below are a couple of websites and articles for those interested in doing some more reading on the benefits of mushrooms.
Paul Stamets is a world renowned mycologist and I recommend that you go to his website: fungi.com
You can find some incredible information on how mushrooms play such an important part in on this planet.
Here is great article on Dr. Mercola's website: mercola.com Healthier Alternatives to the Seasonal Flu Vaccine: Garlic, Zinc, and Vitamin D
Another article from 2009 about mushrooms and the flu.
http://blog.healthfoodemporium.com/family/mushrooms-and-the-flu-264
Enjoy!
