Into the Wild
HOW TO FIND ‘CHICKEN OF THE WOODs’ MUSHROOMS
Words: Sam Webster, @totallywilduk, totallywilduk.co.uk
When picking mushrooms, a reliable guide is essential to ensure you are only picking and consuming mushrooms that are safe. You should never eat mushrooms if you are unsure of their identity, or if you are not 100 per cent certain that they are edible. This article should only be used in collaboration with other guides.
As summer is well under way, we have lots of hot sunny walks in the woods to look forward to – but I’m hoping for rain, as it brings about the start of the summer mushroom season! The best time to go looking for mushrooms is two or three days after a decent rainfall, so the mushrooms will have had time to grow to a decent size, making them easier to spot. However, the mushroom I’m going to tell you about isn’t one you can easily miss: chicken of the woods, or formally known as Laetiporus sulphureus!