Mushroom Picking

Once upon a time, my friend Ksenia had told me that she was going mushroom picking to which I enthusiastically responded, "mushroom picking?!? Tell me more!"  It sounded like a fun adventure and so when one of my friends here in Sydney told me she was going, I had to get in on the action.

Perhaps it's more of a Eastern European/Soviet Union activity as it seemed quite common to them, one being from Russia and the other from Ukraine, but the thought of going out for my own wild mushrooms hadn't really crossed my mind.

This past weekend, we went off to the Belanglo State Forest for a quick weekend getaway.  It was only on the way there that I had learned about the dangers and reputation it received but luckily, there was comfort in traveling in a large and well-traveled group of folks who knew what they were doing.

Fun team building games were organized to welcome us onto the campground and to get to know each other a bit more.  There was a bit of mushroom sighting but we saved it for the day after so as to pick and take them home at their freshest.

Frolicking through the forest in between trees and searching for mushrooms was exhilarating and each time we found the smaller ones (that are less common to come across), it was like finding treasure! 86 mushrooms later, I decided to call it a day for picking these Saffron Milk Cap mushrooms:

I even counted up to 86 in Russian!

Peek-a-boo! Mushroom eyes look like donuts...just sayin'

These beautiful Saffron Milk Cap wild mushrooms have such a beautiful and vibrant orange color.

An important note about mushroom picking: definitely do your research and go somewhere known for mushroom picking as there will be signs and pictures on the edible types of mushrooms.  "If in doubt, go without!" Also, don't forget to bring your knife and a bag or box to place your mushrooms in.