There are several opportunities to mushroom in the Western NY area. You can join RAMA (Rochester Area Mycological Association) who has forays including two at Letchworth.  Letchworth State Park’s Doug Bassett also leads several forays at Letchworth. And, Buffalo Audubon at Beaver Meadow has a few mushroom hikes.

WNY Mycology Club – has a facebook page in Buffalo

RAMA costs $20 if you are in the Rochester area, and $10 if you are in the Buffalo area, and $10 for students.  They have meetings, forays (hikes to collect mushrooms) and potlucks (tons of fun and yummy).

Who would like mushrooming?

  • Those who enjoy cooking
  • Those who like nature and want to saunter about the woods

Here’s what you need to know:

1. If you are going with RAMA, you meet at a location. Everybody goes out and hunts mushrooms for two hours (generally from 10am to noon), then you lay them out on a picnic table, people help you identify what you have (so you know what is edible and what isn’t). Everybody brings a picnic lunch, lawn chair and eats.  And, then you take your edible mushrooms home.

2. What do you need to bring. Bring a paper bag (not plastic), pocket knife, and a open flat basket to collect. And, your picnic lunch and lawn chair. Prepare to have FUN.

2. IF you are NEW, NEVER rely on a book for identification. Quick way to die. Get a book, try to identify what you have, but go with a mushroom club or expert so you definitely KNOW what you have. Mushrooms of North America  by Roger Phillips is the best. Costs about $20.

3. Always save one or a piece of the mushroom you are about to cook.  If you made a mistake–hopefully not a deadly one, it helps identify what you ate.  Eat only a small piece or portion of a mushroom…just like peanut allergies…this is something you have never eaten before and you could be allergic while others are not.

4. DO NOT eat mushrooms raw. They should be cooked, generally sauteed.

5. This is not a hobby for young or immature children (or people) . It is fun but requires a maturity level to understand that even one piece of a mushroom can kill you, make you incredibly sick, break down your nervous system, etc. You need to go with experts and then you will learn which ones are easy to identify, which ones require some knowledge and which ones require a significant amount of expertise (spore prints, microscopes, etc).