Wild mushrooms for beginners
Here are a few mushrooms you can find in (and around) Berlin, throughout the year, which are relatively safe for a beginner to forage for. "Relatively safe" means that there are no toxic look-alikes, but as always, never consume a mushroom unless it has been correctly identified as safe for consumption. The mushrooms listed here are not a source of information for exact identification.
CHICKEN OF THE WOODS
Look for these large beautiful mushrooms in mid-May or June and then again around September. They tend to grow like fans or shelves on a number of different dead or dying broadleaf trees. It's easy to get excited when you find one, as they can get pretty big in size. But only harvest younger, small to medium-sized mushrooms, as larger mushrooms can be tough and woody (and may already be home to beetles and other critters).
CHANTERELLE
Did you know that chanterelles can already be found as early as June? Their bright yellow-orange fruit bodies are difficult to miss and they can be found throughout the summer until around mid Autumn. Look for chanterelles around pines or birch as they have a mycorrhizal (symbiotic) relationship with trees. You can tell them apart from other mushrooms (like the false chanterelle for example), because they smell sweet, have "false gills" (meaning that the gills criss-cross), and do not have a hollow stem.
BAY BOLETE
All throughout Autumn, you can find bay boletes practically everywhere in Berlin and Brandenburg. They like to grow in either coniferous or mixed forests- my experience is that they prefer being near pines and beeches. Characteristic are their brown caps and yellow pores, which turn blue when bruised. Remember to remove the pores beforehand in the forest (to release the spores!), otherwise you'll be cooking slimy sponges at home later. Also I recommend dry cooking them first if it has been raining the past few days.
WOOD EARS / JELLY EARS
When it is winter and there are hardly any edible wild mushrooms to be found, wood ears are always a welcome sight! You can actually find them all year round, but they are most prominent in the winter months. Look for them on sticks and logs or on old elder trees. Although they have 18 different host trees, my experience is that they somehow really like elder. Wood ears are best cooked in soups or used in salads, as these mushrooms are more for texture than for flavour.
Where to go get your mushrooms checked
If you are unsure about a mushroom, please go have it identified as being safe before consuming! In Berlin, you can have your mushrooms checked (for free) at two different locations:
Berlin Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum
Unter den Eichen 5, 12203 Berlin
(at the Botanic school in room E05)
Every Monday between 2pm - 4pm
PABB e.V.
Nature Conservation Foundation Berlin
Potsdamer Str. 68, 10785 Berlin
(on the fourth floor)
Every Monday between 5:30pm - 6pm
Further reading
-Fungarium by Ester Gaya
-Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
-Mycelium Running by Paul Stamets
-The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing
-a mushroom field guide specific to your part of the world (for Germany, I like the Kosmos Pilzführer series)
Learn more
So you've been captivated by the world of mushrooms and you're eager to learn more. Here are a few (low cost or free) ways to continue your journey
-watch youtube videos
-join mycology related subreddits such as: r/mycology or r/mushrooms
-follow other mushroomers on instagram (like me for example ;)
-join your local mycological society
-go out into the forest as often as you can
I've discovered that the best way to learn is to observe. Mushroom hunting goes beyond the mere outcome; it's a practice that encourages us to slow down, practice mindfulness, and truly appreciate the act of noticing and delving deeper. Even when we return from the forest with an empty basket, there's always an opportunity to discover and learn something new.
