It seems that the spring mushroom season is underway! Below is that first great treat of the year - the St George’s Mushroom (Calocybe gambosum). Typically it grows around St George’s Day - 23rd April - but these were a month early. It has been quite wet and I found these not too far from the sea. All sorts of mushrooms appear near the sea at odd times because of the mildness of the climate. St George’s are very tasty; don’t be put off by the strong mealy smell - this is reduced considerably during cooking.

Updated 30th March 2008. Several new foray dates have been added plus a “Wild Food Feast” at River Cottage.

Sorry about this commercial break! But:

The River Cottage Mushroom Handbook was published on the 3rd September. If you would like a signed copy it is available from the River Cottage web site. A much reduced version of the book came free with the Guardian Magazine on Saturday 1st September. There is also a DVD available to go with the book and an online mushroom course.

Now back to the fungi.

Welcome to this web site which supports my various mushroom forays and other fungal activities.

I run many forays each year in and around Dorset. In general each foray consists of a walk over what we hope will be fungi rich ground with each species named and described as we go (or, often, just collected for identification back at base). All the collected fungi are laid out on a table with their names attached and I talk through each one. Species are discussed and collected without regard to their edibility - if we find something nice to eat that’s great, if not - well maybe next time.

Full details of how you can join me on one of these forays are available on the Forays page. In addition to those held at River Cottage HQ, Kingcombe, Holton Lee and elsewhere, I also hope to run one or two private forays that will be limited to just a handful of people; take a look at John’s Forays for details.
If you come on one of my forays do check here for any photographs of the day and (sometimes) lists of the fungi found.

The fungi on this page are, from top left to right, Chroogomphus rutilus, Boletus calopus, Aleuria aurantiaca and Lepista saeva.

Warning: Eating wild fungi can be a wonderful way of enjoying the fruits of nature, but if you get it wrong you may kill yourself. Before you eat anything please read this.