Mushroom lessons in Guadarrama: "You have to be careful. It ends easy in the hospital or the cemetery"

At the end of the 19th century, thousands of fortune hunters ventured into the Canadian Yukon in search of gold.

Many died in the attempt due to the harsh conditions of that wilderness, and they also made them poor ... only a few managed to get rich by digging gleaming nuggets from the

River

.

It was the last of North America's Gold Rush, so well portrayed by Jack London in The Call of the Wild.

We could say that a similar fever is the one that affects mushroom hunters at this time of year.

It is the arrival of the rains and the forests and mountains populate with avid collectors of this precious natural and gastronomic treasure.

Unaware of the intricacies of the setero world, and intrigued, I sign up for the introductory course to mycology proposed by

.

A course in which we will not face such inhospitable conditions as the Yukon prospectors, especially since we will learn to avoid poisonous mushrooms.

So we swapped the pan for a basket with a grid in the bottom and a razor, and we went out to look for mushrooms.

In four hours we will acquire the basic knowledge to distinguish the most common mushrooms of the Sierra de Guadarrama: chanterelles, edulis, pinicous boletus, wild mushrooms, parasols, thistle mushrooms or the striking lepista nuda or blue foot.

The poisonous

«We started the day by explaining what are the requirements in a place to find mushrooms, dismantling urban legends that abound on mycology, for example, that all brightly colored ones are poisonous, or that there is a magic formula to know if a mushroom is edible or not; We emphasize that the only real way to know if a mushroom can be eaten or not is to know the specific species »-explains

, our guide on this journey through the forests of Cercedilla-. «We teach the participants to classify genera in a scientific way, because only observation and science allow us to know the mushrooms, giving the keys to identify a species: what is the foot or hat like, if it has laminae or pores, if it has a ring o no...".

It rains lightly, but we seteros don't care, on the contrary, as Isabel says: "Rain and mushrooms are intrinsically linked." A raincoat and / or an umbrella and to continue with the class: Do you need special conditions for mushrooms to abound in one place ?: «It depends on the requirement of the species. In our community we have more than 150, and not all of them have the same environmental needs: there are some that come out in spring, others throughout the year, but the bulk comes out in autumn, and not all at the same time: some at the beginning of the season , because they need less humidity; Those that need more come out sooner or later depending on the years, and although there is a popular saying that with frost there are no mushrooms, there are species that care very little, even more, until they start to do more cold do not come out ».

A hiker, by Guadarrama.MIKAEL HELSING

As we walk looking at the ground in search of the precious treasure, Isabel explains the biological characteristics of the environment, since fungi are essential actors in the conservation of the ecosystem, so it is important to learn how to collect them correctly and sustainably.

We take the knife (the pros have a brush to clean the earth), we cut the mushroom by the foot and throw it in the basket, we do not have to tear it off the ground or damage the environment by raking.

In addition, «you cannot indiscriminately pick mushrooms, there are places where harvesting is being regulated with preserves where it is necessary to obtain a license, in

, for instance.

The best thing is to find out in the municipality where we are going to move », continues Isabel.

"We do not allow the damage or the collection of species that are not edible: we do not collect all and then at the end of the day we select those that are edible or not ... we must avoid that outrage."

The most abundant

Suddenly I see a red-orange mushroom, with a flat hat and the brim rolled down ... "It is a chanterelle or lactarius deliciosus, also known as rebollón, the most abundant of the wild edible mushrooms in our forests", he points out Isabel.

And one of the most delicious, I add.

But, be careful! As I said at the beginning, not all mushrooms are edible, in fact, those that cannot be eaten are more common:

“It ends easy in the hospital or in the cemetery, there are many deaths from poisoning every year.

I explain that picking mushrooms is a hobby, but above all it is a science.

And nobody can pretend to know in hours about something as complex as mycology, everyone can learn, although it takes time and experience ».

In Navalmedio they also organize family days and activities for children up to 4 years old, Pequesetas, in which the objective is to instill a love for the forest and conservation in the little ones.

One last question Isabel: where do you go to pick mushrooms?

"Professional secret!"

MYCOLOGICAL DAYS

Duration

: 4 hours

Organizer:

Navalmedio Experiences of Nature www.navalmedio.es

Meeting point:

To be determined by the monitor, in the Sierra de Guadarrama Park

Reservations:

918523019 reservas@navalmedio.es

Price:

20 euros

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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