If you're still seeing mushrooms pop up on your front lawn or driveway, you're not alone. However, if you're tempted to fry it up with a good dose of butter and your favorite spices, it's best not to, unless you're a seasoned mushroom forager.
Foraging for mushrooms has become a popular past time for many Manitobans.
Plant specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, Scott Chalmers, is also an expert on mushroom foraging. He says mushrooms are still presenting themselves even now, in mid-October. But that season is closing soon. He says the reason we're still seeing them push through the ground surface every now and then is that the unseasonably warm weather.
"It's kind of the end of the shaggy-mane season. You'll see a few pop up especially if we get a rainfall," he explains. "But really what's holding them on here is the temperatures are well above normal, and they just keep popping up. So, basically once the ground hits about 5 C, it's kind of game over until the next season comes around."
That next season will be in May, but again it's important to know what you're looking for and what's safe to eat before you reach for your basket and go scouting for mushrooms. Chalmers says one can determine whether a mushroom is safe to eat by seeing where it's growing, and the season.
"Mushrooms are very seasonal, and it matters what are they growing on, what time of the year," adds Chalmers. "Those are big questions that can really help you in foraging."
Please listen to the entire interview with Scott Chalmers below as he shares on the good, the bad and the downright dangerous mushrooms that grow here in Manitoba.
For more on identifying mushrooms, visit the Winnipeg Mycological Society Facebook page HERE.