The Countryside Code Fungal Appendix

1. If you are out in the countryside and find a mushroom you think is poisonous, do not panic and trample or kick it to ****. It cannot kill you unless you eat it. It doesn’t even want to kill you and it cannot chase after you either. It is a beautiful organism trying to reproduce itself. Leave it alone. (Oh – and do not eat it) (Photo above is an example – isn’t it lovely!)
2. If you find a mushroom and you don’t know what it is or if you can eat it or not, see 1. The same applies. If you want to identify it, take a photo and maybe one specimen.
3. If you find a mushroom, that you 100% know you can eat and you want to, pick – but adhere to these sub-directives:
   * Don’t pick the whole blooming lot – never more than your personal needs
   That includes large mushrooms like Chicken of the Woods growing on trees – never take it all
   * Always leave plenty of young and old (reproducing) specimens behind
   * If there’s only one or very few, leave them for others to enjoy, including other fungus-eating species such as deer
   * Keep your big feet from trampling the site and all the ecosystem it holds to bits. Tread lightly and avoid damaging vegetation
   * If you carry an open-weave basket, your dinner will arrive home in better shape and may even shed some spores along the way
4. With particular reference to Giant Puffballs: these are not footballs – they are not spherical. Nor are they rugby balls, golf balls, cricket balls or any other species of ball. Therefore, do not treat them as one. If you would like to eat one, pick it carefully, take it home, and share it with like-minded friends before cooking it. This is because if you try to eat a full-sized Giant Puffball on your own, you will be feeling nauseous by day three. They are way too big for one forager.
5. If you have children, take them foraging and teach them why fungi are so important to life on earth. Let them learn what’s safe to pick and what to leave alone as you do. Introduce them to this appendix to the Countryside Code.

(If you don’t know yet why fungi are so important, Entangled Life by Merlyn Sheldrake is a good read.)