Foraging for fungi with friends.

Today a few families got together to go foraging for fungi with a Fungi Specialist from SANBI - Dr N Allsopp. She was a treasure trove of information and clearly her passion for the forest and its diversity rubbed off on us. I have foraged for about 4 years in the forest for Pine Rings but have always wanted to know more about what else grows here and if there is anything else we can eat.

Permanent inhabitants to welcome us

Off we go

Nope, not baboon dropping, rather a fungus that lives on the roots of the Eucalyptus Tree

Gorgeous shelf fungi

This one is used for dying wool and material

This one when open smells like rotten meat

Edible, I tried, but very peppery and unpleasant

A luminous bead like fungi on a tree

Crossing the Princess Kasteel River to my hunting ground

The treasure I came for - Pine Rings

A nice number of Pine Rings to go with dinner tonight.

Tomorrow I will show you how to determine that it is a Pine Ring and fresh enough to eat with the delicious recipe we used tonight. It was so good to be out in the cold winter air with some special friends enjoying this time of learning.