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Warning:

Never experiment with a mushroom that you cannot positively identify. A poisonous mushroom can kill you.

Please note that the information in this post is for general information only.  We are not experts and before you attempt to search out wild mushrooms it is extremely important to read some expert guides and to seek the knowledge of those experience in foraging.

If you want to go hunting for mushrooms to pick then you must arise as early as the sun does and prepare some sandwiches with coffee to take on the trip. The process of hunting for mushrooms can be time consuming but one that ends up being a lovely activity in the outdoors with lots of fresh air.

The tools you need should be ready the previous night so you can start out straight away. One good reason to start early is the early morning sunrise helps you spot the mushrooms and it is easier to smell them in the refreshing air as the sun reaches over the horizon. If there are other pickers they tend to keep to themselves and if all goes right you are back home by mid-day ready to spend the afternoon cleaning your mushrooms.

Once you get to the spot you want to look for the spruce and pine trees and head for them and find the mossy areas since this is where it is moist and mushrooms love humidity. Then once you spot mushrooms you have to look for those with the outward curves which are convex formed on the cap of the mushroom because the majority of edible wild fungi have convex caps.

The tinting of the cap should be a brown shade from light yellow right on through to dark brown. In the area of pine trees you tend to find more, dark brown convex cap mushrooms.

After the pine trees you can head towards the shrubs and oak trees and check for more convex capped mushrooms. This at times is difficult due to the many leaves on the forest floor from the many trees and because the leaves and mushrooms blend well together because of many shades being similar then it makes for a challenging effort.

It means getting closer to the ground and moving the leaves around and once you find them you will see that the mushrooms near oak trees tend to be lighter in color while some will still be dark brown. Following the oak you can check our shrubs and birch trees where you will find reddish caps and light brown caps on the pore fungi.

The majority of the mushrooms are edible from the Boletus family making them a valuable commodity to the hunters of wild mushrooms. Once you find them you can slice them as close to the ground as possible.

Once you return from hunting you need to clean and cook the mushrooms and preserve them on the same day. There is a lot of energy expensed in mushroom hunting and preserving but they must be done since some will not last the night not even in your fridge.

Warning:

Never experiment with a mushroom that you cannot positively identify.  A poisonous mushroom can kill you.

Many consumers choose to eat organic food due to the fact they think it is healthier for them, but at the moment there is not actually any convincing evidence that proves organic food is more nutritious for you.

Although there are questions at the moment about the nutritional value of organic food, there are other factors that can cause people to purchase organic food.  For example, organic food is not treated with pesticides, antibiotics, or fertilizers, or hormones, which is one reason that it may be more beneficial to people’s health and certainly the environment.

In order to determine if organic food actually aids health, American researchers collected about 160 articles that have been published on the prominent issue over the past 50 years.  Out of these, the researchers decided only 12 of the articles actually met their criteria for determining the health effects of organic food choices.

Out of these 12, half of them only concerned short term trials that studied participants’ blood to determine if organic foods had an impact in the antioxidant activities.  There was no evidence that supported the idea that there are different nutrients found in organic and conventional foods.  It is worth nothing however that the studies had a small limited scope, were very small, and only lasted for a few weeks.

In terms of the other six studies, one found that there was an associated between the occurrence of eczema and organic food.  It was found in this study that children that consumed mostly an organic dairy product diet were less likely to develop eczema than their counterparts that consumed regular dairy items.

Scientists stated today that the increase of biodiversity and benefits of organic farming to wildlife are much fewer than originally thought.

In fact, while organic farms may have been thought of as friendly towards wildlife, the benefits to bees, butterflies, and birds are much less than that thought according to research by the University of Leeds due to the fact that the benefits do not make up for the lower yields of produce.

Experts from the University’s Faculty of Biological Science carried out detailed comparisons of conventional farming and organic farming and discovered that while organic farms had 12% more biodiversity present, they produced less than half of the normal yield of a conventional farm.

Leader of the project, Professor Tim Benton, said that over the next forty years in order to keep up with population increases food production will need to be doubled globally.

Benton continued to say that the results show that in order to produce this amount of food using organic farming twice the amount of land would have to be utilized.

The research studied two different farming areas located in the North Midlands and Central South West England and took into account many different variables such as topography, climate, soil type, and land use.

32 organic farms were paired with non-organic farms with some located in hot regions while others were located in cold regions in order to study the impacts of both types of farming in all environments.

A new survey asked consumers what they think when they enter a supermarket and see organic food on display, the majority answered either chemical free or expensive.

Expensive is true given the fact that organic foods can cost on average from ten percent more than conventional food, up to a massive100% more.

However, chemical free is not a true assumption as even foods that contain the label organic can still be grown with chemicals so long as the chemicals on are the list of approved substances offered by organizations across the UK and Europe.

Most people at major supermarkets who responded the question of organic food explained that the items were not made with pesticides or fertilizers.  In particular, one staff member claimed the food was not genetically modified, while only one was able to answer correctly, stating that organic foods are grown with the use of fewer chemicals.

Even a Soil Association spokesperson stated that organic food items were grown without pesticides before changing their response to a ‘minimal amount’ of pesticides.

Although organic food growers are not trying to scam consumers, some customers still feel a bit let down when they learn that there are still pesticides used on organic foods.

This could be due to the fact that most organic food items do not have labels that explain what organic really means.

For example, a bag of potatoes that were organically grown at a leading UK supermarket has a label that states the produce meets the standards of the EU and UK law.

With undiscerning labels such as these, it is easy to be misled since most consumers are not aware of what the standards actually are.

Finding out is an even larger problem, as  the standards are not available on the Soil Association website, instead only a Consumer Guide to their standards is available, which explains how organic farming is grown, but does not list the approved fertilizers or pesticides that are used.

The Christmas frenzy is now in full swing with many looking to find organic and eco-friendly Christmas gifts this year. Leading online organic and vegan retailer Greenlife Direct has increased its range of products this year and has a few tips to help with those last minute Christmas stocking filler dilemmas.

Booja Booja chocolate truffles are handmade and contain fresh organic bananas combined with organic French cognac and come presented in a beautifully presented wooden box, made from 100% renewable poplar wood. Such is their organic pedigree that they can boast being 100% organic, gluten, dairy and wheat free – meaning they are an ideal Christmas gift for vegan friends and family members.

To top it all – these rather delicious chocolate truffles are Non-GMO and have the Organic Standard by the Soil Association to prove it.

For those looking for something that is a little bit different but more on the side of new and slightly, dare we say it “cool”, Greenlife Direct have recently introduced the Mr Scruff range of teas. Renowned for his DJ skills Mr Scruff brought out his teas to help with the growing problem of teenagers binge drinking culture. He can be heard to announce on his UK wide tour “Let’s have a brew” – and his new range is being widely purchased by the teenager and young adults market.

His range includes Look Lively Tea Bags containing organic lemongrass, yerba maté and mint for a proper uplifting brew; whilst his Mint and Chilli Tea Bags is a blend of spearmint and peppermint with a twist of chilli for an extra mini-tickle factor – and should clear the cobwebs.

Visit Greenlife Direct for a wide range of organic Christmas Gifts from their gluten free Christmas Puddings to indulgent, organic chocolates, natural cosmetic products and much more.