Archive for August, 2006

Essential equipment

One of the great things about mushrooming is how little equipment you need. A basket, a knife, a few guidebooks – that’s about it – or is it? That makes mushrooming a great hobby compared to fishing for example. You can fully outfit yourself for less than the price of a half decent rod and [...]

One of the great things about mushrooming is how little equipment you need. A basket, a knife, a few guidebooks – that’s about it – or is it?

That makes mushrooming a great hobby compared to fishing for example. You can fully outfit yourself for less than the price of a half decent rod and reel.

Take a look at the things that I take with me when I go into the forest in the company of my friends, and the other things I carry when I am alone.

The First Foray

Today was my first trip into the forest since June (when the Forest was bare apart from one solitary Summer Cep). As you can see from the photo on the left, there wasn’t much about and, what there was, wasn’t of particularly high quality (Click on the photo for a better view – don’t forget [...]

Today was my first trip into the forest since June (when the Forest was bare apart from one solitary Summer Cep).

As you can see from the photo on the left, there wasn’t much about and, what there was, wasn’t of particularly high quality (Click on the photo for a better view – don’t forget to use the Back button to return).

I drove in to the South-West side of the forest and left the car. There is a track along the Southern edge of the forest that has some special spots (petits coins in French) where I usually find the first Ceps of the year. Today, however, all was bare. I headed North until I hit the Les Forges road, then West towards Les Cinq Chemins. As I was shuffling along the side of the road, poking around in the ditch, a car pulled up… “Any luck?”, the driver asked.