The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms Review
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The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms by Pella Holmberg and Hans Marklund is a great resource for any wild food forager.
While no book can take the place of an experienced guide, this pocket guide should provide you with the information you need to forage safely for mushroom varieties that are new to you.
Fall is typically prime season for many mushroom varieties, so I am looking forward to taking this book out with me more later this year. I shared it with my neighbor last week, and if the weather cooperates this fall (you need rain for mushrooms, and it’s been a dry summer), we’re going to go investigating in their woods to see what we can find.
How The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms is Organized
The book begins with an introduction and discussion of what exactly mushrooms are and where they are likely to be found. It then continues with a thorough explanation of proper picking, cleaning and preparation.
The authors also note that mushrooms contain fiber, important minerals, antioxidants and vitamins B and D in significant amounts. Not bad for a “free” food. This book focuses on varieties that are suitable for cooking (edible varieties), but also gives mention to potentially inedible look-alikes, if any.
Given that the authors hail from northern Europe, so too are the mushroom varieties featured in the book generally found in northern forests.
Each mushroom is categorized from 1 to 4, with 1 being the easiest to identify with only edible mushrooms that look similar, to 4 being those that are edible but could be confused with poisonous lookalikes.
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You can stick with the #1 mushrooms (or beginner mushrooms) when you are just starting out and nervous about your identification skills.
In the interest of thoroughness, the authors also offer a detailed description of the potential symptoms of mushrooms poisoning. Stay safe, folks.
The bulk of the book is filled with two page spreads of52 edible mushrooms featuring detailed photos of the mushrooms in studio conditions, including cross sections, and photos of the mushroom in its natural habitat.
Each entry provides a description with distinguishing features, a guide to preparing and preserving, and a description and photo of look-alike mushrooms.
I particularly appreciate the extremely detailed photography with horizontal and vertical cross sections of the mushrooms. As anyone who has done any amount of foraging can tell you, good photos make or break a guide book. These qualify as good photos.
The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms is a useful addition to the library of any northern wild food forager, and the photos are beautiful enough that it would make a good “coffee table book” as well.
This post originally included a giveaway, which has now ended.
I walked through the woods most of my life and saw different mushrooms. I would like to learn on what I saw and kicked over when I walked and save them for eating instead of being a soccer ball.
what a treat to be able to use local wild mushrooms safely.
Mushrooms are scary – I would love a picture guide to make sure I am getting the edible kind – not the poisonous kinds. We seem to have a ton of the unedible around me.
This would have been so handy when we were camping and hiking with the Boys Scouts near Mellen. The boys were finding fungi everywhere and full of questions regarding the fungi. Unfortunately,none of the accompanying adults were versed in mycology. It would be a most welcome addition to our field guide collection.
I would absolutely love to win this book!
I never used to like mushrooms, but now… YUM!
We have a lot of mushrooms on our property , I have always wondered if they were edible.
I’m not sure I’d ever be brave enough to eat the mushrooms I find, but I would sure love to be able to identify them anyway.
Definitely my favorite Facebook page/blog! 🙂
This looks like a great pocket guide and a great website.
Would Love to have this book! With all the rain we have had and the acres I have to search, it would come in very handy! Thanks for the chance to win!
Ive always wanted to learn about mushrooms I am afraid to pick them because I don’t know which ones are safe
Looks like it will be a great addition to the homesteading library.
Love wild mushrooms!! Would be thrilled to win this book!! Thanks for the opportunity!
I have zero experience with this – thus I would love to win 🙂
this would make a great Christmas gift
I know nothing about mushroom hunting.
Always looking for new hobbies. This looks interesting.
i love collecting greens such as nettles and purslane but i have not been brave enough to forage mushrooms yet. i’d love to win this to help me get started!!
Our property has several acres of woods, and I’m sure there are lots of edilbe mushrooms out there!
Our family goes out to hunt morels every spring. We don’t really like to eat them- but the hunt is what is fun! Would love to know about other mushrooms. Thanks for the giveaway!
I would love this, especially where I live!!!
We would love to add a ‘shroom book to our homesteading library!
I wildcraft a few things – but I am not confident with mushroom ID. This would be a nice addition to our prepper-library 🙂
We have done some, but generally when we travel. Would love to learn more.
I am new to foraging. My husband loves mushrooms.
I haven’t had any experience with purely wild edibles although on a ride through my cousin’s wooded land we saw a lot of wild grapevines and they told me about the mushrooms and asparagus patches they could find from time to time.
Not much experience – yet :).
This book looks great. I would love to learn more about foraging for wild mushrooms.
love mushrooms 🙂 would love this book!
I have never eaten anything from the woods before, due to my lack of knowledge in that area. I would love to know more and feel safe to explore those uncharted waters.
When I was a wee lil’ girl, I used to go picking mushrooms with my dad. I don’t recall much, but that is probably due to the fact that my mom always filled all of my pockets with something to keep me occupied, mainly with crunch bars as I remember. I do remember eating the fresh picked mushrooms fried in butter…oh my mouth is watering already!
Another great giveaway. Would love to add this to my library.
Morels are “Da Bombdiggity!
Hope I win!!! 🙂
How awesome! I would love to learn how to tell the what mushrooms are safe for consumption.
I have always wanted to know how to tell safe mushrooms from harmful ones, so this looks like a fantastic book.
This book looks amazing. I love the ease of looking up a shroom and getting all the pertinent info quick with just a glance. That makes it handy. Thanks for your review and I absolutely LOVE your blog!!!
Thank you!
Yea! What a cool giveaway! 🙂 Some of my fondest childhood memories of spending time with my dad was when he took us on adventures, foraging for all sorts of things…morels, berries, nuts, paw paws, persimmons. When I married 10 years ago, I really got back into it because my husband’s father was a real “wildman” of the woods and we made frequent trips out with him and on his property. His big thing was hunting “sang” (ginseng) and he passed away unexpectedly in his sleep 4 years ago during a weeklong ginseng foray. Today, I do most of my foraging alone (although I’m looking forward to sharing this passion with my 2 girls when they get just a little bigger) and have expanded my mushroom hunts to include oyster, puff ball and chantrelle mushrooms as well. I also like to collect and use edible and medicinal “weeds” and that is particularly my favorite segment on your blog.
My grandma would take me mushroom hunting and foraging for wild edibles growing up. Those are great memories.
I used to go mushroom hunting with my grandma, too, and mom. They used to make pickled mushrooms that were slimy and can them.
My dad and uncle have gone ‘shrooming and have tried to teach me, but I just can’t seem to remember what I’m looking for like they do. I’d be scared to death to do it on my own. Having a guidebook like this would be mighty helpful.
I would dearly love to at least have a chance to win the “Pocket Guild to Wild Mushrooms” but I don’t do face book.
Just click the first option to enter and it should let you enter your email since you’ve already left a comment. I keep trying to do it to check and make sure it’s working, but the darn thing keeps automatically logging me in with Facebook. Leave another comment if you can’t get it to work, and I’ve have one of my kids try and log in from a different computer and enter your email.
I have always wanted to forage for my own mushrooms, but was afraid of making mistakes. This book looks like it would come in handy. Thank for the opportunity to enter to win one.
I went mushrooming once years ago with a friend who has since moved away. I’d like to go again but am afraid of picking the wrong kind of mushrooms. My husband likes calf brains. I have seen a mushroom that looks like brains but he said the ones I saw were poisonous. This book would be a wonderful way to learn the difference between edible mushrooms and poisonous mushrooms.
I’m 21 and started foraging this year…and I’ve been okay with all the leaves, berries, roots, etc that I’ve found…but I’ve been skeptical about mushrooms. I have an app to help me identify them on my phone…but in the middle of the woods I dont get reception so its really pointless. I would LOVE a book like this…gotta get one!
Everyone has such wonderful comments.
My dad used to hunt mushrooms in the woods behind his town when he was a kid, but he never taught us what to look for. Just last week I was talking to some friends about mushrooming as one friend came across a paw paw tree near her home and we got on about foraging. It would be great fun to go hunting next time we get together as we’re all into these things.
My family had mulberry trees growing in our backyard. As an adult I happened on a wild raspberry patch near our present locale, which my youngest and I hit every year until someone mowed it down. About 5 years ago our raised bed garden busted out in purslane. We experimented and found it makes a nice pesto when combined with basil. Also good in a salad with slivered red onion, cherry tomatoes and a vineagrette. 4 years ago I went onto making weed flower wines from dandelions and violets in our yard. All these positive experiences give me a desire to learn more.
We only know of a couple types that are safe to eat. Sure would like to learn more.
Just thinking I needed a book like this. Keep noticing mushrooms popping up in all the weirdest places!
I need this Book.
Love foraging when out hiking and this book would definitely be a great asset to any hiker/ foragers library.
We collect morels in the woods behind our house.
I am so excited we ate wild asparagus this year from our new property (well the road by it) and I recently read a book about backyard foraging and have discovered some cones of berries we’ll be harvesting to make sumac-ade as they suggest. We also found (thanks to a neighbor’s advice) a HUGE patch of wild blackberries that we’ve picked out of. I am excited to learn more and more about this way of eating! And we found sunchokes we’ll be digging this fall too 🙂
fantastic book! i will be buying this even if i don’t win.
I would like to learn which ones can be eaten around our area and this book would be awesome. We have a few around and would love to eat them if they are ok to do so.
🙂 Thanks
Would love to win this and learn about mushrooms. Currently eating lambsquarters in my breakfast smoothies and snacking on purslane.
This book is so exciting! My family and I already do a lot of natural edibles, but have always shyed away from mushrooms. This book may be what we are looking for. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve gone mushrooming with more experienced mushroomers for morels. FUN! Then my friends and I used to go hunting for wild asparagus and wild strawberries that grew around where we lived! I would love this book.
I love mushrooms this would be a great addition to my foraging books. My husband is finally coming around to eating fungus as he puts it. LOL
I would love to get a copy of this book..we live in a rural country area with lots of woods and when growing up my dad picked some bad mushrooms and was very very sick from eating them..
I have always wanted to gather mushrooms but was afraid I would poison us. This would be a great help.
I would love to be able to tell which mushrooms are edible!
What a wonderful book to have. We have all sorts of mushrooms growing on our farm. I have no idea which are edible and which are not. This book would be a wonderful to learn from.
I have foraged wild mushrooms for nearly 30 years. What I see in the description looks to be one of the best examples of a forager’s field guide I have seen.
My goal for this year is learning all I can about foraging and edible wild plants. This would be awesome.
My father-in-law used to take my sons out and go mushroom hunting. We canned them. Since he passed, I do not see the mushrooms anymore. I miss that. I want to learn what to look for so we can pick them again. My kids know what to look for but I don’t. I want to learn! I tried to sign in through Facebook through your link but it would not let me. I will find you in Facebook and try that way in a few minutes.
Yippee for this giveaway! I am excited about this book. Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention.
I have only found morels once in WI – maybe with guidance I can find them & more again.
This book looks awesome! Thank you for sharing it!
We would love to have this book. How often when we are out hiking we see mushrooms growing wild but have no knowledge of what is poisonous. We really hope to win!
Had no clue that there was another season besides Spring for mushroom hunting. Makes sense though.
This book looks awesome! My boyfriend and I are avid foragers, and could really use a guide like this.
What a useful book! Thanks for sharing.
This looks like a perfect mushroom hunting guidebook, as I’m sitting here on my deck looking at the fungus covering the tree trunk next door!
I live in beautiful Oregon, out of Little Fall Creek and am just getting into the mushrooms and foraging. Looking forward to next years truffles…
Good luck all. This is always fun. 🙂
I’ve never done any wildcrafting before this year. I’ve always been too afraid. I’ve been a subscriber of the Common Sense Homsteading feed for almost a year, and I’m finally finding all KINDS of things I never knew before! I’ve harvested wild mullein, burdock, nettle, jewelweed, yarrow, highbush cranberries and elderberries already thanks to this blog. Thank you so much!
The weather in our neck of the woods has been perfect for mushrooms. We have seen lots of new ( to us) ones this year. This book would be a welcome addition to our library.
We have had tons of rain and it has brought out a TON of mushroom varieties I haven’t seen in years!
I could totally use this.
This looks like a great resource book!
We just had some mushrooms pop up in our backyard. My mom thought they could be edible, but said to have dad check them out. Unfortunately he didn’t get over to our place in time… this would come in handy!
We love to eat mushrooms and would love to pick our own wild mushrooms but we are not familiar with the good and the bad. Living in the country with the mountains and the woods all around us there are millions of mushrooms just waiting to be picked. This book would be very helpful.
This would be a great thing to do with my children for school and we LOVE mushrooms!!!!
Love mushrooms. I bought shiitake plugs to try and grow my own, but we are in the middle of a move, so I haven’t tried it yet.
I so want to start foraging but am so worried that I’ll pick the wrong things. I need books with really good pictures to help me discern the different plants.
Nice book! Always have mushrooms popping up on the property and wondering if they’re edible.
My husband and I love to go mushroom hunting! We already have the book Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois and Surrounding States: A Field-to-Kitchen Guide (Field-To-Kitchen Guides) by Joe McFarland and Gregory M. Mueller and this would be a great addition to our foraging library.
Fried Morel Mushrooms are my favorite… I look forward to spring pickings of them
I love to hunt mushrooms, this book would be great to have!
I have always wanted to know more about foraging for mushrooms.
What a great addition to a BOB this would be!!
Oh! I need this!
What a great reference book. Thanks for the chance to win it. Good luck everyone.
Looks like it would be a beautiful addition ti a foragers library!
I was searching for a resource like this about a month ago but finally gave up. I’m trying to learn all the plants, trees and vegetation on our property. We have quite a few mushrooms that I’ve never seen. This looks like a good one! Hoping to win! 🙂
I haven’t tried the wild yet but with resources I sure will!
Lamb’s quarters is a very tasty iron rich wild plant, and I think it tastes better than spinach.
I grew up hunting Morels, we would do family outings in the woods with walkies-talkies, and everyone would have their favorite spot. I think this book would be a great way to add other mushrooms to my repertoire.
I grew up hunting for morels and now I’m trying to learn the other edibles, like the Chanterelles, black trumpets, chickens. So much to learn.
Looks like a very nice book. I love foraging for greens and berries but I haven’t put the time and effort into learning about mushrooms!
Looks like an awesome very detailed book……………..
look like an great book !!! hope i win 😉
Definitely and awesome thing to have. Although i do not forage for mushrooms yet I have been wanting to get into it since my husband is a mushroom lover. We definitely spend a lot of money buying them in a grocery store when they happen to be all around us.
This is what we did for foraging: http://wp.me/p3LdJc-9R Grape leaves, pine needles, and dandelion. I’ve wondered about mushrooms!
I’ve been wondering if there are any toxic lookalikes for lambsquarters?
I searched and came up with a reference to Nettleleaf goosefoot, which appears to potentially contain high levels of saponins, oxalic acid and nitrate compounds: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/WEEDS/nettleleaf_goosefoot.html
Comments seemed to be mixed as to whether this would be dangerous or not.
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Chenopodium+murale
This would come in handy. My BFF and myself love to forage, and she has aquired many books on mushrooms, but they are all so large and bulky.
I would love to try and identify some of the mushrooms that grow here. What a wonderful gift idea!
We are just starting out in foraging!!! We have a couple guides, but, this book would be awesome!!!
perfect addition to our go-bags!
I have never foraged for mushrooms for fear of picking the wrong ones. I’d hate to poison my entire family. This book would be enough to actually make me try it for once!!!
Really neat boom! Would love to win this!
Don’t have much experience with wild mushrooms. This guide would be super useful to help me get started.
I want to gather mushrooms but I need the info to do so
I need this. Looks great!
I have mushrooms ( a few different varieties) growing in my yard and would love to know if they’re edible. There are still others that grow in the woods across the street – this would be amazing!
We LOVE morels here but I’d eat any and all edibles if I knew which ones they were!
My mom and I were just talking the other day about learning what mushrooms are okay to pick. What a great book!
My in-laws forage for wild mushrooms. They’re from Italy and very old country. Amazing finds too. Love going with them!
I have picked chantrells and shaggy manes but would really like to know more about different ones so I can forage for them
This looks like a wonderful book.
One summer I went mushrooming with Russian friends in the mountains above Salt Lake City. They were experienced gatherers and together we collected enough mushrooms to spend the rest of the evening processing, cooking, and eating a fabulous meal of a variety of mushrooms. I went home with enough pickled mushrooms to last for a month. It was a memorable experience.
This would be great, as we hunt for mushrooms already, but only morels, and a couple different fall mushrooms. Thanks for such great giveaways, whoever gets this one is sure to put it to great use.
Love mushrooms but really have limited experience on what kinds of mushrooms are out there. This really looks like the right guide for safe hunting and eating!!!!!!!!
My husband and I have always wanted to gather mushrooms but never new which ones were edible. The book would help us so much, and it seems to have great picture and description’s. Thank you so much for the opportunity to win this book, and for all of the hard work that u put into your site.
I would love to know more than just morels!
This would help me out so much!! Thanks!!
I would love to learn more as I live with woods all around me.
Awesome! Just in time for fall mushrooming! Thanks for the opportunity!
I’ve eaten morels and puffballs before, but would love to be able to recognise more species, edible or not!
Purslane “pickle” Relish. Purslane grows rampant in my veggie garden. I thought it was okay to eat, brought it in looked it up washed it chopped it smallish poured leftover homemade pickle juice over it. Hid it in the fridge for like a week, then sprung it on the family! They had no idea it was a weed, but I didn’t try it until they said it was good! And it was good.
Very cool!
I blogged an interesting “foraging encounter” a while back. 😉 http://tocomefullcircle.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/a-scary-run-in-with-nature-and-lessons-learned/
I try and learn a few new wild edibles to collect and eat every season and always wanted to learn more about which mushrooms to harvest. This is perfect for that!
Looks like an awesome book!