In Search of Svamp
The Swedish word for mushroom is svamp. And I'm continually on a search for them as we take our walks in the nearby woods. Earlier this month, I took the above pictures on one such walk. After showing these cell phone pictures to a Swede, she said not one of them was edible --- especially the top red polka-dotted (makes me think of happy little gnomes!) one which is an Amanita muscaria (fly agaric) which, when ingested, will act on the central nervous system causing loss of coordination, agitation, nausea and sometimes even hallucinations. No thanks! Though I have seen chanterelle mushrooms in stores, I hoped to find some in the wild. No such luck --- and even if I did find one I would be worried about false identification and causing great harm to my body if I ate it. So, I decided to go with a safer option of finding one/many in an outdoor market. There they are! Right next to the lingonberries and blueberries! I bought a container full...
