Do you remember the excitement you felt running around the backyard on easter egg hunts when you were a kid? Well, if you feel like rekindling that feeling Autumn is a great time to do that with mushroom hunting. There are many kinds of edible mushrooms in Victoria, but the 2 most common types I’ve stumbled across are Saffron Milk Caps (i.e. pine mushrooms) and Slippery Jacks. They are quite distinctive in appearance and a quick google search will show you how to recognise them.
Remember – if in doubt – leave it out!
Photographed below is the top of a Saffron Milk Cap. Quite often they are partially or wholly obscured by pine needles so be sure to look under any suspicious mounds of pine needles. In terms of where to find them – yep you guessed it – look for areas where there are pine trees.
The bottom of the saffron milk cap and its sap when cut are what gives it its name. It will ooze a bright orange sap when cut (make sure to cut it and not just rip it out, that way the mushroom can regrow). Note the bright orange gills and hollow stem.
The following mushroom is called a dirt bomb and is not edible. However, I found several saffron milk caps in the same vicinity so this is the sort of area you should be looking in.
A basketful of saffron milk caps after about an hour rummaging around the pine trees. They bruise easily so try and carry them in a basket where possible.
