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Mushroom Hunting for Beginners: A Starter's Guide to Identifying and Foraging Fungi
Learn to enjoy all the benefits of mushroom foraging with this accessible and affordable adaptation of the best-selling guide Complete Mushroom Hunter.
Mushroom hunting is great in so many it gets you outside, teaches you about science and the environment, connects you with like-minded friends, and allows you to enjoy mushrooms’ wide variety of uses in food, medicine, and beauty. Mushroom Hunting for Beginners offers the essential information you need to get started with this rewarding hobby.
In this beginner’s guide, Mushroom guru Gary Lincoff walks you through best practices for hunting and identifying wild mushrooms, mushroom safety, as well as some tips for preparing and using the mushrooms you collect.
The great photographs and intriguing stories included in Mushroom Hunting for Beginners will draw you in, and the practical, detailed information and tips will make you into a well-seasoned mycophile before you know it.
Edible mushrooms are everywhere, and once you learn how to look for them and identify them, you will be hooked on mushroom hunting, whether it’s in your local city park, a suburban cemetery, or rural woods.
This valuable reference
Practical information on getting equipped for mushroom foraysAn illustrated guide to the most common wild edible mushrooms and their poisonous look-alikesAn illustrated guide to medicinal mushroomsWhere to forageMushroom identification skills How to use your harvest, including a selection of mushroom-infused recipes for tasty food and medicinal and beauty products
If you are new to mushroom foraging, this book is the perfect place to start. If you are more experienced, this is a great go-to reference to refresh your knowledge and skill set each season. So grab this guide, your gear, and get hunting.
Mushroom hunting is great in so many it gets you outside, teaches you about science and the environment, connects you with like-minded friends, and allows you to enjoy mushrooms’ wide variety of uses in food, medicine, and beauty. Mushroom Hunting for Beginners offers the essential information you need to get started with this rewarding hobby.
In this beginner’s guide, Mushroom guru Gary Lincoff walks you through best practices for hunting and identifying wild mushrooms, mushroom safety, as well as some tips for preparing and using the mushrooms you collect.
The great photographs and intriguing stories included in Mushroom Hunting for Beginners will draw you in, and the practical, detailed information and tips will make you into a well-seasoned mycophile before you know it.
Edible mushrooms are everywhere, and once you learn how to look for them and identify them, you will be hooked on mushroom hunting, whether it’s in your local city park, a suburban cemetery, or rural woods.
This valuable reference
Practical information on getting equipped for mushroom foraysAn illustrated guide to the most common wild edible mushrooms and their poisonous look-alikesAn illustrated guide to medicinal mushroomsWhere to forageMushroom identification skills How to use your harvest, including a selection of mushroom-infused recipes for tasty food and medicinal and beauty products
If you are new to mushroom foraging, this book is the perfect place to start. If you are more experienced, this is a great go-to reference to refresh your knowledge and skill set each season. So grab this guide, your gear, and get hunting.
- GenresNonfiction
375 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 19, 2023
23 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 16, 2025
this book was super informative and put a lot of emphasis on how important it is to know what mushrooms you are gathering. definitely got me excited about doing more foraging and learning more about edible plants!
August 27, 2023
*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book*
I am a seasoned mushroom hunter and this book is not suitable for beginners at all. The general parts are well done and it has a reasonable approach to the risks connected to mushroom hunting, but I think it is incredibly dangerous to name but not to show the poisonous lookalikes or at least refer to them with a page number. Making people pick mushrooms and not having a picture of Amanita vera, for example, right next to it, is pretty dangerous. Same holds true for some of the other mushrooms. The guide also fails to help beginners to get a feel for the spectrum of colours that caps, for example, can have.
In general, I think you should accompany a seasoned mushroom hunter at first and not rely on any (!) books. This guide kinda gives you the wrong impression when it comes down to actual mushrooms, the rest is okay.
Sorry, but I don't think using this book is safe when it comes to mushrooms.
2 stars
I am a seasoned mushroom hunter and this book is not suitable for beginners at all. The general parts are well done and it has a reasonable approach to the risks connected to mushroom hunting, but I think it is incredibly dangerous to name but not to show the poisonous lookalikes or at least refer to them with a page number. Making people pick mushrooms and not having a picture of Amanita vera, for example, right next to it, is pretty dangerous. Same holds true for some of the other mushrooms. The guide also fails to help beginners to get a feel for the spectrum of colours that caps, for example, can have.
In general, I think you should accompany a seasoned mushroom hunter at first and not rely on any (!) books. This guide kinda gives you the wrong impression when it comes down to actual mushrooms, the rest is okay.
Sorry, but I don't think using this book is safe when it comes to mushrooms.
2 stars
August 28, 2023
Mushroom Hunters for Beginners by Gary Lincoff is informative and contains gorgeous photographs of various mushrooms. Not only that but there are also useful charts and information on world markets (one of my favourite things in life!). The author helpfully points out different search areas including local parks and lawns, necessary gear, how to find the right habitats, mushroom field groups, seasonal guides, mushroom identification (toxic mushrooms are even more important to know than choice edibles), truffles and what to do with your bounty.
As a very experienced mushroom forager I am always seeking book recommendations for beginner foragers and will happily recommend this one. I have the fortune to live much of the time in white truffle territory in Istria, Croatia where even neighbouring Italians come to buy this very sought-after delectable product. What is more fulfilling than enjoying nature and learning about and finding your own food? Spotting your first morel, porcini, black trumpet or death cap is eye opening and life changing. Abandon any worries...books such as this one are a great first step to take in expanding your knowledge.
This guide is brief and does not include various views or spore prints of mushrooms which are critical to beginners. But it does contain several of the most widely-known mushrooms and comparisons with toxic look alikes. Fabulous inspiration!
My sincere thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - Quarry and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this fascinating and useful book.
As a very experienced mushroom forager I am always seeking book recommendations for beginner foragers and will happily recommend this one. I have the fortune to live much of the time in white truffle territory in Istria, Croatia where even neighbouring Italians come to buy this very sought-after delectable product. What is more fulfilling than enjoying nature and learning about and finding your own food? Spotting your first morel, porcini, black trumpet or death cap is eye opening and life changing. Abandon any worries...books such as this one are a great first step to take in expanding your knowledge.
This guide is brief and does not include various views or spore prints of mushrooms which are critical to beginners. But it does contain several of the most widely-known mushrooms and comparisons with toxic look alikes. Fabulous inspiration!
My sincere thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - Quarry and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this fascinating and useful book.
July 24, 2023
"Mushroom Hunting for Beginners" is a refreshing and inspiring guide for novice foragers. From identifying edible mushrooms to safety tips, this book covers it all. It strikes the perfect balance between informative and enjoyable, making it a must-have companion for woodland adventures. I love mushroom foraging myself so i found this book a great refresher. My only negative was the volume of the mushrooms included. Happy hunting!
August 24, 2023
Clear and accessible language, filled with good photos that help show the different types, and I loved the charts that discussed where you can find the different types. The section on poisonous mushrooms was incredibly helpful as well, with the chart discussing the symptoms and treatment options of these types of mushrooms important and really homing in the point that the these are poisonous mushrooms. I enjoyed this book a lot and I think it is great for beginners.
November 19, 2023
Informative read
I have friends interested in mushroom picking, and thank God they tossed what they had, dummies picked poisonous ones. I thought I would educated myself and head off disaster. This book showed me it's not as easy as one would think, and I don't think I would risk it. I'm glad I checked it out.
I requested and received a NetGalley arc to peruse gratis and give my opinion in the same
I have friends interested in mushroom picking, and thank God they tossed what they had, dummies picked poisonous ones. I thought I would educated myself and head off disaster. This book showed me it's not as easy as one would think, and I don't think I would risk it. I'm glad I checked it out.
I requested and received a NetGalley arc to peruse gratis and give my opinion in the same
July 27, 2023
ARC NETGALLEY APP REVIEW
Not in my top favorites but we’ll curated and thought out. I would recommend it to more advanced mushroom hunters verse beginners. It lacks some thing I would look for in a beginners book.
Not in my top favorites but we’ll curated and thought out. I would recommend it to more advanced mushroom hunters verse beginners. It lacks some thing I would look for in a beginners book.
August 10, 2023
I'd rate "Mushroom Hunting for Beginners" by Gary Lincoff a 3.5 out of 5 stars. While the book offers valuable knowledge about mushrooms and foraging, I found the design lacking and noticed some photo repetition. Despite these drawbacks, the informative content made the read worthwhile.
June 7, 2025
I’d say this is a great field guide and covered most of the mushrooms I was hoping to learn about.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews