Foraging in Canobolas State forest

Last Saturday mrshill and I headed into the woods of Canobolas State forest in search of mushrooms. This was our second time foraging for mushrooms. Our first time foraging was in 2014 near Oberon. Armed with baskets and brand new copy of Wild Mushrooming, we got in the car and drove just 10 minutes to Pinnacle Reserve, a short walk from the pine forests. I couldn’t quite remember exactly where the pine forests were but I knew there were some along the trail from Pinnacle Reserve, having run there the previous two weekends. The first fire trail off the main trail led to pine forests as far as you could see! When we first headed in we were not sure what to expect so of course we picked the first ones we saw (classic novice foragers!!). But it soon became apparent that we could be choosy and only pick the best ones - not too young, not too old, not hollow, minimal bruising and stains. 99% of the mushrooms we saw were saffron milk caps. All the other ones we avoided as we weren’t sure what they were. We left with two baskets-full - a nice haul for about an hour’s stroll through the woods. This yielded two dinners - pasta the same day and a pie two nights later. Mmmm yum! The best part of all was the proximity of the forest from home. Hopefully we’ll get back there a couple more times this season.