Hi, I live on Prince Edward Island Canada and the liberty cap season is getting very near. Last year i was lucky and the cold nights killed most of the other mushrooms and left the LIBs more easier to spot and i had a small gathering but it was my first year at it and for a noob I did an alright job of collecting. Although this year i have found a new spot on a cow and horse pasture where the ground in and round it is well fertilized and there is lots of short grass and plenty of sedge. This area is also home to other mushrooms species. Does anyone know if there are any LIB look-alikes ? If so how can I idetify them, and make sure im gathering the fungal fruit i have come to enjoy? Also i was wondering what are some drying/cleaning and preservation techniques? Please do not send me a link from another site, i would much rather read answers from the GC point of view Thanks...
Wow, Ive found another islander :O.. and its funny cause theres a huge possibility that I know you haha. Your right about a lot of stuff but heres some knowledge I've gotten over the past few years. Picking you should go at night/early morning when it is dewy or just rained. Definately after the first frost or you wont find any (we've already had frost so were good), I havent personally looked yet but Im sure there gonna be popping up really soon. From what Ive heard the caps here dont grow near or on shit but you should be look for grassy fields more than cow fields. There are other species that look like caps, the most common being the "lawnmowers mushroom" (panaeolus foenisecii), they will be the ones you will find over the place on your lawn after you've mowed. I found a bunch of these thinking they were caps, but certainly not. Really you just gotta compare pictures and the charecteristics of the lib cap and you'll be good.( try the shoomery.com!!) But the best way to be safe is to go with someone who has experience with identifying them.. best of luck and pm me if you have any questions .. & don't collect them in a plastic bag, collect them in a paper bag or basket, cause they might get all mushy from the humidity in the plastic bag ... Also don't wash them cause the philocybe in them is water soluble so it will make them less potent. They shouldnt be that dirty anyways and don't touch them too much. To dry them just lay them out somwhere on newspaper or cardboard and set them somewhere in room temperature to dry out and they'll be good to eat after a couple days, but dont eat them wet make sure there dry (they'll lose some weight too). To preserve them i'd just keep them in a ziploc bag or if you wanna store them for a long time a air tight jar or something