The Mushroom Picker

As you can probably tell from the title of my last two dog blogs it has been a social week out in Oslomarka.

It is fair to say that there are a good deal of nature lovers who frequent the woods whilst you are at work.

Whether picking berries or mushrooms, birdwatching or just a bit of dogging (each to their own and all of that. It’s not really my cup of tea), Oslo residents head out into nature and follow their hobbies, passions and lusts.

This afternoon whilst out adventuring with my pack I bumped into the mushroom picker.

I saw him approaching from a good 100 metres away down the trail. He was scanning left and right like a man looking for his lost car keys.

I called in my dogs, very aware that not everyone has the same canine compassion as I do.

From 30 m away I called out a greeting to him and asked if he liked dogs. Like any good person, he indeed loved dogs.

I told the dogs that they were free to go and greet him. Suddenly he was met by five happy bouncing dogs around his legs as he bent down to cuddle them.

Naturally we struck up a conversation and I asked him what he was on the lookout for.

Well it turns out for this gentleman is actually an expert in mushrooms. Not only was he walking back from Movannet to Oslo searching for mushrooms, but he is also an administrator of the app “Soppkontroll”.

He went on to explain that if you pick mushrooms in the woods you can send in and upload photos between 3 and 7 pm every day.

Then mushroom experts volunteers will be able to inform you if it is one of over 40 edible mushrooms in their database.

What an absolutely fantastic service. If you enjoy picking mushrooms then please do check it out.

Doggies: Biscuit, Lucy, Twist and Kimba