Poisoned by my own fault!

[Prunella_Gatsby]

I'm one of those mature ladies that grew up in the 50's when rationing was just finishing after the wars and one thing i kept was foraging for natural abundant foods.

I like to look for mushrooms in Dulwich Park and Nettles/Borage on Rye Park. I come across a few people who do the same.

But just a word of warning to everyone contemplating this... i accidentally pickedup some poison ivy with a bunch of nettles, went home made a nettle brew and was not well afterwards.

I was rushed to Kings C Hospital where they identified i'd poisoned myself!

I felt such a fool and should have known better and to have checked every last leaf....

It has'nt stopped my appetite for foraging natural foods which would otherwise have gone to waste, alot of fruit trees are ready for harvest, so please be careful what you pick!

[The Minkey]

That sounds rather grim, Prunella, hope you are OK now. Did they identify what the poison was or were you guessing? I'm just wondering because Poison Ivy is supposedly not found in the UK. Hope it doesn't put you off the foraging.

[civilservant]

Really sorry to hear about your misadventure, PG, glad to hear you are better now. I too love to forage for mushrooms, but a bit nervously... although I've never yet tried nettle soup

However, natural foods rarely go to waste - fruit and nuts are the only source of food for birds and other fauna.

They need to eat now to build up their winter fat reserves and what's left over must tide them over the winter months.

I hear from the berry pickers that there isn't much fruit out there, as it's been a hard summer with extremes of sun and rain, so what we take means even less left for them.

[computedshorty]

I was cutting back some leylandie trees the other day and there was some ivy growing through the fence, it penetrated my socks and made a rash, I remembered that Oatmeal was good to treat it but had none so I used some porridge oats boiled up, that did releive the pain and the rash although itching did go away.

Wash your clothing that you wore as it will remain on them, and could reinfect you.

[uncleglen]

A work colleague asked me to pick him some of those small brown toadstools that are found in cow fields since I was going to the countryside. I wouldn't do it as I didn't want to be responsible for the aftermath. He got some himself and dried them and made tea out of them- he had a blinding headache for 3 days- and he said it wasn't worth it (I got the impression that they are hallucinogenic)

[red devil]

Trust me, if they were hallucinogenic he would've got more than a headache :)...

[Gidget]

Have seen lots of fungi growing at base of trees; anyone know what they are?

[The Minkey]

Not enough detail, Gidget, but a highly toxic one that likes to grow around the base of trees is the Deadly Nightcap.

Never known magic mushrooms to cause a headache, lol.

[Dulwichmudlark]

Good old liberty caps make for an interesting night

[PeckhamRose]

I had no idea that poison ivy grew in this country! Interesting thread!

[Annette Curtain]

Gidget Wrote:

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> Have seen lots of fungi growing at base of trees;

> anyone know what they are?

If it's hard and dark, then it's Bracket Fungus.

It's an indicator of disease in the root stock/heart wood of the tree.

[Saffron]

I was also surprised to learn that poison ivy can be found here, and even more surprised that it may have been brought here purposefully as an ornamental!

From the website: http://www.kingdomplantae.net/poisonIvy.php

Poison ivy has occasionally been planted in gardens for color. This is how it arrived in England and Australia.

[The Minkey]

The good old NHS site states it's not found over here, playing catch up as usual: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/bites-and-stings/Pages/Plant-dangers-garden-countryside.aspx

[Prunella_Gatsby]

Thankyou all for your messages of support and concern, i have taken points made by individuals and will now be even more careful.

Apparently yes, Poison Ivy does grow in the U.K.

It hasnt put me off foraging though - i'll just be a bit more alert and careful in future.

P.s i always leave plenty and put out special fatty foods for our wildlife and fauna to sustain them through the winter.

Thankyou all.

[Gidget]

Annette Curtain Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Gidget Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Have seen lots of fungi growing at base of

> trees;

> > anyone know what they are?

>

> If it's hard and dark, then it's Bracket Fungus.

>

> It's an indicator of disease in the root

> stock/heart wood of the tree.

I didn't touch it, but the colour was brown. It was growing in a vertical on the very lower part of the tree. If it is indicator of disease then I hope the council is keeping an eye on it.

[randombloke]

Prunella

Hope you are feeling better now. I recently attended a tutored foraging day in Oxfordshire with Woodland Ways and this topic came up.

They said it is absolutely critical that you make sure you have not inadvertently picked up something toxic in a bunch of something else. We were shown a Poison Ivy plant growing in amongst a bunch of nettle plants as an example!

The other thing that was mentioned is that you need to take great care in using the internet for research as a lot of webpages are US based and what may be called one thing there is called something different in the UK. One may be safe and beneficial and the other toxic and harmful.

A good lesson learned.

[Prunella_Gatsby]

My gosh Randombloke, that was a coincidence being shown Poison Ivy amongst Nettles - thats exactly what happened to me when i got poisoned. Must be more common than i thought....

Yes a lesson learnt indeed!.