Mushroom picking in Tuscany: some rules

During autumn in Tuscany everyone wants to pick up mushrooms and chestnuts. During this September, which is so warm and dry, people are going crazy because there are not the ideal climatic conditions for mushrooms to grow, but it’s just a matter of patience: autumn will soon arrive with its showers and, finally, mushrooms will also come along!

But be careful and take some minutes to read these instructions. Before wandering in the woods, if you want to gather our scented Tuscan mushrooms and you are a tourist or a resident, you have to follow some rules and laws.

If you are a tourist you have to pay a small tax to the Tuscany Region:

• Account number: 6750946;
• For: “Regione Toscana”;
• Reason for payment: “Raccolta Funghi”.

The amount is:

• 15€ per one day;
• 40€ per one week;
• 100€ per one year.

Important:

• in the reason for payment, remember to add the day or the week in which you want to go and pick up mushrooms
• remember to add your personal data on the credit transfer
• bring the bill with you when you go pick mushrooms, as well as your id card

Remebert that:

• The maximum amount of mushrooms is 3 kg per person per day (but if you find a giant mushroom you are allowed to collect it J )
• You can gather mushrooms during the day (from one hour before the sun rises until one hour after the sun sets).
• You are not allowed to use tools that can ruin the substrate, such as rakes or things like that.
• You have to put your mushrooms in rigid pockets that let them spread their spores; more specifically: you can’t use plastic bags.

You can’t pick up too little mushrooms, they have to be:

• Boletus Edules (porcini): more than 4 cm
• Hygrophorus marzuolus (dormiente), Lyophyllum gambosum (prugnolo): more than 2 cm
• Amanita Caesarea (ovulo buono): until you can see the gill

Hope you’ll have a lot of fun! If you need some inspiration about the itineraries, take a look at the Tuscany Walking Festival website, while if you need some mushrooms recipes, here they are!

Sometimes it’s hard to understand is a mushroom is edible or not. Locals Health Offices (USL) offer free micological consultancy to certify the edibility of mushrooms.  There is one for each province. Here are some “Sportelli micologici” contacts:

• Lucca
• Siena
• Pisa

Read the regional regulation about mushroom picking: Regione Toscana web site