Whidbey Walks owner Elaine Woods just can’t pass up free food by the side of the road.

The other day, she made a stop to gather a basket full of her favorite wild mushroom, Lepiota rhacodes, also known as the shaggy lepiota.

“I try to learn a new variety each year,” she said. “Now I’m comfortable with about five,” she said.

Woods is not alone in her passion for wild mushrooms, as the popularity of mushroom hunting for delectable fungi is immense. Kennett Square, Pa., is host to a festival honoring mushrooms each year and only recently closed its museum dedicated the fungi. Telluride, Colo., hosts its own mushroom fest each August.

Whidbey Island is no slouch when it comes to things mycological. Over 5,000 species of mushrooms grow in the Puget Sound area. The trick is knowing which are safe to eat if the goal is to make them a meal, and where to find them.

“It’s important for the average person just getting into mushroom hunting to learn one or two really well and focus on these,” said Kelly Sweeney, a former WSU Master Gardener who began teaching classes in mushroom hunting in 1995.

On Whidbey, mushrooms like the shaggy manes, puff balls, meadow mushrooms and Chanterelles are just a few a hunter can find. Sweeney notes that two of the trails on South Whidbey’s Metcalf Trust lands are named after two families of mushrooms that have been found in the area, Tricholoma and Cantharellus.

“There are so many good mushrooms on the island, people aren’t aware of what’s out there,” he said.

Though generally associated with autumn, mushroom hunting can also be good for spring and summer species. Fall is usually ideal because summer is usually too dry, while the cold of winter freezes the mushrooms, which are mainly composed of water.

Gearing up for the mushroom hunting season, the Puget Sound Mycological Society held its annual wild mushroom show Oct. 19. This weekend, the Bellingham-based Northwest Mushroomers Association is mushroom hunting in the area of Bowman Bay near Deception Pass.

When heading out into the field on your own, there are some tricks of the mycological trade not to forget. Essentials include a bucket or basket to carry all of your tools. Paper bags will keep species safely separated, as well as isolate differing flavors. Plastic bags are not acceptable, as they do not allow mushrooms to breathe. Baskets are also excellent for collecting, as they allow spores to fall off collected mushrooms onto the ground.

Also a necessity is a mushroom field guide, a sharp knife, a notebook and pen or pencil to write down the location and conditions in which found mushrooms were growing and descriptions of the mushrooms themselves. It’s also advisable to know the lay of the land in a mushroom hunting area, and to bring along a compass and cell phone.

Sweeney stresses three rules for mushroom hunters to live by: Respect private property, harvest sustainably, and “When in doubt do without,” meaning that a hunter should never eat a mushroom he or she cannot identify as edible.

Harvesting sustainably ensures mushrooms fruit year after year, according to Sweeney. He recommended never taking more than a quarter of the mushrooms in a section found, and to cut a mushroom off at its base to leave spores in the ground.

As a major component of his teachings, Sweeney encourages people to grow their own mushrooms to feed their hunting habit.

Mushroom hunters know that there are some rotten apples out there that ruin the whole bunch. Some hunters over harvest, traipse through the forest, and just plain give mushroom hunting a bad name. Some longtime mushroom hunters are unwilling to share the location of their hunting grounds and, in some cases, discourage others from hunting.

But Elaine Woods wants people to know that not every mushroom hunter is irresponsible.

“Most people are careful mushroom hunters, but everyone needs to be thinking about the next guy and sustainably harvesting,” she said.

When uncertain or new to a species, Sweeney suggests hunters pick one mushroom in its entirety so the myceleum at base of the mushroom, which holds key identifiers, is intact.

Even if a mushroom is confirmed to be edible, people should only eat small amounts of mushrooms they haven’t tried before, as even edibles can have adverse reactions.

“Also save one, or a piece of one. Don’t eat them all, it could make the difference in choosing an antidote,” said said Margaret Dilly, a life member of the Puget Sound Mycological Society.

Dilly began scouring the woods for mushrooms in 1964. Since then she’s become a knowledgeable mycologist who assists the WSU extension office with mushroom-related questions. She and her husband, Claude, are active members of the Northwest Mushroomers Association out of Bellingham.

“Studying mushrooms is challenging like a crossword,” she said. “To be able to identify something is not easy, and mushrooms aren’t as easy as plants because there’s still so many things about them that we are learning.”

When Linda Good, a Langley resident, began mushroom hunting after moving to Whidbey in 1967, she made it a family affair and took her infant daughter along in a back pack. Now, her 13-year-old granddaughter, Faye, is accompanies her.

“At first it was so overwhelming with all of the Latin names, but I’ve really gotten into taking spore prints and the identification of mushrooms,” Good said.

Good is lucky enough to own 10 acres of woods, perfect country for finding mushrooms.

“I usually check my favorite spots a few days after it rains, but how often is pretty much determined by how much time I have to go exercise,” she said.

When bringing your mushrooms back to the kitchen, special care must be taken to not have a hunt end in vain. Mushrooms should be washed with a mushroom brush and should not be soaked. If temporarily stored in bags, use paper is preferable over plastic. Mushrooms should not be overcooked. The tried and true way to eat mushrooms is to simply saute in butter, but they can be barbeque and roasted, or reconstituted from dry and reconstitute.

That is, if you can find them first.