During autumn in Tuscany everyone wants to pick up mushrooms. 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 at the Post office: (conto corrente postale) 6750946
- Credit transfer IBAN IT87 P076 0102 8000 0000 6750 946
- 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, the week or the year n 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
Remeber 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
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.
Read the regional regulation about mushroom picking: Regione Toscana web site
