Making spore prints from mushrooms is easy – today I’m going to show you how!

On the way home from church I spotted a fairy ring of mushrooms I believed were Chlorophyllum molybdites.

I stopped the car and turned around to take a closer look. There was a pretty good patch going on a mowed and empty lot.

Since I couldn’t carry the delicate things and drive at the same time, I handed three of them to my helpful wife to hold until we got home. She complained a lot… but didn’t drop them.

When we got home I showed the children how to make spore prints. If you’ve never made them before, it’s a fun exercise as well as being very helpful in identifying your mushroom’s species.

Step 1: Pick Some Mushrooms

This is easy and fun. Just don’t eat them because death.

Step 2: Get Some Paper

Take it from Dad’s printer. He won’t care.

Step 3: Cut Off the Stems

This is important. If you don’t do it, your spore prints will look blurry and stupid.

Here – do this:

Step 4: Lay the Caps on Your Paper

Spore-side down, of course.

Step 5: Reveal Your (Well… God’s) Art!

Spray your mushroom spore prints with some sort of a fixative if you intend on framing them. They smudge very easily.

Alternately, you can print on glass… then scrape the spores off and spread them around your yard to start new mushrooms. I also toss the mushrooms I find right into the mulch of my food forest.

And that, my friends, is how you go about making spore prints from mushrooms.

If you’re ready to go deeper into mushroom foraging and hunting for wild edible mushrooms, I highly recommend picking up a few good guide books. I created a list here – check them out.

Have fun!