My first summer foraging, I found a perfect chanterelle. It wasn't one.

The wrong golden

Jack-o'-lantern mushrooms grow in the same clusters, glow faintly in the dark, and will make you very sick. The giveaway wasn't the colour — it was the gills. Chanterelles have forked ridges; jack-o'-lanterns have true, knife-thin gills.

What I learned

I walked away with an empty basket and a lesson worth more than any meal: the best foragers are the ones who don't mind being wrong. 'Not sure' is always the right answer, and the woods will be there next week.