Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Looks Like Its Going To Be A Good Year
I found five more morels today, and I wasn't even looking for them! With all the rain we've had, coupled with the fact that I've found over a dozen morels so far without even trying, I suspect that this is going to be a VERY good year for mushrooms. Now having typed that, I probably wont find another morel this year!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Morels!!!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
189/365: Chicken of the Woods!
Found a three pound clump of the famed Chicken of the Woods last night. Its been called the "60 mile an hour" mushroom, because you can spot it while driving 60 on the highway. I was doing about 15mph rounding a bend when I spotted this nice fresh sample.Laetiporus sulphureus, also known as sulphur shelf, is one of the "foolproof four," an excellent mushroom for beginners, since it has no dangerous lookalikes. Just don't pick it if it is growing on hemlock. As with any wild food, some people can have an allergic reaction, so if you're a first timer, just take a nibble of a cooked sample.
The mushroom has the texture and consistency of cooked chicken, and if you cook it in chicken broth, it tastes like chicken too! When I find it, its usually in enormous clumps, so I blanch it in boiling water and then freeze it for later. This sample yielded two pounds of cleaned mushroom for freezing.
Labels: chicken of the woods, mushrooms, Project 365, sulphur shelf
Monday, July 19, 2010
171/365: Black Staining Polypore
Meripilus sumstinei. It is an edible that is somewhat related to the excellent Hen of the Woods, Grifola frondosa. I spotted this huge growth from about 75 yards away at the base of a big old oak tree.Labels: mushrooms, nature, Project 365
Friday, July 09, 2010
159/365: Chanterelle
Friday, July 02, 2010
154/365: Fungus Five-0
Earned my "fifty" button from the mushroom club. I can now reliably ID over 50 wild mushrooms and slimes. Next stop, 100!Labels: mushrooms, Project 365, WPMC
Sunday, June 27, 2010
150/365: Mycena leaiana
Orange Mycena. Its not posionous, but you wouldn't want to eat it either.
Labels: mushrooms, Project 365
149/365: Laetiporus sulphureus
Chicken of the woods! A great edible, and one of the "foolproof four."Labels: mushrooms, Project 365
Thursday, June 24, 2010
147/365: Pycnoporus cinnabarius
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
141/365: Bolete
A pretty bolete I found. Not sure what it is, but it passed the edibility tests for my neck of the woods. No red pores, didn't stain blue, and no bitter taste. It looks like a birch bolete, but there were no birches to speak of where I found it, so I have no idea.Labels: mushrooms, nature, Project 365
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
139/365: Scaly Cap Inky
Coprinus variegatus, the scaly cap inky. Like all inky caps, the mushroom cap dissolves from the outer edge upwards and inwards, releasing the spores. This pic has them in various stages from just starting to emerge, to nearly dissolved.Labels: mushrooms, Project 365
137/365: Carbon Antlers
This is Xylaria hypoxylon, commonly known as carbon antlers. It is similar to Xylaria polymorpha, commonly known as dead man's fingers. What an appetizing name!Labels: mushrooms, Project 365
Sunday, June 13, 2010
133/365: Oysters!
The oyster mushroom, or Pleurotus ostreatus. Very easy to cultivate at home. This clump is growing in sterilized cottonseed hulls in a plastic grocery bag. We got the spawn and the agricultural waste at a recent mushroom club meeting.
Labels: mushrooms, Project 365
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
132/365: Saddle Up!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
118/365: Brown Cup
Brown cup fungus. If you squeeze it just right, the spores coming off it looks like smoke.Labels: mushrooms, Project 365
Monday, May 17, 2010
110/365: The Last Morel?
I think we're done with morels in these parts for the year. I spotted this one clinging to a creekbed. I found nearly 50, so it is my best year yet for morel hunting. Next up, chanterelles!Labels: morels, mushrooms, Project 365
Saturday, May 15, 2010
108/365: Smurf Village
Friday, May 14, 2010
107/365: Dryad's Saddle
One of our favs. We slice it into strips, dip it in batter, and fry it up!Labels: mushrooms, Project 365
Monday, May 10, 2010
103/365: Bag of Gold
Saturday, May 08, 2010
99/365: Look What I Found!
