Lots of chanterelles

Possibly the ugliest cep photo
on the web

It has hardly been raining at all last week, but that doesn't stop a true mushroom hunter from trying, right?

As it happened, the trip was so successful that I ran out of plastic containers and had to put some of the pickings into a carrier bag. Very bad form, I know. Next week, I'll definitely bring a basket.

Lots of chanterelles

I took a couple of helpers with me this time. Usually, I prefer to go alone as very few people can take the required legwork without complaining, but this time I was glad to have two extra pairs of hands to order around. The final haul was 1.5kg, and it may not seem like a lot, but it is many hundreds of individual chanterelles. If you are alone on the job, it can take you hours to cut them. I am really looking forward to ceps because of this - they are so much less work. I did get one yesterday, it was small, desiccated and heavily sampled by slugs, but it's still a promise of the things to come. Provided, of course, that the current dry spell ends soon. Scotland is at this moment enduring the worst heatwave of the century: temperatures in mid-twenties and no rain for the past five days.

The forecast promises some reprieve on Wednesday, with the more normal +17C and rain. About time!