At the end of the season

I had a wonderful time in the forest this Sunday. The mushrooming season is clearly coming to a close, but I must confess that despite the scarcity of fungi, these last trips I find the most pleasurable of all. Mostly, because of the declining number of blood-sucking insects. A good repellent does away with 99% of the problem, but the remaining 1% can really hurt. Another reason, perhaps unexpectedly, is that there are fewer mushrooms.

Yes, that's right! When there are many mushrooms, they are harder to carry home, and also collecting them is a routine and not an adventure that it should be. Early August, every mushroom is just a +1 for the freezer. Late September, each and every one is an achievement and testimony to a mushroom hunter's skill.

And here was the first set - Lycoperdon perlatum:

Not that spectacular, perhaps, but edible and abundant

In fact, I have never cooked these before, so there is the challenge for tomorrow. After that, one of the forest staples:

Brown birch bolete - not the most amazing mushroom in existence, but every little helps!

Not long after - a whole family of slippery jacks:

Now, there is enough for supper in the basket!

Next, a perfect specimen of a fly agaric. Left it alone, of course, but kept my eyes peeled, because where there are fly agarics, there would be ceps, too.

If only it were edible... but so beautiful!

And then, right next to it - I couldn't believe my eyes! So late in the season, but there is was:

A cep! Touched by mould a bit, but still edible.

And here is the complete crop of the day. Just enough for tea!

Pearly puffballs (top left, brown birch boletes (centre), bay bolete (top right), chanterelles (bottom right),
cep (centre left), and slippery jacks all over the place.