Crazy ideas

Stage one: putting in spores

This weekend there was no forest trip, alas. This forager fell victim to a rather nasty common cold virus and had to spend a few days under a warm blanket, with painkillers and lots of tea and raspberry jam.

It wasn't all that bad. In fact, I think all people need a break from normal routine once in a while. We keep hearing that finding a cure for common cold is imminent, but I sure hope it won't happen in my lifetime.

Anyway, while semi-conscious in bed, I had this brilliant idea of how to cultivate chanterelles. All you have to do is to make a plantation of tiny trees of the required variety (birch, beech or pine will all work), put in some chanterelle spores, and - voila! You have a cultivated chanterelle.

Need I say that my paracetamol-infused brain could not find a single thing wrong with this plan! So I dragged myself from under the blanket, found the biggest chanterelle I had in the fridge and stuck it next to my rescued beech sapling that I found uprooted by forest management operations a few months ago.

Now that life is beginning to get back to normal, I have my doubts. But who knows, it might just work. There was at least one report of successful cultivation of chanterelles, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.