A most successful hunt (and a toad)

End of July is the time when the forest starts displaying significant edible fungus diversity. I was counting on seeing many different kinds of mushrooms, but certainly not filling the basket. This is normally for August, the high mushroom season. But the recent warm weather, coupled with ample rain has urged fungi to fruit in greater numbers than usual.

The first encounter was a family of humble russulas -

A bit useless in the pot, but always an indication that better goods are nearby

Then some giant chanterelles hiding under heather -

Many more to come this trip!

 A sudden movement in the undergrowth -

Not a deer. Thank goodness for that!

Right next to it, a beautiful cep -

Good enough for a desktop background, not to mention my basket

A lone Amanita, probably rubescens (edible), but the first rule of mushroom hunter who wishes to die of natural causes is as follows: NEVER put an amanita into your basket.

Best left alone

A little bit further into the woods there was a large clearing, partly overgrown with heather, with lots and lots of chanterelles -

These, and about a thousand more nearby - all ripe for picking

These chanterelles were growing under birch trees, so the next encounter was not unexpected -

Brown birch bolete, in perfect condition

As well as the one after that -

Orange birch bolete. Highly unusual to see one in July.

Further on the forest path, a lurid bolete -

Not only beautiful, but also edible after a bit of boiling

And another perfect cep specimen -

Delightful!

Not far from it, some common deceivers. My basket was already full at that point (all those chanterelles!), and in any case they are hardly worth taking due to their small size and lack of taste. Still, they are certainly good enough for a photo -

Lovely colours!

And so the foraging trip ended. The final result is in the photo below. It took me the whole of the next day to process all those chanterelles, and my family has been complaining that the fungal component of their diet has become somewhat overwhelming. But they needn't suffer any more: I got a solution for that. More about it later!

Clockwise from mid-left: slippery jack, bay bolete, four brown birch boletes, six ceps (and a cap), two saffron milk caps, orange birch bolete, lurid bolete and many, many, many chanterelles. A great haul, especially considering the time of year.

Some internet trolls

Do trolls like mushrooms? Anyway - breakfast is served!

Milky tea and chanterelle mushroom pie

After this, I had a most productive day in the forest - here is the teaser. Detailed report to follow!

Mostly frogs

I started off to the forest last Saturday hoping to get some first ceps, thinking that even though there hasn't been much rain lately, it should still be wet enough deep in the forest for some fungal goodness to emerge.

Just on the edge, I found this fungus -

Grey-spotted amanita

These fungi are apparently edible, but rules are rules: no amanitas in my basket! Ever. Its mere presence however was a most encouraging sign, meaning that my hopes for ceps were not unfounded.

But for the next hour or so, all I saw was this little critter, and hundreds and possibly thousands of its brothers and sisters, all hadly bigger than my little fingernail, hopping across paths and clearings to their promised ponds, or whatever counts as amphibian paradise:

So adorable!

So only much later, when I went right into the very heart of the forest, did I set my eyes on this magnificent sight -

What can I say - magnificent.

Not much to tell afterwards. There was a giant chanterelle -

Didn't know they could grow this huge

And then I got lost. Yes, that's right. In my home forest, which I know like the back of my palm. It was all because of logging. It's claimed to be "good forest management", but I really fail to see how it can be useful. Forests have been around for much longer than humans, and they somehow managed to manage themselves. Anyway, I mixed up paths because they no longer looked the same as they were last year, and took a wrong turn. After 15 minutes, I had my first doubts. This marshy patch looks familiar... Then even more doubts. This rabbit net looks just like the one I passed two hours ago... And then, finally - Those three rotten mushrooms on a log - oh dear, I'm about two miles away from the spot I thought I would be.

And that was it. The haul wasn't great, but the season hasn't really started yet, so I shouldn't complain. It has been raining more this week, so from here things can only get better!

Three ceps, one bay bolete, chanterelles, and wild raspberries and strawberries.

Spring archive - Part II

It has been very warm and dry recently, so much in fact that I had to start watering my garden plants. Not very typical Scottish weather!

There seemed to be little point to venture to the forest in these conditions, so I was sorting through some pictures, and found a couple in my mailbox, sent from Moscow region, which are worth sharing. Meet Gyromitra esculenta, the false morel:

In its natural habitat...

And in the basket, ready for processing

These mushrooms were subsequently parboiled and eaten. Now, if you look up reference on these, there would be warnings that these can be fatal when eaten raw, and even when properly cooked, may cause liver and kidney failure through the effects of cumulative poison.

They also, apparently, tasted more or less like slices of rubber.

Hmm, I'm not at all conservative with my food, but if I ever choose to risk serious poisoning, it would be for something that at least tastes good... Fugu fish, anyone?

Second chanterelle hunt

It has been fairly dry recently, so I didn't have high hopes for my foraging trip last weekend. But despite the lack of moisture, chanterelles were still growing, surprisingly more on sandy soil of the Tayport heath than deeper in the forest.

Deviating slightly from the path I took the previous week, I also found a semi-decayed lurid bolete, and a couple of overripe bay boletes. A forager's nightmare, this is. If only I took five steps to the left/right/off the path/took another turn (underline as required). Ah, well, you win some, you lose some.

And here are the trip results - all destined to go into a cream sauce a couple of days later:

About 500g here - already slightly dried out, but still good

Spring archive - part I

Spring in Scotland is not a great time for mushrooms. Fungi don't like appearing when it's below 15C it seems, no matter how much it rains. Rain, we have a lot. Warmth, not so much.

Nevertheless, around beginning of May you get some brave fungi that ignore this rule and stick their heads above ground. Such as these, peeking from under leaf blanket:

Tricholoma sp.

A few days later, I came across a much bigger group, growing in a rocky garden. Fairy inkcaps are always a joy to see. They are even edible, although due to their small size collecting any quantity would take hours.

If only they were slightly bigger...

Need some kind of automated micro-harvester!

First foray of 2014

This Saturday, as planned, I took to the forest in the hope of finding some mushrooms. I was expecting perhaps a few chanterelles, as it is still very early in the season, so only took a couple of small plastic containers with me.

Even before entering the forest, I knew that I should have taken more: the amount of fungal variety was much greater than you'd expect in mid-June. Firstly, puffballs:

Edible when young (like pictured)

Then, a beautiful red russula, complete with a slug -

Isn't it adorable how it is reaching out for food

And then finally, the stars of the show -

In significant numbers, too!

A nice looking fungus that I unfortunately I could not identify -

Rule No.1: if you can't positively identify it, don't take it, no matter how tempting it looks

Deeper in the forest, some slime moulds were munching their way trough moss and leaf litter -

It's yellow, but it's not a chanterelle

Overall, it was a much more successful trip than I expected. I even had to limit myself to taking the largest chanterelles so that I wouldn't run out of container space - very unusual at this time of year. One slight disappointment was that strawberries, which I expected to find in great abundance, were not quite ready yet. It has been fairly warm, but obviously not quite enough sunshine to let them mature properly. I'll just have to visit the patch in a week or so.

The grand total of the day:

That'll do Pig. That'll do :-)

Logs have ears!

This was one of unexpected winter discoveries that I made in small wooded area that I cross every day on my way to work. One day in late February a dead log sprouted brown-pinkish growths: Judah's Ears!

Temptation to forage them for food was powerful, but knowing how well-loved that particular log is by passing dogs, I managed to abstain. Also, I already have a pack of these wonderful fungi, in compact dried form, in my cupboard. So, just a photo -

Stunning!

Out of hybernation

This blog has been on hold for a while - partly because there hasn't been much fungi-related inspiration over the past few months, and partly because of real world issues. Russia's politicians have been consuming too many bad fungi lately. Or perhaps they have all been abducted and replaced by aliens. Either way, their war games involving occasional mention of ICBMs are unsettling. Nuclear mushrooms, I am not fond of. VERY bad for any other kind.

However, with the new mushroom season just about to start, even impending global destruction is not an excuse. So over the next couple of weeks I'll be publishing a backlog of my mushroom photos from this spring, and then if I'm lucky, some of this new season's early finds (first foray planned for this Saturday!), but for now - here is a photo of my breakfast from a couple of days ago.

Pan fried salmon with parsley and cream sauce, tomatoes and oyster mushrooms. Simple but nutritious. Enjoy!

The best way to start a day

Early arrivals, late encounters

Some early-flowering crocuses

Despite the current drop in the temperature (it was even snowing yesterday!), plant life is waking up. Snowdrops and aconites are out in huge numbers, and now later-flowering plants are joining them. Crocuses are now out, as well as a few butterburs, which I thought were summer flowers, but it looks like this year they were impatient to get out.

Impatient butterbur

Despite the relative abundance of flowers, there are still no pollinating insects in evidence, so I don't know what those early starts are hoping for. Must be invisible pink unicorns. They do exist, right?

Isn't it bedtime for your guys?

So, flowering plants are thinking that it's spring already, but fungi seem to be rooted in conviction that it's still late autumn. As evidenced by this fresh growth of sulfur tufts by the roadside.

Nature, you are not making any sense this year. Can you get your act together please?

Stash in the freezer

The ingredients

With all the recent frost and wind and fog, it seemed like spring was far far away, and mushroom season even further, so I was reluctant to open up my freezer. After all, what if it wasn't just a normal winter but the coming of a new ice age?..

However, with the arrival of snowdrops and aconites it became clear that we were safe from that catastrophe for now, and it was time to start eating into the stashes so that they are fully emptied before the new growth of ceps arrives.

I was really pleased that I was able to supplement my own ceps with an addition of wild mushrooms from a supermarket shelf, consisting of hedgehog fungus (bottom left) and grey chanterelle (bottom right). The three mushroom species, combined with some shallots and single cream, produced a great sauce for goose-fat roast potatoes we were having that evening. They all worked really hard: ceps provided flavour, grey chanterelles added colour, and hedgehog mushrooms were responsible for the firm, almost crunchy texture. White wine and cream took care of the rest!

And here they are, all together in a frying pan, just beginning to soften -

Ahh,, Beautiful!

Winter surprises

First aconites on woodland floor

I don't know what has been happening with the weather this year. Spring seems to be continuing, and it's a very wet a windy one. In addition to snowdrops, the first aconites have appeared, and I don't think those can be fooled by a brief warm spell.

At the same time, I am still spotting a surprising number of late autumn fungi. Lots of common ink caps, and just today a troop of large brown fungi that looked a lot like soapy knights, Tricholoma saponaceum, but could be some other similar-looking species.

All this fresh growth has reminded me that it's only five months to go till next mushroom hunting season, and I have barely started on my stash of frozen ceps. So next post  will definitely feature them, and it will be soon!

Soapy knights (possibly), in tight formation.

Fungi's magic for climate change

Today's snowdrops

It has been a long while since the last post, since my mind has been on subjects far removed from mushrooms. My obsession with all things fungi must have decided to take time off for Christmas - but it's back now, all refreshed and ready to keep me going for yet another year.

And not a moment too soon, as it looks like spring has arrived to Scotland two months early. First spring flowers have come out, buds on the trees are opening, and little birds in my garden just wouldn't shut up. As for the drakes on the mill pond... Ahem. All right, I'll stop right there, but you get the idea.

While I was pondering over the current weather anomaly, a message dropped into my inbox with a link to an article about fungi competing with microbes for nitrogen in soil, therefore preventing the latter from breaking up plant matter. This results in more carbon being retained in the soil, as opposed to being released into the atmosphere to add to the greenhouse effect. The article notes that not all fungi are created equal in this respect. It is just the ecto- and ericoid mycorrhizal fungi that do this, with their soil samples containing 70% more carbon than those of arbuscular mycorrhizal ones.

The most famous example of an ectomycorrhizal fungus is the cep (Boletus edulis). So here is an additional incentive to learn to cultivate it: if only we learned how, in addition to an amazing food source, we wouldn't need to worry about climate change anymore...