Not those kind of shrooms

We decided to go mushroom hunting this Labor Day weekend.

Husband, Medium, Small and I (Large wasn't interested) had a great time hiking through the woods. Small's mushroom finding abilities are truely supernatural. I called him a truffle pig at one point. He didn't take offense, merely snorted. The hike was good for Small as well. Two weeks ago I had to run him to the ER for stitches. He was playing in the creek and fell, cut his knee open and required stitches. He had just gotten them removed. He was a brave one rough the entire ordeal, however Medium didn't take watching his little brother get stitched up too well. A nurse had to take him into another room. I digress, we are talking about mushrooms.

Medium called down to me, "found shrooms!" Then started singing on odd little ditty he made up. "You can't eat those" Small yelled in reply. "Not those kind of shrooms!" Medium laughed. I could only shake my head, what are they learning on the bus? 

Suddenly aliens invaded! These puff mushrooms are too late for eating, however we did find a couple more that were just right. 

I deemed this one poisonous. Firstly I was unable to ID it in my book, and secondly, when I pulled it there was a volva surrounding it. In the book, only the poisonous ones showed having such a thing.

Another one I was unable to fully identify. The top was very slimy, however it had gills, not matching anything in the book. As much as I like "The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms" I need another book.

Husband made me hustle when he found these Straight Coral Fungus. Never seen such a thing above water, and edible too.

Didn't pick this one, due to it looking to much like a no-no.

Now this Chanterelle got me excited. I know these mushrooms, and I know the difference from the false ones.  And we found many of the trues.

No, this is not a mushroom. It is a corner stone to an old road that use to go through our property. Found it with a mess of Bay Boletes and what looked like (in the book) to be Summer Cep.

I can hear the laughter from my conversant shroomers. We will get back to that in a bit.

I think this one is called Old Man of the Woods. Was unable to fully identify though.

We also plucked The Gypsy and Corrugated Milk Caps.

Once home, it was my job to reexamine the mushrooms, to be sure of what they are. 

Now back to the laughter.

I picked up the Summer crep. The book says that there are no poisonous look-a likes. However. . .

I broke off a small piece and chewed. Dear all that is holy! I spit it out as soon as it touched my tongue. Husband uproarious laughter followed me as a swished out my mouth with the water I had handy. It was Bitter Bolete. And it just wasn't bitter. It was so peppery that it burned! I heard Husabnd explaining the old bitter beer face commercials to Medium and Large, and their cackles shortly followed. Was I brave enough to do that again with a different type of Bolete?

You bet.

The Velvet Bolete was Devine,the Bay Boletes turned out to be red cracking Boletes. And the taste was to die for. Small helped me prep them for drying, he loved the way the yellow flesh turned bright blue when cut.

And though you take a risk drying out Chanterelles, I find it is worth it. They work beautifully ground up and added to dips.

The milk caps and (found both Saffron and corrugated) were canned. I added a bit of dill to help bring out the shellfish flavor. 

Oh, and mushrooms shrink when canned. I really should have cooked them for 20 minutes first, before canning, but it was starting to get dark, and I was exhausted.

The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms (book review)

By Pelle Holmberg and Hans Marklund

I must apologize, I am very late in reviewing this book that Skyhorse Publishing sent to me. I digress,

Both authors are biologists, and have worked hard over the years to spread their knowledge of mushrooms. 

The book is simple to read, easy to understand and the mushrooms described come with a color code so that once you find the picture of the mushroom you can quickly ascertain if it will kill you or not.

It also gives you the look-a-likes, what type of forest or woodland and where it can be found (US, Canada, UK) The book will also inform you of the best ways to prepare and preserve each type of mushroom listed.

This book is not complete. And the authors admit that. This is a small pocket guide to the more easily identified mushrooms, some common, some not.  

This has become my quintessential mushroom book for our hikes. It doesn't fit in my back pocket, but the BOB that I have emptied and now use for mushroom gathering, tucks it in nicely. Husband and I have brought it along on every hike. 

We took your advice and the books and searched for morels again this weekend. I am not ashamed to say I found nothing, as it is the first time I have ever attempted to look for them. I have heard people have looked for years before finding their first and others, not looking, stumble upon them. We did however find more mushrooms from last years batch. And the book helped us identify them easily.

We have more oyster and Indian oyster mushrooms than I first thought. And that is just close to the house. We will be drying them out and making mushroom soups with them come winter. However new ones are just now popping up, last years stand dehydrated in their glory. At least we know exactly where to go to harvest.

The book says there are other mushrooms (not all of the above are oyster) that grow on leafy trees, none are poisonous.  And can be found through summer months through the winter.

We think this is a bolete, however can not match it postitivly in the book. The authors suggest not eating anything you can not find in the book, however I will do some research to discover what it is. Like I did with the next set of pictures.

The above photos are of Black Cup Fungis. They are not poisonous nor are they edible. Just kind of cool looking. 

I neglected to get a photo, however Small has a great eye for finding mushrooms. He found a Death Cap.

Don't worry, he didn't touch. He knows what the bad ones listed in this book look like.

I do recommend this book for the beginner mushroom hunter. You may purchase the book through Skyhorse Publishing.

I conquered.

Sunday morning I asked husband if he wanted to go mushroom hunting with me. He readily agreed, although we had many other things to be doing, this was on my important list. Morel mushrooms should be about, however, alas! We found none. Yet we did find a plethora of last years offerings, and know where to go for them once they have reemerged. 

 

 

I have a mushroom book review coming soon, and will fill you in on the what-nots of mushrooms then.

 

We woke to a glorious morning. We are out of propane, and truthfully have been for the past month. Luckily I have a wood burner in the house, that with the use of  flywheels, works beautifully as a cook stove. The mornings still hold a slight chill,  and starting a quick fire, using the highly flammable poplar wood, isn't unpleasant. It dries quickly, and burns easily. Perfect for cooking when the weather starts to warm up and you don't want heat inside for very long. With coffee brewed, and dirty jeans pulled on, Husband and I left the boys to there own devices. Hoping that they would use some of their super powers for good.  I realize that is asking a lot.

 

Supplies in hand, or um in backpack, Husband and I headed to let the cows out to graze before heading to a smaller ravine. One I hadn't yet explored very far. No mushrooms to be spotted, however we found an old, crumbling well that is on the same side of the ravine as the old, crumbling cellar we found, just deeper in. There has got to be an old house near.

  Husband and I walked a distance, until I was stopped by a fallen tree that there was no hope of escape from.

For me that is. Husband thought he spotted a landmarker up ahead, so while he explored a bit more, I took in my surroundings.

 

"Up to your left!" Husband shouted. I looked up from the ravine, there was Husband double hand waving down at me. I yelled that I would meet him on the drive, near that white growth. Husband had other plans. "You should be able to climb right up this." I looked up, and shook my head. What was he thinking? I am still gimpy. Yet with Husband's, we shall say encouragement (not childish taunting) I started up the side of the ravine. At little past the half way point the soil became less rock and log and more soil and mud. My boots could no longer find purchase! 

"I can't" I cried out, slipping slightly. I looked down, luckily vertigo didn't set in. It was a 70ft climb, at a 60% grade, down to the rocks and boulders and fallen trees that make up the bottom of the ravine. Suddenly Husabnd was over top of me, a long sturdy branch in hand. I pulled, and slid, I even used my overly sensitive knee and scarred elbows to make my way up. With only one sharp cry of pain, I made it to the top. I then proceeded to inform Husband of his impending doom if he ever encourages me to do something like that again. He kissed me in response. 

Once I gathered my wits about me, I braved the small pine grove. There are mushrooms that specifically grow in these areas. And though I am allergic to all things evergreen, I was on a mission. No signs of mushrooms, however I did find a young persimmon tree. That deserved a celebration in of itself. I also believe we stumbled upon a crabapple tree. But I will tell you for certain when it fruits. 

Over the top of the hill, we followed the drive down a bit, before veering off, and back onto a deer trail. We found violets, pennyroyals, raspberry and blackberry vines. The white was indeed a huge mushroom, but it was from last season. We found remnants of the year before that as well. And we plan to return in the warmer months to see if new growth is occurring. 

I could feel the sun warming the air, and asked Husband if we should call it a day, return to the house and work on other projects. Husband would hear of no such thing, and reminded me that I wanted to go into the holler in the holler, as I had seen a treasure trove of Oyster mushrooms in there last season. Husband was in adventure mode, and even after my climb, I was still feeling good. My new normal has been fatigue in the weakened leg over short distances. So I agreed to continue on.

We entered the holler in the holler, mufti-flora rose thorns grabbing at our clothes, newly erupted raspberry bushes clamoring for attention, and ancient blackberry vines hindered our passage. I opted to walk in the creek bed. Less plantlife to contend with. 

 

 

Plenty of rocks, bolders, logs and water though. My boots have finally failed me, and soon I was slushing inside of the left one. We walked and clamored for a half mile. I then took the opportunity to lounge on top of a boulder and declare defeat. Husband would not hear of this either, and allowed me the briefest of moments to recuperate before ushering me onward, and upward.

I only became stuck once in the mile hike. A fallen log I attempted to climb over. My knee still doesn't bend as easily or as far as it once had. I look solemnly at Husband and asked for a bit o' help out of the awkward stance I found myself hung up in. He, with a smirk, slid my foot off the dead tree. We found aging bones. Husband declared cow, but I decided it was a crime scene. A place where the body of a rather behemoth of a man, with oddly articulating hip bones was discarded. "Oh. Ok." Was Husband's witty response.

I made it to the dead end of the holler in the holler. It was now time to scale yet another steep hill. However not as long and not as steep as before. And we took the driveway back to the house. Where we discovered our four hour absence had not gone unnoticed by the boys. We were scolded.

Grow your own; Mushrooms

We have began harvesting mushrooms here on the Neophyte Homestead.

yes, it is as big as his hand

You can go and purchase a mushroom growing kit or make your own.

First you will need a shallow container, something like a plastic storage bin works well.

We use a cardboard box lined with plastic.

Mix equal amounts of sterile compost, potting soil and peat, filling your container with a 2-to-3-inch layer. Reserve 1/4 cup for use later. Smooth the top layer of soil as uniformly as possible.

Now gather some shroom spores. If you know your wild mushrooms then go for it. However, if you are not sure, it is best to purchase your mushrooms. Grocery stores are fine to purchase them, as pesticides are not used in mushroom production. Once you have them you need to do some spore printing. Remove the stems and with gills down, press you mushroom caps down on a piece of clean white paper. Set aside and wait 12 hours for the spores to be released.

Mist the soil of your new kit with water enough to make the soil glisten. Scatter the spores over the top, then sprinkle your reserved soil over the top. Place plastic wrap over the top, poking several holes in the plastic for air flow.

Place this into your closet or anywhere that is is relatively dark and cooler, no more than 75F no less than 55F. Keep the soil lightly damp by misting every few days.

Mold will appear on the soil. when this happens (usually in about a week), remove the plastic wrap and cover with a light towel. Mushrooms could appear in as little as 10 days. Harvest your mushrooms at will.

You should be able to get mushrooms for 6-8 weeks using this homemade kit.

How to sterilize your soil/compost;

Place soil in an oven roasting bag (like those turkey bags you see at the store). Add a bit of water (dampened) and tie off the bag. Place the bag on a cookie sheet and poke a hole for a meat thermometer. Heat oven to 200F. Bake soil until the dirt temp reaches 160-170F. (if soil reads higher, reduce your oven heat). Bake for 30 minutes. Remove and cool completely before using.