Sunday, October 12, 2014

The mushroom from Outer Space

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One of the strange fungi that one might stumble upon on a foray: Stropharia aeruginosaNot edible. Note that the stipe is white above the ring.
Easily confused with Stropharia caeruleawhich is as weird-looking but has a thin, filmsy ring (which easily falls off), grows on manure and has white mycel often hanging from the base. 

Always fun to find

Shaggy Mane. Edible. 
The only mushroom you should collect in a plastic bag. 
Mild tasting.


Not to be confused with Coprinopsis atramentaria 
which is poisonous when consumed together with alcohol.

Way long gone. Coprinopsis atramentaria disintegrating.

Still mushrooms to be found

The choice Bay Bolete (Boletus badius). Edible

The summer is definitely over

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The last of the season?

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Boletus reticulatus. Picked 21st September 2014. Probably the last of the season.

Agaricus on my way to work


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Top row: Agaricus arvensis
Bottom row: Agaricus augustus
Picked on my way to/from work

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Telluride Mushroom Festival 2014

Wood's Lake

The Mushroom Parade

Langdon Cook ("The Mushroom Hunters") and Ava Chin ("Eating Wildly") at the parade

Rebecca Fyffe, Festival Director 


Boletus edulis/ King Bolete, edible - which might be changing its name in the very near future

Boletus barrowsii/White King Bolete, edible (photo: Noah Siegel)
Found by yours truly, possibly a first for Telluride.


Thursday, August 14, 2014

Foraging for more than mushrooms

When you are in the woods anyway, there are lots more choice picks than mushrooms. 
I always have sorrel leaves in my fridge.
Nice on salads or with fish. 

Seeds from the Elm (Ulmus glabra) are edible only in a very short period.

This year I made a lilac syrup from lilac blossoms

More chicken than sulphur

In a State Park in the US - where it is illegal to forage-

We found Laetiporus sulphureus or Chicken of the Woods
Edible when young and fresh.

Tastes more like chicken than sulphur.


Cantharellus pallidus

I had only seen these once before at a Monday ID-session.
This year I found them for the first time. Mid-July, 2014.
This is not a common mushroom in Norway.


Cantharellus pallidus. Edible.



Summertime





Summertime is also mushroom time. In 2014, I started picking mushrooms in May.

Time for agaricus

When the dry spell continues and continues
 and all mushroomers long for rain,
cemeteries are the place to go.
There, wise gardeners regularly water the grounds.
And there, one might find e.g. various Agaricus.

Agaricus arvensis. Edible.
A lesson from last year was how the rings here "pull upwards".


 Agaricus bernardii. Edible, but not normally eaten in Norway because of the fishy smell.
This year, I ate them for the first time when I found these choice babies.
The verdict? I will eat them again.

Note how the ring "pulls downwards" in an A. bernardii.

Boletus reticulatus

An early choice bolete. Found mid-July 2014 in Norway.

In 2013 I found these in abundance in Denmark.

The Prince

One of my top favourites, the Prince (Agaricus augustus). Edible.

Found mid-July 2014



St George's Mushroom

St George's Day in England remembers St George, England's patron saint. 
The anniversary of his death, which is on April 23, is seen as England's national day.


These mushrooms were found in Norway. In 2014, I found my first ones on 9th May.




St George's mushrooms with dandelion buds and red beets.

Other recipes with the St George's mushroom:
          Soufflé Flan with St George's Mushroom Filling
St George's Mushroom