Hedgehog Mushroom advisory

These large young Hedgehog mushrooms are presently appearing in the last week of summer in some of our Maritime mixed forest.

You best go out and gather a few soon before the frost foils them. ciao

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Wild Mushroom Workshop and Foray

A great variety of wild mushrooms are making an appearance in Maritime forest at this time and in Moncton there will be a 3 hr Workshop on Sept 21  — search  –(Nature Moncton) and click on —activities—- scroll down to Sept 21 —- for details and to register

The following weekend starting Sept 26 is the annual NS Mycological Society Foray which will be held in Wallace  NS a good central location for Maritimers, —search—-NS Mushrooms or http://www.nsmushroom.org – for details

The wild mushroom I’ve featured today is a bit of a colourful rarity in this area of world and workshops and forays are a great opportunity to see the amazing forms of life often left unknown to us.

 

As we become more aware of the naturally provided foods, medicinal plants and mushrooms along with acknowledging their beauty we will definitely be naturally engaged in their which is inevitably our own protection and well being.

Here is a coconut scented mushroom, in wild mushroom discovery scent, texture, density and color all come into play. More than 3/4 of the folks who visit my post are from areas outside Canada so to all of you local and otherwise I wish you naturally pleasant trails. ciao

Appearing today

The Grayling, Cantharellula umbonata

Amethyst Deceiver, Laccaria amethystine

Swollen Stalk Cat, Cathelasma ventricosum

King Bolete, Boletus edulis

Lobster mushrooms, Hypomyces lactifluorum     It is amazing how we feel familiar with what is never the same. ciao

Summer, mushrooms and change

Chanterelle is a mushroom I started gathering around 35 years ago and the mushroom in front of the 2 chanterelle mushrooms in the photo Lactarius lignyotus, the Chocolate Milky is one I have recently began to gather for the table.

Still undecided whether I’ll add this one to my Wild Edible Mushroom page as there is little info on its edibility beyond a few sources from Quebec Canada. I know I can eat this mushroom with no problem so far though I’m not sure how many folks have actually tried it in NA and worldwide.

The cap and stem of this mushroom are almost black in color when they first appear, then the cap and stem gradually fade to light brown. The gills start out almost white and start gradually darkening up to also become light brown, so when very mature the mushrooms cap, stem and gills are shades of light brown. I’ll keep eating and experimenting with recipes before I make a decision on this guy.

These Chocolate Milkys are common under spruce and other conifers so they can be gathered in good numbers though the are fragile and crush easily in your basket if layered. In conifers these mushrooms often grow where Hedgehog and Chanterelle are so it will be convenient gathering if this one becomes a wild mushroom I can trust as a safe edible long term.

 

Last photo is my first sighting of Craterrellus tubaeformis the Winter Chanterelle, hang in there summer. ciao

Foggy foraging

This is my favorite forest for tree burls with several hundred mature conifers with impressive burls, on this foggy holiday some like this one provide quite an atmosphere to wander amongst.

Since I’ve never gathered the White Matsutake mushroom this early in Sept or in this area this leaves me to suspect this must be my first sighting of a Catathelasma ventricosum mushroom this year.

Yup, this is what we call in NA the Swollen Stalked Cat which is a good edible and is becoming more popular here in the west, though it has a long history of being used as a healthy food in areas like Tibet. Here it is often used in stews, soups, it can also be BBQ’ed and pickled. This one smells like cucumber.

Oh, nearing a brook I see a shrub I often forget about in the fog of the busy mushroom season, though this is an ideal time to gather the ripe firm fruit of Highbush cranberries which can be frozen and then thawed to make it easier to obtain the juice by pressing raw. I chewed and sucked on a few of the crunchy berries and then removed the large seed from my mouth, these are tart and refreshing and vitamin C rich. Well I’ve shared enough interesting stuff for today. ciao