Now gathering in N.B.

Lots of folks are getting outside and picking wild low bush blueberries right now, it is the most popular gathered wild food in much of New Brunswick.

When it comes to wild mushrooms Chanterelle is the most popular gathered and it is available in good numbers at the same time though its season runs many weeks longer than our blueberries, rain permitting.

Craterelles ignicolor are just starting to appear and are much to tiny at this point, it should be at least a week before we see any at a good size for harvesting.

By the look of the cap this must be a bolete.

Yes, pores surface turned to the sun we see its a Boletus subglabripes in a mixed conifer and poplar woods. Well I must be off, its harvest time.

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Craterellus ignicolor and neighbours

These fresh Hydnum repandum are a welcome sight right here in the heart of the Craterellus ignicolor community.

This is a choice edible mushroom often called the Hedgehog and also Sweet tooth mushroom. Not very noticeable in the photo are the small spines on the underside of the cap on these young mushrooms which become easier to see as the mushroom matures.(click on for close up)

Here is another pleasant neighbour Xanthoconium affine var. maculosus, known as the spotted Bolete.

Now to focus on the Craterellus ignicolor family itself, here we see many bright orange young mushrooms with a few of the elders with their faded caps to the right.

Here we have a close look of what is comparable to a group of secondary school children in the craterellus community here in New Brunswick.

A middle aged Craterellus parent.

Here we see a few members of the national basketball team and then some as these mushroom are much larger than the usual as the stems were around 6 inches high and the caps over 3 inches with these weighing around an oz.

Hope you enjoyed getting to know some of the little ones of Craterellusville. ciao for now

Craterellus ignicolor

This little mushroom is just starting to make an appearance around here and I am quite thankful as last year these mushrooms were very rare and my supply of dried Craterellus ignicolor mushrooms ran out about 6 months ago, so I went without one of my favorites for quite sometime.

You may notice a resemblance to the golden Chanterelle with forked gills though it is smaller and  lighter weighing due to it being hollow which makes it ideal for cleaning and drying. First time I tried this mushroom fresh in a soup I found it acted as a mild laxative in my body so I dried the rest of the mushrooms I collected and in the dried form they do not have that laxative effect on me, plus their flavour comes to the forefront in dried form being especially good crushed and sprinkled on omelets and chicken. They will remind you of dried Chanterelle only with a little more fresh fruity flavour, some say it is similar to plums in some ways.

Here is a tray of Craterellus ignicolor ready for drying.

Now I do see these mushrooms and a few similar species are actually commercially gathered from some regions and marketed as Yellow Foot Chanterelle and yes they can be plentiful though you need to pick a hundred or so to weigh in with a single pound, so this mushroom I suspect is back-breaking work for the folks trying to make a few dollars picking these guys, hopefully they will find a large string of big 1 lb Lobster mushrooms to balance things out at the weigh in station.

In my case fortunate thoughts are arising as these gatherings appear joyful, a labour of love as it seems these little mushrooms are a beautiful sight on the forest floor along with them being much tastier than gold. ciao