After the fire Large-Leaf Aster

Today seemed like a good day to find out if any Morel mushrooms were going to appear in an area where a forest fire occurred  last summer and was within a reasonably close distance to travel from my home. Since Large-leaf Aster is known to expand with vigor after a forest fire I was somewhat certain I would at least arrive home with a nice bag of greens. Yes, the Large-leaf Aster greens were growing very well with plenty of young shiny leaves in excellent shape for gathering. The Morel mushroom part of the adventure was a bit of  false alarm though as the Black Morel mushroom was no where to be found, just some inedible False Morels which are considered potentially fatal to consume. These way to dangerous to eat False Morels were still an impressive sight to behold on the forest floor and were out in large numbers. Back home with a few medicinal plants which I’ll post on later and my collection of Large-leaf Aster leaves which you can see I am now preparing to boil, these mild tasting greens are rarely foraged for in my area, so I probably shouldn’t let the cat out of the bag and tell how easy to gather and tasty this post fire invader’s young greens are. ciao

Wintergreen tea pick

We are having a January thaw right now, much of the  accumulated snow has melted this week, though in most of the surrounding forest there is still plenty of snow except for areas like this one where some jack pine trees have been recently cut and the forest floor close to the stumps are snow free and Wintergreen leaves are now visibly available to those who may choose to partake in gathering some fresh leaves for tea.

Here is a closer look at the Teaberry plant aka wintergreen, (Gaultheria procumbens) its small round red leaves are noticeable on the south-side of the stump. Now the majority of the wintergreen leaves in these woods where the trees are still standing has (green) leaves beneath the snow, though in open areas like this the leaves are often red which makes for a pink colored tea of good flavour.

Marguerit is also here today to join in the gathering of these small leaves with a big taste. I mentioned earlier on in a post in November the flavour of wintergreen doesn’t reveal itself right away, you need a little patience as it takes a couple days of fermentation for the flavour to fully appear. I use a few handfuls of cleaned leaves placed in a jar add a litre of boiling spring water and close the lid for 2 days. After I may drink the strained tea cold or reheated, the leaves from the ferment can be used a second time by just steeping them again with newly boiled water or they can be dried and packaged for later use. cheers

My-co-lorful characters

I sautéed the last of my charcoal burners with some lobster mushrooms for our supper tonight and after the meal I was requested to go out to the woods and gather some more. The above photo is my basket shortly into the trip.

These are the first mushrooms I noticed upon entering the forest, Pleurotus dryinus  are a rather large member of the Oyster mushroom family.

Pleurotus Dryinus is an unusual Oyster mushroom as it has a very noticeable long fluffy stem.

Above is a close relative of the Reishi mushroom and has a history of being used as an artist canvas of sorts, it also is known as a good medicinal mushroom and since I wrote on it with my thumb nail I will take it home for tea. (Ganoderma applanatum).

Here is a view looking down on the top surface on Ganoderma applanatum, this fungus can measure up to 20 inches across.

Why not show a medicinal Chaga mushroom from this area as well.

A small Bay bolete (Boletus badius) growing on a stumps edge.

Another bolete member, some call it Leccinum subglabripes, others call it Boletus subglabripes, these are a common summer mushroom here.

Never seen or gathered this choice edible before (Lactarius volemus). This is a rare mushroom this far north and I’ll mail a dried specimen to the Provincial museum for their mushroom collection.

These are in the Russula family though Lactarius mushrooms give off a milky latex when you touch their gills which you can notice in the above photo. Lactarius volemus has a shellfish scent and its milk starts out white and stains brown in a short time.

Another new mushroom I never gathered before, this one’s caps are also considered by some to be good eating. (Oudemansiella radicata) I’ll send this one to the museum as well.

Here are some edibles from tonight on the table with numbers under them, click photo for closer look (1) Boletus subglabripes, (2) Suillus granulatus, (3) Boletus badius, (4) Suillus pictus (5) Charcoal burner (6) Lactarius volemus, (7) Chanterelle and (8) Yellowfoot Chanterelle. This night had some colorful surprises. ciao