Mushroom hunting

[PREDATE]

As long as their feet stay dry(not soggy) then they should only benefit. From what I've been seeing, they have been in need of moisture so this should help them pop through the leaves!!!

 I checked my morel spot on sunday to no avail. This weekend looks a bit more promising if the temps stay normal.

Edited May 8, 2013 by PREDATE

[blackradio]

it should help. There were more last year and they were a bit bigger then too. I would think it is because it has been so dry recently.

[blackradio]

So while looking for morels today I found some cool looking mushrooms. I took a pic with my phone and looked in the mushroom ID book I just bought and sure enough they are in there. They're Dryad's Saddle. Not supposed to be delicious by many accounts but they are decent tasting when young, I've read. Anyone have any experience with these?

[blackradio]

Found some morels the other day. My #1 spot had some but not nearly as many as last year plus I made the mistake of letting a coworker see me sneaking to the spot so he picked some too. I found another spot near a swamp and right under the biggest ash tree I could find. It's right near where I found these leeks too. There was a bunch of really small morels so I hope many more will be sprouting up any day. I made a potato leek soup with the leek bulbs and a saute with the leaves. I dried the morels in my dehydrator for future use. Now I must find some more. This is addicting!

Edited May 13, 2013 by blackradio

[PREDATE]

Good find!

 I checked my spot today while turkey hunting and found zero!

[crappyice]

Great stuff radio. Thanks for posting

[blackradio]

Got 6 more today (these plus a really light colored one). I saw some others but they were black on the tops so I left them.

[PREDATE]

Very nice morels! I went this evening to look, but had an emergency call.

[Woodsman20]

Awesome - I have not been able to find one yet - putting a lot of miles chasing turkeys and looking for mushrooms. I am up by the Wayne County/Rochester area - where are you in the state - just wondering if they are late this year. Last year I found the majority the first week in May.

Congrats - those are good size ones.

[blackradio]

I'm in Dutchess 3G. They were a few weeks late here

[Woodsman20]

Yes definitly late - found my first ones this morning ... finally!! About 8 good ones so far.

[blackradio]

Cool, last time I looked was last week and I found 8 nice ones. Found a lot that were already decaying and eaten up. I'll take a peak again tomorrow. Besides morels, I've found a few reishi mushrooms, 1 puffball and I just saw today some small chicken of the woods starting to grow. Excited.

[Woodsman20]

Cool - we cooked them up tonight and fo r whatever reason they did not taste as good as the ones last ear. Still new to this - does the flavor change at all? I am starting to think I ate something poisonous Ha!!

[blackradio]

I noticed it too but wasn't sure if I just overcooked them or not. I only ate about 10 this season and I dried the other few dozen in my dehydrator. I think the mushrooms were just a bit dry. Still good, but last years I couldn't get enough of them.

[Water Rat]

I'm not sure if this has been previously posted , but there is an article on morel mushrooms on page 22 of the May 2013 issue of New York Outdoor News. Although I don't care for mushrooms , it was an interesting article just the same. I learned that they can be found under dead elm trees and in old apple orchards. Also when lilacs are about to flower is when you can find these morel's. It also states that it a highly additive hobby.

[blackradio]

Definitely addictive. I've never found them under apple trees although I heard that you can. My best spot is next to a dead elm and a dead ash. The other spots I've found have been next to living ash trees.

[blackradio]

So, morel season was kind of a let down but I still got some and have a jar of dried morels so it's all good. I'm getting excited to find different kind of mushrooms. I've been reishi Reishi growing in a few spots and I've read about the many great health benefits of it so I will pick some and make a tincture with it and see what all the hype is about these. They sure do look cool. Anyone hunt other mushrooms?

 

[PREDATE]

Absolutely! I like the summer/fall mushrooms the best. Chicken mushrooms, boletes, oysters, chanterelles, trumpets, puffballs, hen of the woods.

I didn't get out even once to hunt morels this year, but the season is just beginning for me. If there's one good thing from all this rain, it's good fungi hunting!

[blackradio]

so what's out there now? I think oyster mushrooms are growing now and chanterelles should be in a month or two? If anyone has tips or advise for hunting/ storing/ preparing certain kinds of mushrooms, post it here! I think I'll message the mods and ask them if they can switch the title of this to the mushroom hunting thread.

[PREDATE]

I sometimes check out NYmorels.com orThe Mushroom Forager.com to get an idea of what's being found.

 I haven't been out yet, but Sulfur Shelf(chicken mushroom) should be starting along with boletes, and yes oysters should be plentiful.

My favorite tasting so far is the black trumpet / horn of plenty.

Texture-wise, I really like smooth chanterelles.

I really want to find some cinnabar chants and bi-colored boletes this year.

I've heard differing opinions on the taste of Hericium(bears-head tooth,comb tooth,bearded tooth), but the next time I find some I will decide for myself.

I really haven't preserved much other than freezing Miatake(hen of the woods), sulfur shelf and trumpets.

 I try to avoid washing mushrooms in water because they tend to get soggy. If I can clean them with a damp towel, that is preferred. I do sometimes rinse Miatake to remove leaf debris/sticks. Bugs like to hide in there too, but I cut them into 1" pieces before freezing and that allows me to check for bugs.

My dehydrator will get some good use this year!!!  

[Water Rat]

Absolutely! I like the summer/fall mushrooms the best. Chicken mushrooms, boletes, oysters, chanterelles, trumpets, puffballs, hen of the woods.

I didn't get out even once to hunt morels this year, but the season is just beginning for me. If there's one good thing from all this rain, it's good fungi hunting!

You can eat those puffballs we used to stomp on as kids ? How about the mushrooms that grow on the side of a dead stump ?

There seems to be many different varieties of mushrooms and I wouldn't know the poisonous ones from the edible ones.

[Water Rat]

Predate........you must love your shrooms. A true mushroom connoisseur !!

[PREDATE]

Yep, most puffballs are edible and when you stomp them you're actually releasing literally millions up to an estimated 9 trillions of spores, therefore seeding the area. The giant puffballs are good, but I really like the smaller Gem-studded puffballs, which are found in the timber on dead logs. Each puffball MUST be cut in half to make sure it has no gills, stalk or structure. It should be plain "sponge-like" throughout. This is to ensure that it isn't a deadly poisonous Amanita Virosa(aka. Destroying Angel).

 

There are many many genus of fungi that grow on dead tree stumps(edible as well as poisonous ones)!  Remember that fungi is a decomposer and the primary one in forests. Only wood decay fungi have evolved the enzymes necessary to decompose Lignin, a chemically complex substance found in wood.

Fungi play an important role in many ecosystems. Myocorrhiza is the association between fungi and vascular plants. In many ways does the fungi help its host plant/tree in recieving/attaining nutrients.

I enjoy hunting them, plus I get to scout for deer @ the same time! A win-win!

Edited June 15, 2013 by PREDATE

[Water Rat]

Damn.......you know your mushrooms ! Thanks for sharing.

[blackradio]

went out today for a few hours to look for some oyster mushrooms. I didn't find any but I found a bunch of Reishi mushrooms that I will go back for in a week or so. I plan to make a tincture out of them. I also found a few other mushrooms that I would like help identifying. The first one I crossed after the Reishi look really cool and I remember seeing a youtube video about it not too long ago. I wasn't sure enough to pick them so I marked it on my gps and did some research when I got home. Turns out they are crown tipped coral mushrooms and apparently they are very tasty so I will go back in a few days and pick the dozen or so that I found.

 

The second type looked like a portabello a little bit but it has white gills and the ends don't curve over like portabellos do. I saw at least 2 dozen of these in a few different areas and most were already past prime eating. The few that I photographed were the best of the bunch I came across. The last ones seem to be fairly common to, mostly on old dead trees.

First pic are Reishi

Second is Crown Tipped Coral

and the last 4 pics are unknown

Edited June 17, 2013 by blackradio