Mushrooms in the forest

[Andrey_BY]

These jars remind me the same 3l jars full of dried mushrooms we had in Soviet Union every year.

And these are my mushrooms highlights from 2016, Part 1:

[bower]

Andrey, wow, just gorgeous, and the pic of your daughter is priceless!!!
The palette of mushroom colors in those mixed baskets is so beautiful and pleasing to me. It is ironic, the common mushroom dyes (for cloth) that I know produce very much the same range of colors - completely different (not edible!) mushrooms of course, but they could be used to paint a picture of their delicious edible cousins.

@ Randall, mmmm ★★★★akes look great! Someone gave me a plugged log once but it didn't produce any. ★★★★ake is one I would bother to grow if I could, because i do love the flavor. But I think we are a bit on the cold side for them.

I did grow Reishi mushroom from a kit some years ago, but it was an indoor not outdoor grow for us. It was cool to have a mushroom in the house. ... but a little messy when they released their spores. I would grow Reishi again though.. love it!

[GrowingCoastal]

Andrey, beautiful! So much fun when children get into it.

Now, as a counter point, the vampires of the woods?
Here's one that made me do a double take when I first saw one a few years ago in a pine forest.




http://www.nationalgeographic.com.au...th-fungus.aspx
"The mushroom contains atromentin, a chemical with effective antibacterial and anticoagulant properties. The colourful pigments are also used to dye fabrics."


Related to this Hydnum, the hawk's wing. Bitter as anything! I won't eat it again, even parboiled as suggested. Daughter did not taste any bitterness. Go figure!

[GrowingCoastal]

Is there a definitive answer to the question of whether it is best to cut or to pull out a mushroom? Matsutakes are supposed to be pulled out. And that is a tough job! They are very firmly rooted on their mycelium underground. What about other varieties?

[bower]

Coastal, awesome pix of the Hydnellums! I have collected lots of them including the wierd anticoagulant one, looks freakish alright and will stain your hands when picking. That whole group makes excellent dyes. Mostly browns as a whole dye, but you can get prints of their motley colors from slices, too.

[bower]

Originally Posted by GrowingCoastal

Is there a definitive answer to the question of whether it is best to cut or to pull out a mushroom? Matsutakes are supposed to be pulled out. And that is a tough job! They are very firmly rooted on their mycelium underground. What about other varieties?

Much debated. After many years harvesting the same patches of tooth mushrooms (the big repandums), I definitely prefer to cut those rather than pull. They don't seem to respond well to the deep disturbance, may stop coming in that spot. Also they sometimes regrow from the stump left in the ground if there is even a little bit of cap left... then I get to pick the same mushroom twice.
Chanterelles don't seem to mind either way. But I'm not sure... maybe depends how hard you pick the patch. I know I've seen one patch ruined and never returned to its former glory - but I have no idea what those other pickers did (except pulled everything in sight - according to what was left).

[Worth1]

Can anyone tell me what these are, I have them coming up all over the place this year.
Been here a long time and never seen them before.
Worth
IMG_20170529_23682.jpg

IMG_20170529_39222.jpg

[Randall]

I'd call those Armillaria spp.

They're a little overgrown to tell which species exactly

[bower]

My thoughts too, they are overmature so it gets harder to tell... if there weren't enough little brown mushrooms in the world to be confusing anyway!
There are some steps I would follow if I wanted to know what a mushroom in my garden is. First is to find a group which contains immature as well as mature specimens if possible. This way if there is an annulus (ring around the stem) you will find it at earlier stages. Secondly dig or pull the mushrooms right out of the ground and take a picture to see the shape of the stipe (stem). Third, cut a specimen right down the middle of the stem, cap and all. Take another picture. This will show gill attachment characters and important colors. If the gill color is different in immature specimens, picture or note that as well.
Fourth and extremely important, take a specimen and cut the stipe away from the cap. Place the cap on a piece of white card or paper, gills facing down, and either bag it or cover it with a bowl overnight. This will produce a spore print - the color of the spore print is extremely important in the gilled mushrooms especially, as it will allow you to rule out whole families with the wrong color of spores.
Most of the little brown gilled mushrooms are in the "No Eatums" category for me, the risk of confusion is large so I would rather just avoid them, personally, while so many others are well known , easily identified, and faves.
OTOH if you have a large patch that repeats, why not find out what they really are.

[Worth1]

This stuff is not native to this area.
It came up from Kellogg's raised bed soil from last year.
No way in he'll am I going to get involved in eating wild mushrooms.
One mistake and if you live through it you are screwed.
We did pick and eat the white one's growing up.
Worth

[MrBig46]

Worth,
I was surprised you wanted to collect and eat forest mushrooms.
The photo is nice, thanks for it. Under one photo nobody knows what a fungus is.
Vladimír
PS.: We are saying here: There are three types of mushrooms.
- eatable
- not edible
- only once edible (these are learning to know kids at elementary school)

[dmforcier]

I was reading the Wikipedia article on Armillari. It's a very interesting beast, with about 10 species. Some of the largest organisms on earth are Armillaria. They grow on dead tree roots and other dead tree material, sometimes killing the tree to make more dead roots. Your pictured group appears to be growing among elm sprouts, perhaps coming up from roots of a cut back tree?

Armillaria are considered great delicacies in eastern Europe, but not all species are directly edible, requiring boiling first. One species (in U.K.) does not mix with alcohol.

It would be nice to get a good identity on your new crop.

[Nematode]

Tipplers bane. I believe the the active compound in that shroom is the basis for antabuse which will make one violently ill if alcohol is ingested, theoretically preventing one from continuing on that path.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

I was reading the Wikipedia article on Armillari. It's a very interesting beast, with about 10 species. Some of the largest organisms on earth are Armillaria. They grow on dead tree roots and other dead tree material, sometimes killing the tree to make more dead roots. Your pictured group appears to be growing among elm sprouts, perhaps coming up from roots of a cut back tree?

Armillaria are considered great delicacies in eastern Europe, but not all species are directly edible, requiring boiling first. One species (in U.K.) does not mix with alcohol.

It would be nice to get a good identity on your new crop.

Dennis the elm sprouts are from millions of seeds I have to deal with every year.
The Kellogg's stuff is full of wood chips and byproduct.
The soil in this whole bed is full of the main mushroom organism body whatever it is called.
I have no doubt it came in the bags of Kellogg's.
Worth

[NarnianGarden]

You know, in fact all mushrooms are edible.
Some of them only once.