Fall Mushrooms

[pmcgrady]

Looks like a bumper crop of Hen of the Woods mushrooms this year. A friend found a half a pickup truck bed of them yesterday. I went out and found 25#s in 10 minutes.





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[ddsack]

That's a lot of mushrooms! Do you dry, or cook and freeze them for future use?

[pmcgrady]

Originally Posted by ddsack

That's a lot of mushrooms! Do you dry, or cook and freeze them for future use?

I can some of them ( marinated and plain) , bag and freeze some.
I haven't tried drying any before. Going to make a big batch of antipasto
which will use quite a bit of them.

[GrowingCoastal]

Lucky you! I have never seen that one around here. I have read that it is one of the best. I have been lucky to find some Matsutake and Lobsters about 2 miles walk from home. Usually daughter takes me into the woods or brings me Chantarelles as well as hedgehogs and oysters.
After two dry years here it is nice to see them again.

[pmcgrady]

Originally Posted by GrowingCoastal

Lucky you! I have never seen that one around here. I have read that it is one of the best. I have been lucky to find some Matsutake and Lobsters about 2 miles walk from home. Usually daughter takes me into the woods or brings me Chantarelles as well as hedgehogs and oysters.
After two dry years here it is nice to see them again.

Those look awsum!
Hen of the Woods are found growing on black oak trees, never seen them growing
on anything else.

[PhilaGardener]

They have popped out here (SE PA) on the oaks as well.

I had a nice flush of shiitakes on my (plugged) logs a few weeks ago that is tapering off.

[GrowingCoastal]

Plugged as in 'planted' ?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by GrowingCoastal

Plugged as in 'planted' ?

Plugged as in spore plugs you can buy to put in new cut logs.
drill holes insert plug and a few other steps.
Always wanted to do it but never have.


Hen of the woods has always sounded good but I have never had nor seen them that I know of.
Out most common mushrooms here are poisonous like the fairy rings and death angels.
We do have some that aren't but I'm not risking it.

Worth
.

[PhilaGardener]

Why I raise my own. It is easy and worked really well on some oak tree trunk sections. Drill holes and insert preinoculated hardwood pegs or pack with mushroom spawn raised on sawdust. Wax the surface to retain moisture and keep out other fungi, and wait. It took almost a year for a first flush, but then I get several crops a year (now on year 4, I think, and no sign of quitting).

[GrowingCoastal]

Nice. I've seen articles on Japanese mushroom log cultivation. A friend gave me oyster mushrooms in a box that grew above the sink in the kitchen last year that was fun to grow and harvest. That might work in an appropriate log as well. When I walk in the woods I try to seed fallen trees with bits of Oyster mushrooms I find.

[dmforcier]

Well, we got the pixie capped ones that grow on horse puckey. Them's real popular.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Well, we got the pixie capped ones that grow on horse puckey. Them's real popular.

Gotta good story about those things.
Picked them back in 83 about ten miles from where I live now.

Worth

[dmforcier]

Work it into the River.

[Nematode]

Hen of the woods are a great mushroom.
Take that meaty center and fry it like a steak, make a sandwich. Make sure it browns a.little.

Also clean and chunk some and freeze it. A great addition to soups etc. Dont thaw before use, put it frozen in the pan or pot for best effect.

Got too much to use? Local restaurants gave $12/lb in restaurant credit round here last year. It's like finding $100 bills in your woods.

[Father'sDaughter]

My former CSA farmer wasn't able to find a new location after losing the lease on the land she was growing on, so she is now growing and selling mushrooms from her home. All the local farm-to-table restaurants and a few of the farm stores are now featuring her mushrooms. It seems to be working out to be a very successful venture.