Red cap boletus mushroom
Last night I faithfully scribbled down all the day’s photos. Which, as you can ascertain, involved a wild mushroom hunt. HOWEVER, just as I prepared to upload the first photograph (the above photograph, in case you’re interested), WordPress revolted.
On not just one of my computers, but on both. It was a high tension moment! I have a commitment, you know. To post this blog for 365 days. And I have made it for…let me check…262 days. The computer(s) have been extremely cooperative, up to now. But last night they start hiccuping and carrying on and refusing to allow simple posting.
What to do? Call your backup force. That means my daughter in New York City. (And hopefully everyone has viewed yesterday’s blog to which she so delightfully contributed.) My son was coming back from a hike in the California mountains north of San Francisco, so he was obviously not available. But Kiah has “stood ready” before and this time she more than cooperated with rescuing her mama the creation of an outdoor blog.
Baby puffballs
What I was actually doing for several hours yesterday was…stalking zee wild mushroom. I am not capable of this by myself. Am too afraid of poisoning us. But, with the invitation from a friend, I was able to drive around an extended area on her four-wheeler and find dozens and dozens of wild mushrooms. Most notably the best-eating Boletus Edulis (also known as the King Boletus or King Bolete as she referred to the beauty.) But also the Red-Cap Boletus (birch boletus) and the Suillus.
A rather large boletus edulis in foreground; basket full of 'shrooms behind!
Unfortunately, I cannot reveal the name of this kind friend. Or where the mushrooms were found. Sorry. You know how it is. True mushroom folks won’t tell anything. They dare not. Two dozen local folks would show up at their door (or, worse yet, follow them to the mushroom grounds!) if they share. So it’s all incognito.
You get used to this when you’re talking about stalking zee wild mushroom.
Wild asters, close up
My anonymous friend said that you can always tell when the mushrooms are ready to be harvested. Two signs: one, the wild asters are blooming. Two, the blackberries are ripening black and juicy on the brambles. Then it’s time. Although some years, it’s in early September. Other years, October.
The ‘shrooms like rain. They explode in size after a good rain. And this year, apparently, is perfect. My friend couldn’t stop exclaiming at the large numbers of mushrooms in places she’s never seen ‘em before. (And I can attest to this! Last summer I traveled with her on a mushroom hunt. We came back with maybe a dozen mushrooms, if that. This year we carried out dozens upon dozens.)
Underside of "Angel of Death" mushroom. Do not eat.
See the above mushroom? I turned it over, briefly touching it, after my friend said, “You may not want touch that one.” Yikes!! I spent the last hour feeling rather nervous, hoping the poisonous juices didn’t travel through the skin and result in a hospital trip. She graphically described a slow and painful death after eating this particular mushroom…
I do have a healthy respect for mushrooms, you see. Do NOT want to touch. Do NOT want to eat. Do NOT want to harvest any, unless this expert friend is at my side, sharing her wisdom.
Half our booty near red geraniums
Actually, it’s good that this blog was not posted ’til tonight. Because we ate our first dish of mushrooms sauteed in olive oil. Oh my goodness. They were so good. Incredibly delicious. You could never compare them to the store-bought white button mushrooms. Ever.
And, you will be happy to know, we are both feeling fine! Chipper! Not sick. (At least not yet.)Thank goodness for friends who have taken classes in the fine art of wild mushrooming. And who have hunted wild mushrooms for at least a dozen years.
(She thinks I’m going to try to find mushrooms around our house and harvest them! I don’t think so…not without her holding my hand…)
P.S. today I did work out on the deck and ate out on the deck and talked to my husband on the deck. That’s all!
9 comments
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September 8, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Kiah
I love the puffballs.
September 8, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Gerry
Eet zounds very good, ze working, ze eating, ze talking, and ze utter lack of ze barfing. Good.
September 9, 2009 at 6:46 am
Cindy Lou
Fun! I, too, love the puffball photo and the one of the underside of the shroom…..lovely!
September 9, 2009 at 7:30 am
H. Forward
WOW!! Those shrooms are beautiful! You are blessed to have such a knowledgeable friend to share and teach you the art!
September 9, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Nature Lovin' Super Mama
That is just how it is down here with the Morel’s! And I share the same respect for mushrooms that you do…you never know which ones truley are the “bad” ones. You are so lucky to have your friend with you…maybe she would consider taking me out on a hunt if I agreed to take her morel hunting in may…truthfully though just the idea of riding a quad in the UP sounds like a lot more fun than the actual eatting part…but non the less I would be exciting. Glad you are both still healthy after your adventure…Have a great day!
September 9, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Reggie
You are a brave woman, Kathy. I stay away from store-bought AND wild mushrooms, though that’s probably excessively paranoid. I guess the fear of how sick one can become from eating BAD ones far outweighs the pleasure derived from eating them. I’m most relieved that you’re okay, and that you are blessed with such a good and knowledgeable friend.
September 9, 2009 at 8:07 pm
centria
Dear Friends, I wish you could all come by and sample some wild mushrooms (except we would feed Reggie something else!) I am so happy, too, that this friend shares her secrets and knowledge. Need to get them dehydrated first thing tomorrow morning.
July 31, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Jason Whitney
hello, I have no clue about any kind of mushroom besides the morels and beefs but I was walkin along the chocolay river a good ways and as I was scaling around a rock outcrop I came down the other side and almost stepped on a odd, (to me ) looking shroom and I have no clue how to identifiy it so here goes.
From the top down the cap is very circular, with a kind of sunk in center and then rolls up and over, like looking at a round doughnut layin flat only with the center being half full. the top is also almost a solid frost glaze white with slight blueish coloring feathered about. and the underside of the cap looks like lots of thin blades and aslo blue but a lil darker yet bright if that makes sense and the stem is as well blue but mixed with a dusty white powder look to it.
As I said I have no clue as to how to properly descibe it but I hope that maybe someone can tell me what kind it is from the hopefully helpful if not poor attmept to describe it .
August 2, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Kathy
Jason, it sounds like you did a good job at describing it, but I am NOT a wild mushroom expert. If my friend Patsy saw a picture of it, she’d probably be able to identify it. I am a little nervous about sampling them until an expert has identified. Do you have a wild mushroom field guide? Or can you look at one next time you’re in a bookstore? That might help. Thanks for stopping by…sorry I wasn’t more help.