Salvage the Summer Mushrooms?

[Johnsfolly]

We went to a new area and found a bunch of different mushrooms. About a dozen chanterelles, wood ear, a few oysters and lots that I could not id. I will post photos later. We did find some giant boletes and possibly peppery milkys. Did not anticipate being run out of the woods by mosquitoes. They have not been bad anywhere else, but they swarmed us tonight. Only were out for about an hour. We had just bought a couple of thermocells, but didn't bring one or two along with us. Pretty dumb. We'll go back with repellent and my microfishing tackle to get more mushrooms and the couple of different minnow species in the small creek.

[slider]

Made about a half hour walk this morning. Very productive. Lots more chanterelles  to come.

[Johnsfolly]

Slider

Those are impressive baskets. Nice variety of mushrooms. It looks like you found some indigo milky mushrooms. I haven't had those before. How do they taste?

Here are some of the pictures from our trip last week.

These last two boletes were very large. the smaller one's cap was 3" across.

[BilletHead]

     We got out and looked some over the weekend. A lot that we found on the downhill slide. Like Slider found and Johnsfolly would like to I found my first indigo milkys. Pretty neat weeping the prettiest color of blue what broken or bruised. Too far gone to salvage, bummer for sure. Some chanterells and oysters good to pick. Bitter boletes and what looks like a early stage of an old man of the woods. Have a black staining polypore in the yard here. Thought about trying it but a friend says the one he tried was pretty tasteless and when cooking it turns an unpleasant black. The orb weavers are out in force spinning webs. Time to carry a stick and sweep it in front as I walk. Seems as though everyone I walk into is hitting me in the head and i have to chase the spider around on my sweaty neck.

The black staining polypore. I checked it today and it had doubled in size and the center is getting tough.

BilletHead

[slider]

Johnsfolly, the Indigo Milky really tasted a lot like a morel with a bit of a bitter taste when you swallow. We fried it like a morel. So maybe sauting would be better. That's the first time I've found more than one or two.

[Johnsfolly]

Slider and BH - What type of habitat did you find the indigos? I would love to find some. Do either of you have an idea about the white polypore mushroom in my second picture? Does not look like any polypore that I have found before.

Thanks.

[BilletHead]

John,

The two indigos I found were side bu side in mixed oak/hickory timber. Next to a sandy dry ditch. Like I said my first finds of them.

BilletHead

[Johnsfolly]

Had a guy give me a tip on where to go find chanterelles without even trying. He left with a big bag. So we headed there this evening. First mushrooms were not chanterelles. Maybe some sort of milky cap mushroom with an orange cap but white gills and stem. It seemed like where ever we looked there were lots of mushrooms. This was a mixed oaks flat. Some cedars and low brush. It took several minutes until we found our first chanterelles.

 

Probably got  20 or so in this patch. Kept looking and I found three green crackling russulas. Then another small patch of chanterelles and tons of possibl e milky caps, some Amanitas, emetic russulas, and many that I could not ID easily. Also boletes of almost every size shape and color.

But it was this one hidden in the grass that really got me excited. An Indigo milky. My wife and I both spotted the first ones that we found tonight. We found them in tall grass near a path edge. We also found a couple in the mixed oak areas again near the edge.

At this point we felt pretty good about what we had found and were headed back to the car. I still was looking off into the oak woods as we were walking the trail and I spotted orange. We go over and we see patches after patches of chanterelles. There were so many that we left the broken tops or small ones. We filled the rest of this basket and my backpack and it did not look like we harvested any. It was phenomenal.

 

 

[ness]

Might get out and give this a try this weekend. What's the habitat you should look for chantarelles in?

[BilletHead]

Finding mine in mixed hardwood timber. Sandy loamy soil but have found in other soils in other areas before.

BilletHead