Mushroom and other wild edible foraging

Did an overnight scouting trip for naturals. Spent more time driving and hanging out at camp than walking but found some in both locations I went to. Enough for a few dinners at least.

Moral (morel?) of the story is, it’s an early year and if this heat continues, it looks like it’s gonna be a quick season for naturals. Soil temp is good and plenty of moisture in the ground to get things growing. Get out there while you can!

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SteelHeadDave said:
Did an overnight scouting trip for naturals. Spent more time driving and hanging out at camp than walking but found some in both locations I went to. Enough for a few dinners at least.

Moral (morel?) of the story is, it’s an early year and if this heat continues, it looks like it’s gonna be a quick season for naturals. Soil temp is good and plenty of moisture in the ground to get things growing. Get out there while you can!

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How do you store that many? I only know how to pick and cook em in a coupla days
 
John Svahn said:
How do you store that many? I only know how to pick and cook em in a coupla days
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Well, these were eaten with a couple days but.. 😁

For long term storage of bigger harvests, dehydrate with little to no heat until they are pretty much dried (a fan can work for this step). Then finish with medium-low heat until fully dry. They will store in an airtight container for years. I honestly prefer dried morels to fresh for flavor but the texture isn’t quite the same.
 
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There are actually at least 200+ in those bowls, but it's very dry out there this year, so lots of them grew only an inch before they stopped and started drying out. Was fun to pick, though we mostly weren't the first ones through the burns we checked. we'll finish some of the already dry ones under super low heat.

We call the little ones "pizza morels", good for pizza night.
 
I’ve been doing a deep-dive into forest-dwelling coralroot orchids lately (more later). That pursuit brings me into clearings under Douglas fir canopies. During one recent expedition, I encountered a favorite fungus, the bird-nest fungus (Nidula niveotomentosa) .
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For most of its life, this fungus exists as a network (a mycelium) of tubes (hyphae) underground where it digests rotting wood and other organic materials. Under the right conditions, the haploid mycelium initiates sexual reproduction. Haploid nuclei from different mating types fuse (“fertilization”) to form a diploid nucleus (“zygote”) that undergoes meiosis to produce haploid spores. This process results in the genetic diversity of sexual reproduction. Millions of haploid spores are packed into sacks, called peridioles. If you squint and apply some imagination, these sacks resemble bird eggs. At the same time, parts of the mycelium develop into an above-ground cup-shaped fruiting body (the equivalent of a mushroom) that is shaped like a tough bird’s nest (but much, much tinier, less than half an inch wide and tall). The “eggs” sit inside the “bird’s nest”.
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The sacks (and their millions of spores) are dispersed when a fat raindrop drips off the canopy into the nest. The force of the raindrop splashes the sacks out of the nest and into the environment.

Steve
 
Might be more of a gardening post, but it did start with foraging wild blackcap raspberries growing in several patches around the property.

One was right in the garden area. So as an experiment, I did a quick chicken wire wrap to keep the birds out.

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Berries are ripe now. What they lack in yield they make up for in flavor. Half of these from the protected canes.

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The rest were from a few wild patches that hadn't yet been discovered by the birds.

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Was also pleased to confirm this is a PNW native plant (rubus leucodermis)

Gonna try transplanting a few canes this Fall in a row next to the garden patch.
 
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Spent a few days camping and mushroom hunting last week in one of my favorite areas. The timing was just right for the kings. Very few blowouts and mostly pristine quality specimens.
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Checked out a small, but reliable, hike in rainbow spot. It’s usually a little past prime this time of year so there was some sorting while picking and many didn’t go in the bag. Still got a decent haul though.
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Found a few cool non-edible but dye worthy things. This Hydnellum regium produces a midnight blue color according to my expert girlfriend who teaches mushroom and lichen dye classes.
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The 5th and 6th wool skeins from the top show examples of this color.
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I wish I could stay out there for a week or more but it’s hard to balance the mushroom season with coho fishing and I was excited to get some beach time in. The cats seemed glad we came home when we did.
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Whoa! I take it all the colors on display are from your girlfriend’s natural dyeing course. That’s really cool👍
 
SteelHeadDave said:
Spent a few days camping and mushroom hunting last week in one of my favorite areas. The timing was just right for the kings. Very few blowouts and mostly pristine quality specimens.
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Checked out a small, but reliable, hike in rainbow spot. It’s usually a little past prime this time of year so there was some sorting while picking and many didn’t go in the bag. Still got a decent haul though.
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Found a few cool non-edible but dye worthy things. This Hydnellum regium produces a midnight blue color according to my expert girlfriend who teaches mushroom and lichen dye classes.
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The 5th and 6th wool skeins from the top show examples of this color.
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I wish I could stay out there for a week or more but it’s hard to balance the mushroom season with coho fishing and I was excited to get some beach time in. The cats seemed glad we came home when we did.
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Awesome !
 
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