Tag Archives: chanterelles

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A Couple of Weekend Walks at SAFF

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An edible Calvatia cyathiformis, Purple spored puffball, found at the top of Red Hawk Road on Saturday. We brought this home to slice and make mushroom pizzas by adding tomato, cheese and toppings.
Craterellus fallax, Eastern black trumpet, found on the south set back line. Right on Black Trumpet Way near the base of an oak on Sunday. We left them to spore and hope to catch others in better shape to eat next time. We found another patch along the waterway and also left them to spore. They are excellent-tasting with eggs as well as highly nutritious.
Right along the main waterway, it appears to be an Amanita completely enclosed in a sac-like membrane called the universal veil. The identity will be revealed as it opens. We hope to catch it as it develops. We are careful with Amanitas because of the dangers of eating any mushroom without identifying it. This truly is a class of fungus to know how to identify as it includes the several of the most toxic. However, it is only dangerous to ingest which we will not be doing. ☺️

The weather has been wonderful. Mid-seventies and sunny the whole weekend. We spent afternoons at the farm Saturday and Sunday. We got plenty of chores done and enjoyed our walks around the forest. The rain gauge showed another inch and a third on Saturday—so with the last storm in May we got 4.35 inches! What a relief and gift. The mushrooms are showing up all over to our delight. It’s been such a long time! Seeing the puffballs, chanterelles and black trumpets this weekend was truly joyful. The vibrant colors and familiar shapes were a sight for sore eyes. The lushness and green of the forest has settled in after the rains as well making everything pop with lime, chartreuse, Kelly and neon greens. The old clonal colony pawpaw patch is all leafed out with the big drooping leaves and the two fruit continue to develop. 🤞

We leaned some of our metal roofing sideways against the tiny house for now which has stopped the water from getting in around the door and the back side. We are grateful for this temporary fix, as we continue to collect supplies and plan our front porch and covered back deck builds which will be a part of our permanent solution to the water problem.

Asimina triloba flowering still at SAFF old clonal colony patch.
Ipomoea pandurata, wild potato vine, a vigorous native perennial vine with large white funnel shaped flowers and a massive starchy tuber that can weigh over 20 pounds. We found it along Orchard Hill Road near the new Pawpaw patch with the seedlings and cultivars we grew and planted last fall.
Tiny developing small chanterelles, Cantharellus minor, along the bottom waterway trail.
Pinus virginiana, Virginia pine cones protecting the seeds. They will open to release them in warm dry weather and close when exposed to moisture.
Asimina triloba leaves and developing fruit.
The other pawpaw fruit with an ant and a white waxy substance on the peduncle. This is mealy bugs, Flatid plant hoppers or Woolly aphids, or their egg sac. They will cause premature dropping of the fruit or other damage. We will get this off tomorrow when we are out next.

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August 22, 2024 – Trail blazing and Mushroom foraging on the North side

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Hard to see black trumpet mushrooms growing near oaks and pines.

We went over and created more trails on the north side yesterday. We were rewarded for our work with wonderful weather and about two pounds of wild mushrooms. The temperatures in the 70’s made for a wonderful day to be outside. We found several new large Black trumpet patches as well as Cinnabar chanterelles and Ghost chanterelles. We also found a Lilac bolete, Amanita banningiana and an Old Man of the Woods. We joked our basket was full of Halloween colors.

Our basket from yesterday with lots of black and orange mushrooms.

We brightened up the paint on our boundary markers and widened our trails. We cleared a bit more from the road. We stood in awe of the beauty of the forest, the quiet peace to be found there with the trees and the network of mycelium that supports it all and sends up these colorful and wonderful fruiting bodies. We feel grateful and blessed by our surroundings.

We got home and cleaned up our mushroom bounty and dry cooked them for some minutes to cook off the water we used to clean them. Once dry, we added butter and olive oil and salt pepper and garlic. We saved most of these mushrooms but used a small amount for our white pizza for dinner. It was scrumptious!

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August 19, 2024 – A Mushroom Wonderland

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Amanita jacksonii found on the north side of SAFF. The choice edibles are found in pine and oak forests from Canada, through the eastern US and into Mexico.

The past three times we’ve pulled into the clearing with the truck, we’ve seen a young deer. It’s usually sleeping in the forest and it hears us and takes off. We don’t think it’s too afraid because it doesn’t run far though. We come upon it multiple times like it has become a game for the adorable creature. It’s always alone. We hope it stays safe and we understand it’s safest for it to not be comfortable with humans. We’re also seeing a lot of bear poop on the north side of the farm. No sign of our 4 or 5 year old male bear this year but we think it’s him. It’s nice to know animals are taking advantage of the nuts, berries, mushrooms and shelter the trees provide.

We walked all around the trails that were damp from an afternoon thunderstorm that hit just before our arrival. Right away, we saw new mushrooms emerging from the ground that hadn’t been there the day before. Sometimes it takes a few days for the mycelium to send up the fruiting body after a rainstorm —and sometimes it’s quick.

We basketed up our bounty and left the farm as the sun was setting. We were too tired to cook the mushrooms last night so we stored them in a paper bag in the refrigerator and hoped they’d stay in nice shape. It’s best to cook them right away and save them cooked either in the refrigerator or the freezer depending on how quickly they will get eaten. But these wild mushrooms, especially the chanterelles, need to be used quickly.

They were in nice shape this morning so we dry cooked them for a few minutes in a skillet on 7. Added olive oil and butter and cooked about 15 minutes. We let them cool and have them stored in the refrigerator. We are thinking of making a wild mushroom quiche.

Amanita jacksonii have a bright red cap that can grow up to four inches A beautiful mushroom to find that looks very similar to deadly poisonous mushrooms. Care should be taken to identify and be confident before you plan to eat them.
Our mushroom harvest yesterday included ghost chanterelles, Cinnabar chanterelles, Indigo milk cap, Frost’s bolete and American slender Caesar.

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Cooking with mushrooms

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We’ve learned to thoroughly wash our mushrooms from the farm and to bring home as little dirt as possible to begin with. Trim and brush them with a mushroom knife if possible before putting in our basket. Once home, we soak them in water and also run under water and then use a towel to wipe them. (If from the grocery store or market, the mushrooms will not need cleaning usually. )

Heat a skillet to 7 and put the mushrooms in, letting them dry out somewhat by cooking gently for a moment or so. Don’t let them stick. Add olive oil or butter when needed to prevent the sticking and add white wine to deglaze if necessary. Try to be gentle and keep them intact. Make sure to cook them at least 10 minutes but we go 15 or so. You can’t really overcook them. Then, either save your mushrooms in the refrigerator to use within a few days. Or, freeze them like this until you are ready to use, for up to a year. Thaw them in the refrigerator.

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August 16-17, 2024 North side Mushroom Hunt and Trail Blazing

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Chanterelles harvested from northwest corner of SAFF on Saturday.

We had not explored the north side in months and decided to spend this weekend making trails and looking for mushrooms over there. We are sure glad we did. With both days added together, we had about three pounds of mushrooms.

Friday’s wild mushroom harvest from the north side of SAFF includes three different varieties of chanterelles and indigo milk caps.

We started off down Mary Banning Way and found multiple types of boletes right along the path.

Retiboletus ornatipes, Ornate-stalked bolete, an edible mushroom found in multiple spots on SAFF.
Leccinum testaceoscrabrum or Leccinum versipelle was found along a hillside. There were hundreds. Edibility is suspect.
Boletus auripes, Butter-foot bolete
A young moist bolete frostii found along Fern Trail with amber colored drops sweating from the pore surface. This is a process called guttation.
We also found this interesting black staining polypore on the north side.
Hydnellum spongiosipes, Velvet tooth, found in multiple locations around SAFF.
We found this roadway along the northeast corner of SAFF. It was graveled. We began to clear small trees and vegetation from the roadway.
Golden Reishi, Ganoderma curtisii, a wood decaying polypore found along a wet weather gully on the northern side of SAFF.
But we mainly found chanterelles. These Black trumpets were surrounded by pines.
These Cinnabar chanterelles were everywhere along the southeastern facing slope in the northeast side of SAFF.

We have a lot of cooking to do with these choice edibles.

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August 11, 2024 Ghost Chanterelles and Black Trumpets at SAFF

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Eastern Black Trumpets, Craterellus fallax, found at the bottom of slope at the waterway in between two hickory trees.

There are so many mushrooms right now after the heavy rain and cooler temperatures. We have Russulas and lactarius mushrooms to identify all over. Hundreds of red Russulas. Not as many boletes or Amanita right now. We found another patch of Eastern Black Trumpets to our delight and surprise as well as these beautiful and delicious ghost chanterelles.

Ghost chanterelle, Cantharellus phasmatis, found along Chanterelle Trail.
Underside of the Ghost chanterelle showing the false gills.

We brought them home and cooked them up and everyone was pleased.

😋
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August 7, 2024 – Before tropical storm Debby at SAFF

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Cinnabar chanterelles found near the waterway right on the trail. These are choice edibles.

Tropical storm Debby is set to hit the farm tomorrow evening with rains expected to be 4-8 inches and peak wind gusts Friday morning at 34 mph. We can’t wait to see what this rain will bring since there’s been so many mushrooms already.

Retiboletus ornatipes, Ornate stalked bolete, is edible but not considered choice. We found them along South Trail.
Lactarius indigo, indigo milk cap, is a choice edible found off Chanterelle Trail. We brought these beautiful blue mushrooms home to eat.
Eastern North American Destroying Angel, Amanita bisporigera, a deadly poisonous mushroom found near North Trail.
Clitoria mariana, pigeonwings, found up top in clearing near twin oaks