Asimina triloba dropping from trees in Central Virginia. Foraged on the way to the farm. Our first finds of the year in Afton Virginia. We collected 50 seeds from these pawpaws and have them stored to cold stratify over the winter. Almost another inch last week in Buckingham Virginia and more opportunities for storms in the next few days. We spread little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) seeds around the exposed areas at risk of runoff in storms yesterday. Another blue jay feather found up top near the driveway.Chantharellus cinnabarinus, red chanterelle, found throughout SAFF. A choice edible with false gills and bright red color found along wet weather lines. They are smaller than other chanterelles and hold up well in the pan. Aureoboletus innixus, clustered brown bolete, found near an oak. These are edible but we haven’t tried them. Pawpaws still hanging on in the clonal colony. We’ve been checking on them every time we’ve been out to SAFF.Annona cherimola, cherimoya, tree sprouting on the deck. This is a tropical tree which will need to be protected from our cold Virginia winters. Ganoderma growing along the main waterway at SAFF. Persimmon ripening on the trees up top.
We’ve been busy clearing paths for the tractor through the pawpaw seedling orchard, planting little bluestem on exposed ground and preparing to plant this year’s Asimina triloba seedlings. We have also cleared out some pines and hardwood trees crowded in around our American Persimmon trees and created an orchard up top near the road for them. Also, we planted several Juglans Regis, Persian walnut trees in the main clearing at SAFF. We have also been researching solar kits for home and SAFF and can’t wait to get what we need ordered and installed.
The past weekend has been a nice taste of cooler, fall weather on the way. The highs have been in the 80s yet there has been a nice breeze and crispness in the morning. We’ve been feeling so grateful for everything and especially the rain and the cooler temperatures.
Almost another inch in the rain gauge. We feel so grateful. Gliophorus psittacinus, Parrot mushroom or Parrot waxcap, is gelatinous with a radially grooved convex cap. We hadn’t seen these before. Beautiful!Russula vinacea is another we hadn’t observed before.
Since Sunday turned into a full work day with no energy left for a walk through the woods, we decided to go back over last night for a walk. We are glad we did! We saw some mushrooms we’d never seen before. We were astonished by how many types were fruiting. Russulas are especially having their time with all of the rain.
Clavulina coralloides, white coral fungus, found along Deerberry Trail.Amanita jacksonii also on Deerberry Trail. Lactifluus volemus, weeping milk cap, a choice edible we brought home. And finally, we saw plenty of these Cantharellus cinnabarinus all over. These vibrant red edible mushrooms cover hillsides at the farm.
Cyanocitta cristata, Blue Jay feather, found along Red Hawk Road. Lycoperdon marginatum, Peeling Puffball, found up top in the main clearing. They were small and cute. We left them for a woodland creature to snack on later. Calvatia cyathiformis, Purple-spored Puffball, is a large edible purple spored mushroom that comes up in groups at the top of Red Hawk Trail when the temperature and rainfall and just the right environmental conditions occur. Primarily seen late summer into fall after soaking rains or wet periods. They are edible when young and completely white inside. After they change color internally, they are sporing and inedible. We were stunned by the mosaic scales they each have.A mature Calvatia cyathiformis with an opening used to release spores. As it matures, the solid white interior breaks down into a dark purple powdery spore mass. We thought it looked like a giant sea urchin. Multiple holes formed on surface will emit spores when wind, rain or passing animals compress the mushroom. We thought this looked like a brain.
We went over and got a few chores done. The temperature was a cool-feeling 84 Degrees Fahrenheit. We got the scaffolding up on the tiny house. We’re excited to have our plans coming together.
Calvatia cyathiformis broken open to see bugs have been eating it and the white solid inside becoming darker powdery spores. We got 2 levels of scaffolding up and it went up quickly.
2 inches of rain this week! What a dream come true. Amanita polypyramis, Plateful of Pyramids Lepidella, named after the pyramid like warts on the cap. We found these on Mary Banning Way up top near the driveway. It’s poisonous and smells like chlorine. Chris surrounded by multiple types of mushrooms on Chanterelle Trail.We found our first chanterelle in two years just a few feet away.We found multiple Lactarius species including this Lactarius psammicola. Lactarius psammicola, underside view with lactation from the gills.Trametes cinnabarina, Northern Cinnabar Polypore, found up top on a conifer. Sabatia angularis, Rosepink, flowering in the woods, clearings and on trails.Amanita jacksonii, an edible found near Three Pine Trail.
Wildfire smoke and haze obstructing the view of Afton Mountain on the drive home last night. Over an inch of rain in the gauge. We hadn’t checked it when there on Tuesday. The rain was from last weekend. We were happy to see it.
When driving over to the farm we saw smoke from the wildfires up north settling in around the mountains and hills. We wore our masks while outside to protect our lungs from any fine particulate. We had farm chores aplenty yesterday afternoon and also took time to have a mushroom walk.
Found on Amanita Way right off of the main clearing. They turned a lovely blue quite quickly.Because of the way it turned blue, it could be Ink Stain Bolete, Cyanoboletus pulverulentis, Sensible bolete or Lanmaoa/Baorangia.
As we drove up to SAFF, we saw mushrooms right away on both sides of the driveway so we knew we’d have to walk through the woods.
Amanita flavorubens, Yellow American Blusher, is edible after being thoroughly cooked. Foragers note it tastes similar to lobster or prawns after cooking. We haven’t tried these yet. We usually find them already nibbled on and bug infested which probably means they’re delicious. Insects and animals know which ones are safe and tasty.Unidentified bolete with a small bite gone. Hazy, smoky sunlight filtering through ripening the pawpaw fruit in the old clonal colony.
These red and yellow boletes are what began our mushroom obsession. They come up and some turn blue very slowly when touched or sliced while some turn blue as quick as oxygen hits and it’s a blue so deep it appears black. They appear to bleed. This Chrome-footed bolete does not stain blue at all which is what helped us come to an identification. Even so, we are “pretty confident” but not 100% so they didn’t come home with us.
Harrya chromipes, Chrome-footed bolete found right up top at SAFF before passing through the gate. We found a group of these infected with Hypomyces.
It’s so fun to witness the emergence of boletes again after the long drought. It’s been in the high 90’s here with chances for rain this weekend. We hope to get out to SAFF to look for more mushrooms.
Boletus separans, lilac bolete, is a choice edible that we did take home and eat. We’ve foraged it before so we recognized them right away. It’s associated with oak trees and sometimes pine. The taste is prized for its nutty flavor and pleasant odor and texture. They are delicious and we’ve found them all over SAFF. Agaricus sylvaticus, Blushing wood mushroom, is a common edible mushroom found in groups in coniferous forests. We found it on the north side just near Three Pine Gulch Trail. Another red and yellow bolete. This one stains quite easily, as you can see from the thumbprint. There’s red droplets on the base of the stem which looks like guttation which is an indicator of Neoboletus sp. Either Red-mouth bolete or very close lookalike the Scarletina bolete. These are both edible with precautions. It will be a while before we confidently eat these. But it’s fun to puzzle out their names and identities. Tipularia discolor, crane-fly orchid, opening flowers now at SAFF. Goodyera pubescens, downy rattlesnake plantain, is one of the most common orchids native to eastern North America. It is exciting to catch it flowering. Unidentified red and yellow bolete found along Jacksonii Trail about halfway down. Several lush mosses and a fungi fruiting directly from them. These little brown mushrooms haven’t been identified.
Wolfina aurantiopsis, a rare cup fungus found in oak and pine forests on decaying hardwood sticks. It was found on Dan’s Folly along the south set back line in dark woods.
It’s been extra busy lately and we are feeling lucky to get a chance to run over to SAFF and take a walk around. We have gotten near daily rain for which we are grateful. Each time we’ve gone we’ve seen the pawpaws are doing well. Almost all of the grafts are producing leaves. We’ve also seen a few interesting mushrooms which is thrilling.
Amanita rhopalopus, American Club-Footed Lepidella. Mycorrhizal with oak and pine. It’s very large with warts and a strong chlorine smell. Cladonia furcata, many forked Cladonia, along Ridge Trail. A species of lichen with intermediate sensitivity to air pollution. Extracts of this species kill leukemia cells and have potential value in the treatment of cancer. Leucobryum glaucum, Pincushion Moss, bright green from the recent rain, is a common moss of eastern North America and Europe that we find all over SAFF.
Chris grafting a Cawood cultivar onto the native SAFF Pawpaw Peninsula Asimina triloba. Maria’s Joy at the tip of the Pawpaw Peninsula.
On Sunday we went straight over to the Southside Gully to begin grafts on the native patch. We got 7 done before a downpour stopped us. We grafted Nyomi’s Delicious, Maria’s Joy, Rebecca’s Gold, Cawood, Tallahatchie, sunflower and Pa Golden #4. We were glad to get out of there as we lost count of all the ticks we caught crawling up our pant legs. All were Lonestar Ticks, Amblyomma americanum. Personally, the experience may help me be less preoccupied with my anxiety since I saw them and got them off without freaking out. We had no bites. They hadn’t dropped from anywhere. They were just crawling on our shoes and pantlegs. Anyway, we waited the rain out in the car while we had a snack.
A bit of our walk through the Southside at SAFF in the rain yesterday.
After the rain stopped, we headed down Central Trail through the cultivar and seedling orchard. They looked good we were pleased to see. We made our way to the Pawpaw Peninsula across from the Old Clonal Colony. We grafted 10 more onto the native wild SAFF pawpaws. We grafted Rappahanock, Tallahatchie, Marias Joy, Nyomis Delicious, Prolific, Rebecca’s Gold, Cawood, 166-66 Canary and PA Golden #4. It drizzled some while we worked.
No baby bear sightings yesterday but we looked for them everywhere. We did find this Amanita jacksonii, Jackson’s slender Caesar, a choice edible and all around beautiful fruiting body. It was growing underneath a big loblolly pine on a small bluff overlooking the cultivar seedlings on Poplar Hill Trail.
Chris doing a cleft graft with Rebecca’s Gold on Pawpaw Peninsula wild native SAFF. Grafting Southside Sally and her gang in the gully with 7 different cultivars.
Amanita parcivolvata, the ringless false fly Amanita or False Caesar’s mushroom. This is edible but avoided by many because of its poisonous lookalikes. Amanita banningiana, known as the yellow Caesar or Mary Banning’s slender Caesar. It is prized for its taste but caution is advised due to deadly lookalikes.Amanita canescens, Golden threads Lepidella, grows near oaks. Found up top in the main clearing. Inedible.
What a great day we had yesterday at SAFF. We went over to check out how much rain the farm had gotten. The gauge was at .2 which is better than none. But much less than the 1.9 inches our weather app reported. Nevertheless, we still had mushrooms growing. Even some we hadn’t seen before. It was like a dream come true.
The pawpaw fruit in the old clonal colony is getting bigger. We are planning a trip to see what pawpaws are doing in our foraging spots along the Rockfish River soon.
Xanthoconium purpureum, found growing under an oak up top in the main clearing. It’s edible although this one has been claimed by bugs. Small bolete popping up on Chanterelle Trail we hope to see mature.
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.
