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May 30, 2024 Porcini and black trumpets at Saint Andrews Forest Farm

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One of our first Bolete edulis mushrooms, common names the Cep, porcini, king bolete or penny bun, a most sought after edible. We’d been searching for a year and finally found it yesterday as well as black trumpets.
Craterellus fallax, Eastern black trumpet, found along the southern set back line along the forest edge. Near oaks and nestled into moss growing directly from the forest litter. These are particularly difficult to spot as they look like leaf litter. We are so lucky.
They looked like round tubes. These are a choice edible and are highly valued.
Shoehorn oyster found along Blackrock trail growing on a stick.
Amanita parcivolvata, False Caesar’s Mushroom, we are seeing these all over up top right now. The cutest mushrooms to spot pushing up through the leaves or pine needles with the bright red to orange cap dotted with white.
Ailanthus, tree of Heaven, root suckers we’ve been pulling out from wherever we find it on the farm. This is a wonderful example of why to pull out the roots underneath and not mow or cut them since the root will keep growing and sending up more of this invasive tree that chokes out native species.
Mowing the south end where we found the first of 5 porcini mushrooms yesterday. 👏🏽

We were out to mow and have a work day. It was lovely cooler weather so we got lucky in multiple ways. We mowed the clearing up top, the front along the road and the southern border. Then we went for a little walk and found the mushrooms we’d almost given up hope finding at SAFF. What a wonderful day. We feel like anything is possible if you stay focused and keep going. 😀

We saw plenty of lone star ticks as well. Since we’ve been mowing regularly we don’t see them in the clearings but along our trails we find them on the tippy top of Galium, bedstraw. They hang out with their legs open waiting for an animal to walk by to attach to. We saw plenty of them yesterday. It’s a bad year for ticks here in Virginia. The mild winter weather didn’t kill them off so they are even more abundant than usual. We are staying mindful.

Top of the Bolete edulis.
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May 27, 2024 Memorial Day at St Andrew’s Forest Farm

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So far we have seen plenty of deer ticks, dog ticks and lone star ticks at the farm this year. The clearing seems free of them right now since we keep it mowed down well. In the forest, the wetter and greener areas where deer and dogs are known to move through have been hotspots. Our tick mitigation measures have kept us from getting any bites but we have found them crawling on our socks, shoes and clothes. It’s definitely tick season unfortunately.

Monotropa uniflora, Indian pipe or ghost pipe, found along southern set back line in the forest. These plants get their energy from their host fungus, Russula or Lactarius, so they can exist in darkest parts of the woods. We were delighted to find it at SAFF.
The water was moving gently in the waterway at the bottom.
Great spangled fritillary, Argynnis cybele, were fluttering all around the Southern set back line. Fritillaries are a smaller group within the butterfly family Nymphalidae. All butterflies in this family have tiny front legs that lack claws (in most other butterfly families, the front legs have claws). My daughter laughs at the Seussian names (fritillary, pawpaw, peduncle) of plants and insects from the farm.
Amanita vaginata, grissette, an edible Amanita that lacks a ring in the stem. A large mushroom with furrows around the edge duplicating the gills underneath.
American Amber jelly fungus, Exidia crenata, is edible but we’ve not tasted it yet. Used in pho or noodle dishes.
Black and gold flat millipede, Apheloria virginiensis, found all along the south side. It is reported to secrete cyanide compounds as a defense. It is recommended that one wash hands after handling this organism as the toxic compounds it secretes are poisonous and can cause extreme irritation if rubbed in the eyes. (Source: Wikipedia)
Chris looking for our boundary marker in pawpaw orchard.
Fairy fingers, Clavaria fragilis,
 It produces tubular, unbranched, white basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that typically grow in clusters. 
Maple leaf viburnum
Pawpaws
Flowering lowbush blueberry

We were going to mow but left our keys to the tractor at the house in Staunton so instead we had a lovely walk around. The ground and forest litter was wet from the storms that have passed through. With the heat, it felt very muggy.

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May 24, 2024 Summer Mushrooms are back at SAFF

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Weeping widow, Lacrymaria lacrymabunda, they are not poisonous but they are bitter. They were a lovely find on the driveway up top.
Fly agaric, Amanita muscaria, found along the edges of the clearing up top. They arose from a volva, an egg at the base of the stem. We saw them last year and were waiting for them to come back.
Similar to the Lactarius indigo, this is Calendine milk cap. Found at the top of North trail. It had a blue yellow sheen on the cap with yellow gills. The gills did not lactate when cut. We have so many Russulas. It’s delightful.
Lespedeza procumbens, trailing lespedeza, a native perennial which is a legume, so nitrogen fixing. Found throughout the farm.
Hygrocybe conica along North Trail. These were brilliantly colored on the forest floor.
Hygrocybe flavescens, Golden waxy cap, at the bottom of North Trail as it reaches the waterway, we found this beauty.
Entoloma strictius, were tall, straight and golden, arising directly out of the forest litter along North trail. They appear to have a pink spore print, and the ridge-like gills turn pink as they age.
The Pawpaw Orchard has become a favorite location for us as we clear out small competitors and limb up larger trees. We’ve been learning about how to successfully transplant papaws and we’re working on a long term strategy to produce fruit and trees in abundance.

We have been working on the shed which will house a compost toilet and shower for us to camp luxuriously. We plan to camp in the next month and hope to report back about the wonderful night time adventures at Saint Andrews Forest Farm.

The compost toilet has indoor cladding now.
Freshly cut! We’ve been diligently maintaining our setback line along the Southern boundary of SAFF, grateful for the power of the Husqvarna.
Straight down our south property line. (The electric wire.)
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May 12, 2024 Mother’s Day at Saint Andrew’s Forest Farm

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Eastern American Platterful Mushroom, Megacollybia rodmanii. One of the first mushrooms to appear after morel season. They pop up in May and June. They are decomposers of dead hardwood.

We found 9 or 10 of these Eastern American Platterful Mushrooms on the south side on the slope just above the waterway. They were big and impressive emerging from the forest litter. We’ve been searching for morels for months and hadn’t seen much of any fungi. They were a delightful sight for sore eyes. They are not delicious and some have been sickened by them despite the name “Platterful” so we left them there.

Top of the Megacollybia rodmanii.

Mountain laurel blooming. A nitrogen fixer found throughout the farm.
Early Lowbush blueberry flowering along the southern set back line.
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April 10, 2024 Saint Andrew’s Forest Farm

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We had a big day of mowing and cutting back several overgrown areas along the southern set back line. We used our new roads through the forest we’d cut a few weeks ago to drive the tractor over to the southern border. It was a success. Our old Husqvarna tractor is a workhorse.

Viola hirsutula, Southern wood violet found along the south wet weather gully.
Viburnum prunifolium, Blackhaw, found in the wet weather gully on the south side.
Genus Galium, bedstraws.
Terrapene carolina carolina, Eastern box turtle. South side near mayapple colony.
Carya ovata, shagbark hickory. South end of SAFF.
Our first red Russula of the year. We saw many of these last year. There are over 500 species. This was found on the north side of the clearing up top.

We found a few other plants and are looking into identifying them.

We were happy to cut down a few more black cherry trees which had black knot fungus and bag worms. We are slowly taking diseased trees from the farm and burning them.

It was dry out today with rain expected tomorrow and Friday. We hope after a rain with warmer weather into the 70s, the morels may finally pop up. We are on the lookout and can’t wait to get back out there.

Salvia lyrata, lyreleaf sage. Found along the road while mowing. There was a patch of it.
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April 6,2024 Saturday Morning Farm Foray

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Ferns and mayapples by the waterway.

We have a house guest later today but with the wet weather this week, we could not resist a quick run out to Buckingham for a foray. The cool moist April weather all week long seemed to offer another chance for morels.

As we neared the Farm a large male Bald Eagle suddenly commanded our attention by swooping down from a tree to seize a hapless rabbit in a stubbly corn field. He seemed to stare right at us as we drove by, in awe, waiting until we passed to begin his feast.

Once in the gate at the Farm we wasted no time getting to the forage. We walked Fern trail, past the row of blooming redbud trees, and then stayed to the south side of the Ridge, spying the Mayapples near the setback line. We looked closely, but no luck there.

We continued down the hill to the oaks and main waterway. We cross and explored the mayapple communities adjacent to the pawpaw grove. Many old and young oaks, poplar, beech, hickory, pawpaw, maple, as well as year-round vernal pools. But no morels yet. It is cold, mostly overcast and windy, the oak leaves are crunchy underfoot.

On the drive to SAFF and back, we note a marked difference in the relative development of “spring” in Augusta, Albemarle, Nelson and Buckingham counties. It seems notably cooler once we cross the James River. The trees in Buckingham have been slower to develop their leaves and buds. The spring vegetation at SAFF is not as far along, not as green or flowery yet. The trees know it’s too soon, they are holding back, just a bit longer. This will be something to remember for the future, an entry in our almanac.

Shiny golden mushrooms found along Ridge Trail. Nolanea, or pinkgills.
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April 3, 2024, Rainy Day Morel Hunting

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We thought today would be the day. The ground temperature was perfect ranging from 50 to 55 at various depths. We got a call from a friend who lives by a lake in Arrington Virginia—the next county over—and he’d found buckets of morels. It had been raining for days with a giant storm moving through. We went over to see if we could find any. The water was too high to cross at the bottom of the slope. We didn’t find morels but we had a great walk. The water was really moving through. We’d never seen it so wet. We will go out Friday morning to check again. These were our finds today.

Tricholomopsis rutilans, or common name Plums and Custard, or Red-haired Agaric. Found along south trail.
Pluteus cervinus, in clearing near loblolly pines.
Coprinellus found up top in the clearing in multiple places.
Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas fern
Erynnis juvenalis
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March 31, 2024 St Andrew’s Forest Farm on Easter Sunday

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Class Agaricomycetes growing on black cherry.
The underside of theAgaricomycetes shows teeth instead of pores or gills.

Of course we went over to continue to search for morels. It was a beautiful day and the farm was burgeoning with spring. We saw multiple colonies with thousands of mayapples emerging. Only a couple of the largest ones have flattened which is a great indicator of timing for morels to begin coming up. We found these new colonies of mayapples emerging in the pawpaw grove where we also found Virginia bluebells popping up. We noticed that the blueberry bushes are starting to leaf out.

Virginia bluebells not yet flowering but almost.
One colony of mayapples which has plenty of sun so we hope to see some fruit. We hear the taste is similar to pineapple and starburst candy. Yum!
Leucobryum moss found at the bottom of the slope.
Eastern fence lizard found up top in the clearing.
Genus Houstonia, flowering bluets, a native wildflower found covering the farm especially in clearings.

We got plenty of rain yesterday and can’t wait to go back out to search for the elusive morels.

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March 27, 2024 Springtime at SAFF

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Yesterday was a rainy spring day with temperatures in the 50s at Saint Andrew’s Forest Farm. We went over to walk around the woods and look for early morels since the soil temperature has been in the 50s for a week. We saw vernal pools up top and at the bottom of the slope. The springs and waterfalls were all flowing. We found hygrocybes, commonly called waxycaps. They have bright red caps and yellow gills. We also found oyster mushrooms growing up top in the clearing on a stump.

Blackening wax cap or witches hat.
Oyster mushrooms

We also found several clusters of mayapples. We were delighted to see these as they are associated with morels as they grow together in the same wet, well draining soil.

Mayapples emerging along south slope.

The water levels were up with even more rain expected today. We can’t wait to get back out.

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March 9, 2024 Wet weather and Morel hunting

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Witches butter

We’ve been going over most days this week as the soil temperature has been above 50 degrees Fahrenheit which is when morels begin to pop up. We have not found them yet but are delighted to continue our search. We’ve been looking especially near tulip poplars, oaks and beech —and near the waterways.

Ink caps, usually one of the first mushrooms to appear in early spring.
Wet weather gully along the southern side of SAFF during a rainy day.

We’ve also been going over often to be sure our neighbor at our southern border isn’t hunting on our property. He built a stand and a bridge and also cut down 30-50 trees all on our side. He’s confused about the unambiguous property line that runs right along the electricity line. We are planning a fence and have sent him letters. We will engage with the sheriff’s office next. Yesterday, we found deer bones on that side and we mourned for these creatures and wish he would contain himself to his land at the least.

Water was collecting everywhere up top and along the slopes.