A third year female black bear runs up to the clearing from North Trail on May 20, 2025.
We had seen bear scat multiple times all around the farm and last May it was confirmed when she ran in front of our farm cam.
We had just moved the camera to a new position and were able to capture a three year female black bear on video as she ran pretty fast through the main clearing up top.
We continue to see evidence of bear activity and we imagine it is she. This past month we began noticing old tree stumps destroyed and large pieces of quartz turned over. We immediately suspected our bear was looking for insects to eat. The first we noted was in the spring along the back line on Chanterelle Hill Trail. A huge ant hill was dug up and excavated. Then about a month and a half ago, we saw all along the north property line she had dug up old stumps. At one we saw yellow jackets looking disturbed.
Vespula maculifrons, Eastern yellow jackets. This creature is not to be messed with. I wonder if this was what our bear was running from through the top clearing. A stump disturbed by a young bear looking for termites or ants to eat along Amanita Way.Stump excavation along Northmost Trail. It was a hungry bear who worked hard to find everything she could to eat this summer in the forest. Just last week we found these honey mushrooms along Armillaria Way. Either the bear, deer or one of our Eastern box turtles, Terrapene carolina carolina, came along and ate it before we got back to collect them. Caught in the act! Our Eastern box turtle eating some mushrooms along the bottom creek on a stump that the bear had ransacked looking for bugs to eat.
Pawpaws we foraged under Edible Landscaping’s Sunflower and Mango cultivars in Nelson County Virginia on Sunday.
We went out to the farm on Friday and Sunday to get as many pawpaws planted before the rain comes. Thunderstorms and rain are forecasted to get started late tonight and continue until Wednesday afternoon. We planted 17 on Friday: Five in the orchard (a Kentucky State University Chappell and 4 seedlings) and another five alongside the Shenandoah and select seedlings that we planted last year. We put a Mango cultivar and four seedlings we started from foraging. Then we planted 2 on the Pawpaw Peninsula (an Allegheny cultivar and Wild native seedling from a Rockfish River foraged pawpaw). After that we put two by the pawpaw patch at the bottom of Ridge Trail and another two on the left side of the large pawpaw grove. We walked up Ridge Trail and put another wild pawpaw seedling from Rockfish River foraging near the small colony of native pawpaws growing along the south wet weather gully.
Wild native seedling planted up top.
We were exhausted after this. We had to carry water for the trees after planting in our packs, carry our equipment and the trees themselves all around the farm. It was hot and the ground was hard and dry for digging. Chris was battling each hole. (We are looking into finding a lightweight device to dig our holes, as in an auger.)
Allegheny pawpaw cultivar on the Pawpaw Peninsula with our SAFF native wild pawpaws. The wild ones are yellowing leaves and going dormant for winter since it has been so dry.
Then we went back out on Sunday to water what we’d planted Friday and put a few more in the ground. We planted 5 up top in the main clearing along the driveway and put two along the South Gully on Dan’s Folly. We put one more across next to a lone wild SAFF native pawpaw on Fern Trail. From there, we walked down the Gully and watered our select seedling planted a few days before. We were happy to see they all were still in the ground (last year, the deer ate them and pulled them out of the ground a day after we planted so we almost expected the same.) They were glowing in fact. They all appeared to be very happy in their new locations. We watered them some more.
We have another 80 or so to plant and hope to get out to the farm again soon to get a few more in the ground.
We found this lone flower along Mary Banning Trail. We aren’t certain but are leaning towards a type of Spurge. We will continue to observe it in order to further identify.
Orchard Trail taken in September in the lowlands at St Andrews Forest Farm
It’s been far too long since we have reported on events at the farm. Cooler temperatures and a few trees with bright yellow and red leaves remind us fall is here and also that we could use a good soaking rain to soften the crisp dryness of the ground and plants. Our pawpaw seedlings are waiting, with a few cultivars we collected from Edible Landscaping in Nelson County Virginia, to be planted out at the farm when a rain is expected next, we will plant them just before.
Over 100 pawpaw seedlings and a few grafts of Mango, Allegheny, KSU Chappell cultivars. We also have quite a few select seedlings from Edible Landscaping.
We hope to plant some around the existent wild native pawpaw patches that we have. These trees are responding well to increased light as we cut back understory trees competing for sunlight under the giant oaks maples and beech. They have greened this year and produced more branches and leaves. We only had a few flowers and one tree that set fruit. This dropped after the second week even though we had good rains in the spring. We are feeding the native trees compost from our home bin. With the addition of the new dna from the seedlings and grafted cultivars we hope to plant within the next few weeks, we hope to see increased growth and fruiting.
We have been busy planning our orchard and structures, collecting seeds from native and select varieties, trailblazing to give us more access to SAFF. And we have also been mushroom hunting of course! We have added a lean-to on to our shed for the tractor.
American Persimmon trees up top fruiting nicely in the forest.
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!
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.
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.
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 boleteA 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.
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.
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
St Andrews Forest Farm 