Any good (mushroom) finds lately?

[Stick in Mud]

I've found piles of meadows before--when they're out, they're OUT--but I just ate them for the first time this year.

They're pretty similar to the horse mushroom but without the light yellow staining (they don't get as big, either). There's another agaricus that's poisonous (agaricus xanthodermus) that stains a brighter yellow, and some of the other agarics have a strong odor, especially if you crush the base of the stem.

The meadows will have pink gills when younger, and if it's recently rained, they could have some lightish pink staining. As they mature, the gills turn brown. There's no yellow staining and no strong odor.

[Matt Breuer]

I feel fairly confident in ID, and I still won't touch meadows, even though I'm 90% sure on them when I see them...

Hollywood, I sure wish I could've been there when you found the indigos! They are on our "to find" list. Needless to say, the kids were jealous...

I drove up north on Sat. afternoon and saw a giant chicken on a tree near my in-laws. Decided that on Sunday morning we'd take a little walk. Hit one oak stand and found 5 beautiful and brand new hens, and 6 nice big chickens. They are in their prime conditions right now. Got home and found a nubbin had flowered out on my oak stump. They will not give up this season...

[Stick in Mud]

Interesting that you're so careful on the ID's, Matt. I am also very careful (I didn't eat them for two years after I found them), but the agarics (at least according to my guides) don't have anything that's deadly poisonous, and in my experience it's much harder telling apart the horse mushrooms from the other poisonous agarics.

I'm a bit jealous of all the hens y'all are finding. I've literally spent 15 to 20 hours walking in the woods the last four days, and I've found upwards of 60 pounds of prime chicken (anyone want some?!?), but I haven't seen anything but old rotten hens. I haven't been 'shrooming for all that long (three or four years), but this fall's fruiting of chickens is better than anything I've ever seen. I feel like I'm hopscotching from spot to spot...find a chicken, look around, see another chicken, walk there, see another one, walk there, rinse and repeat.

A lot of them haven't even fully fruited out yet...they're still in that bulbous, wet stage (insert joke here) where they aren't quite right for picking. If I squeeze them, they'll release water...and in my experience, these don't fry up right in the pan--they stay too squishy, at least for my taste.

And no lactarius indigos for me, though I did find a few two years ago. I did come across a fairy ring of giant calvatias that would've fed a small army if it hadn't been past prime.

Man, I love fall. Best season of all. Now if only I could catch a walleye!

[jerkin'm]

That seals it- if Matt doesn't pick them they just became garbage can filler- I have done lots of research and am at the 90% sure stage on them, but can't be 100%- all the chickens I found were shot- no hens either-

[pikestabber]

That is cool ! Wasn't planning on getting out but the shrooms were out in force up at my cabin- I believe I stumbled on a pile of meadow mushrooms- going to research further as I have never picked them before- Any ID help or hints on the meadows would be welcome-

Wow! Are those from this past weekend, Jerkin'm? Incredible find. How do you possibly process them all? You must have your own mushroom deep freeze

[pushbutton]

I personally like the sideway slant on the infamous Breuer pose .... sheesh, is that a haul!!!

[jerkin'm]

Yes, those are from yesterday- that photo is after I gave about 40 away too- never seen so many before- processing is pretty easy with a commercial kitchen at your disposal... yes, my phone loves sideways photos....

[JP Z]

We did a little after dinner walk last night and I even found a nice little chicken. Heading out tonight in full force to see what I can find. Hope the rain holds off.

[JP Z]

Well we got out last night for a good walk through the hunting property, stayed on the road grade but still found 8-10lbs of Chickens and a few oddities. Bunch of weird Boletes I don't know anything about. Oh yes and found just a small handful of Oysters!

And these 2 Was just amazed at the size of the white one. The cluster I was thinking possibly Honey Mushrooms but I'm not certain. Since they aren't actually growing on the wood I'm really clueless.

[Gissert]

Thanks for the Puffballs Jerky! I spent quite a bit of time yesterday processing and freezing on my outdoor griddle.

Took a peek again Monday afternoon after we got done chopping corn and there are still small ones punching up through the duff here and there.

[Stick in Mud]

The honeys should start one of these days if they haven't already...Tough to tell from the pick, but those might be pholiota squarrosa.

[JP Z]

Stick,

that looks about spot on for what those shrooms were. Good Call!

[pikestabber]

Found some Chickens last night and found about 20' of continuous log with over-the-hill Chickens stacked 8-10 deep that made me die a little inside

Also found a million of these... ID?

[JP Z]

They look kind of like hamburger buns...........yep that's as technical as I get.

[Stick in Mud]

I've got no idea what that "hamburger bun mushroom" is. I don't even remember seeing anything looking like that growing not at the base of a tree but up on the trunk. Interesting.

But I found another two bags of chickens tonight. I've never had a more predictable mushroom hunt in my life: Walk through woods looking for a big dead tree, see one and walk to it, find chicken, look around for another one, walk to it, find chicken, etc. If interrupted on path by large orange growth, stop for a while to harvest it.

But for the life of me I can't find a hen. It's getting annoying...I've found a bunch of really old ones that must've fruited back in August, but nothing fresh. And no other shrooms to speak of...no honeys, no meadows (around here...up nort' a bit they were everywhere last weekend), very few oysters...no nothing except chickens.

[iland99]

Here's an imgur gallery I put together of a chicken of the woods that I'd been watching for the past 8 days. It went from little nubs on day 1 to around 5 lbs on day 8 when I picked it. I was amazed at how fast it grew!

Chicken grows over 8 days

I also noticed 5 new indigo milk caps that just popped up yesterday.

[Stick in Mud]

Cool pics. You are more patient than I am.

[Cicada]

Lots of stuff popping today in the Detroit Lakes area. Any help with ID? I do know which ones are the giant puffball and the turkey tail. Brought home some of the puffball. Not sure on the edibility of the turkey tail.

[Stick in Mud]

The big white one is a giant puffball (calvatia gigantea, I think). The little puffballs are some variety of lyoperdon. Both are edible.

The first looks like an oyster, but I'm not certain. The third is a turkey tail or a false turkey tail (look at the underside to tell the difference).

Not certain about the last three...

[Stick in Mud]

Halleluia! The hens are finally out!

I went out for a few hours after the rain stopped. More of the same: lots of chickens and not much else...until I found the hen honey spot. Found three in about two minutes, and then about five or six that were past prime. I'll definitely be back next year.

I should take that back...I found a few huge boletes. Not sure what kind they were. Looked like the chicken-fat variety, but they were bigger than any I'd seen. And the scaly pholiota are out in abundance. I almost picked a few for the table, but have yet to take the plunge.

[eyeguy 54]

spotted this puffball family getting ready to chop some wood.

[Stick in Mud]

You know those are safe!

[pushbutton]

Yeah Royce, I will gladly trade you some chickens today for some of your buttons on Tuesday

Like last Sunday, hit up the nearby woods and again found a lot of chickens and one nice hen. No puffballs or one of the Hericiums though....usually find at least a few of each this time of year. Oh well, at least the recent rains made for an unexpected decent ending to the season.

[jerkin'm]

Spent about 20 minutes yesterday with the kids and found a few nice shaggies and more puffballs - anyone need some puffballs ?????

[pushbutton]

Nice work dad....bet the kiddos had a blast! Am wondering though about the long term health implications of always making them sit sideways