Perfect day in the woods....

[Stick in Mud]

....for chubby, sweaty guys.  At least this guy.  And the woods were alive with the sound of the forcible ejection of basidia!

I found an insane number of edibles today.  Off the top of my head:  two kind of russulas, chants, chicken, hen, puffballs, oyster, hedgehog...I'm missing a few, but I didn't write them down.  Alas, I did *not* find any honeys or pinkies.  I'm hoping they come to visit us one of these days.   Either way, the bugs are down and the woods are crazy full of fungi.  

Oh yeah, and I found about a thousand of these guys.    

 

[icehole10]

Good to hear, I'm looking forward to getting out this weekend! 

[pushbutton]

Yeah, seeing that pic of black gold will probably get me out as well. Probably won't find any,  but you saw a hen you say? 

[Stick in Mud]

Yep, found a few of them.  All but one were too old already.   

In my experience, trumpets grow in great profusion.  The trick is finding the first one.  I found another patch yesterday by stopping to take a leak...realized I was hitting some.  Those have been marked off, but my mom, dad, and wife and I are heading out this afternoon to pick the rest.  It'll be a haul. I'd ask for your help, push, but five would be one too many.

[JP Z]

You are a lucky ducky there Stick.  Great to see someone can find Trumpets   I think the woods are calling me this weekend as well, I don't really have any plans so it's a great excuse to get out.  I hear Saturday around here may Rain but Sunday is good.  Now I have to check every one of my Oaks for Hens......oh well.

[Stick in Mud]

Yep, time to start looking for hens.  I wonder if they're called the "dancing mushroom" because it looks like we're doing the do-si-do with every oak we see. 

[pikestabber]

It's been a great year for chants and lobsters for me, but Trumpets are my ultimate nemesis and I have NEVER found one. Do they grow in certain soil, similar areas as chants, different areas altogether, no discernible pattern? I HAVE TO GET THESE this year!

[JP Z]

From what I've been told by an expert....see 1 post above yours.  They like Mossy soil.

[icehole10]

I stumbled on a few last year, complete accident! We were walking out of a bear bait, and my wife just happened to look down and made a comment about this cool looking shroom.  Started looking around and managed to find 4-5.  They are very hard to see amongst the leaf litter, but the area we found them there was a lot of oak trees with a fairly heavy canopy, but open near the ground. I will take a look this weekend and see if they are back! 

[pushbutton]

With all this talk, couldn't wait till the weekend, so after work,  hit up a new to me, lower lying oak woods hoping to find a trumpet. ...nope. No chickens or hens either. But.......along the upper edges .....have never seen as many and as big chants. Am sure the all the rain has something to do with it, but thanks to the stick family not needing help at their trumpetfest, did find an incredible new chant spot really close to the house. Big time public place but no shroomer could have missed these.....and looks like I got the place all to myself 

[JP Z]

Nice find Push!  Yeah those look about the size of the ones I found yesterday.

[icehole10]

The weather on Saturday held off long enough to check bear baits, and then I was off to look for a few shrooms. We were not in the woods for 5 minutes when my wife, and my 5 year old nephew, step on what I assume was a hornets nest and well, that put an end to our day real quick. My wife got it in the arm and my nephew in the forehead. I did go for a little walk sat afternoon, found a few past prime lobsters, and a couple of good ones.

[pushbutton]

Guess that would put a damper on the trip Figure someday I will bonk my head on of those huge lower hanging paper nests that I didn't see because am always looking down 

Yeah, Jp they look like cousins. Sure is fun stumbling on them!

Went down to the rents yesterday, was naughty, and went off trail in one of the three river parks. Picked three plastic shopping bags full of chants , lobsters, crown tip, chickens, hedge hogs, and kings. Never had help cleaning beforem. I was doing the water and brushing, dad was cutting and bagging, mom frying. Wow was that nice....bing , bam, boom, done.

 

[B-man715]

Very nice guys. Those chants are huge!

 

I snuck out on Friday for a bit and found a nice batch too. Looked and looked for hens, but didn't see a single one...

 

Found chants, chickens, hedgehogs, and lobsters

Edited August 24, 2015 by B-man715

[NoWiser]

Nice finds, guys!  I'm jealous.  Haven't made it out since July and am starting to get twitchy.  Heading to NM Friday to help my dad chase elk, but I doubt there will be much to find down there.  Leave some for when I get home!

[leechlake]

no elk in New Mexico?  I went four years and shot a 292, 320, 374-2/8 (who hoooo!!!) and 311 with Muzzy on public land.  Yes I had a horse shoe in my rear.  Have fun!!!

[NoWiser]

There will be a ton of elk in New Mexico.  But, I don't think there will be much to find down there when it comes to mushrooms.

[Duffman]

Alright fungai guys, what is this?  They have been popping up in one of my mulch beds at the bottom of a tree.

 

[B-man715]

Looks like a stinkhorn. Once the slime falls off they kinda look like a morel. A few of them got me excited a couple years ago until I got a closer look...

Edited August 29, 2015 by B-man715

[pushbutton]

We already tried to have a scientific discussion on similar type shrooms......and the fungal police locked or hid it or something 

[icehole10]

Kind of looks like a jalapeno pepper on the top half!!  I can say I have never seen anything like it.

[pushbutton]

Never made it into the woods this weekend, but while driving saw tons of medium sized puffies in the grass fields. This time of year always refer to them as cemetery shrooms

[pikestabber]

Never made it into the woods this weekend, but while driving saw tons of medium sized puffies in the grass fields. This time of year always refer to them as cemetery shrooms

They are out in force, that's for sure... Had a few growing right next to where my lawn meets the wood line and thought I'd check on them last night after work to see how much bigger they got. They were big enough to harvest and that's when I noticed a couple in the woods...then a couple more. I stopped after 15 feet and 10 puffies. I am sure if I walked any further it would have kept going. I've tried them every which way I can think of, and the bottom line is...they just aren't that great to me. I know some people go crazy over them, but once they are cooked even that nice little anise smell seems to dissipate and then it seems like eating a fried marshmallow that isn't sweet and tastes like whatever you season it with. I guess I've never dehydrated any into powder. Anyone have any luck with that? Are there some good recipes I am just not giving a chance?

That said, I'm a sucker for something that is 1) edible, and 2) going to rot if I don't harvest it. Next year I am putting a fence up so I don't accidently look that direction.

Edited September 2, 2015 by pikestabber

[TigerBlood]

I found about a half dozen basketball sized puff balls yesterday - all within about 30 feet of each other.  Very cool mushroom.  But definitely ranks low on my taste meter.  To me, they have taste/texture of fried egg whites.  I mean - not awful tasting or anything.  But not exactly something I crave either.  They pretty much taste like whatever you fry them in or top them with.  I'll probably just admire them vs. eat them going forward.  Can't wait for the hens which should be popping very soon.

[pushbutton]

Although seeing dozens, have not picked any either yet this year.....will eventually probably fry up one or two though. Grabbed a nice chicken from a drive by from nearby park. Stopped and checked for a hen in a perennial tree ... ..   but nothing yet. Usually find other perrenial chickens as well there,  but no go. Would think a week or two yet.