Once again we were fortunate and it was a beautiful day with the sun shining on us whilst we explored the woods. Although we had been praying for rain to give the mycelium a helping hand and produce fruiting bodies, the dry weather allowed us to use our 'precious' mushroom books. Comprehensive fungi books are quite an investment, pricey but worth the cost! On the Monday of this week we had a full months worth of rain fall over the course of one day, so the ground had a thorough soaking. After an unusually warm and dry start to autumn us foragers were anxiously waiting for the (delayed) appearance of our favourite edible mushrooms. Thanks to a couple of generous friends we had a proper mushroom feast. Lisa kindly shared her hoard of her absolute favourite 'shroom with us - parasol mushrooms. Last time we added them to the soup but this time we wanted to showcase their creamy flavour so they were simply cooked in garlic oil and served on crostini. Between last weeks foray and this weeks we managed to escape to Devon for a few days holiday. We were hopeful that the woods we were staying near would be mushroom heaven but unfortunately it was the wrong type of habitat with mostly sycamore trees. We found several breathtaking fairy rings, with hundreds of young field mushrooms peeping out of the grass, so we decided to let them grow then grab them on our way home to Cornwall. Sadly when we went to pick them they had been mowed down! Fortunately our friend Tom came to the rescue with his bumper haul of hedgehog mushrooms which made the soup truly delicious. We were joined by photographer Graeme Willetts and he has kindly provided us with lots of beautiful images of our discoveries. This is the 35* different species we found on the day: (in alphabetic order according to the scientific names) Amanita muscaria / Fly Agaric Amanita rubescens / The Blusher Apioperdon pyriforme / Stump Puffball Auricularia auricula-judae / Jelly Ear (tiny baby one) Boletus edulis / Cep (Porcini) (very small) Cantharellus cibarius / Chanterelle (pinning) Clavulina coralloides / Crested Coral Fungus Clavulinopsis Helvola / Yellow Club Fungus Coprinellus micaceus / Glistening Inkcap Coprinopsis atramentaria / Common Inkcap Cortinarius violaceus / Violet Webcap Daldinia concentrica / King Alfred’s Cake Favolaschia calocera / Orange Pore Fungus Fistulina hepatica / Beefsteak Ganoderma applanatum / Artist’s Conk Geastrum triplex / Collared Earthstar Gymnopus fusipes / Spindleshank Hydnum repandum / Hedgehog Hygrocybe ceracea / Butter Wax Cap Hypholoma fasciculare / Sulphur Tuft Hypomyces chrysospermus (parasitic ascomycete fungus that grows on bolete mushrooms) Laccaria amethystine / Amethyst Deceiver Laccaria laccata / The Deceiver Lactarius Quietus / Oakbug Milkcap Oudemansiella mucida / Porcelain Fungus Paxillus involutus / Brown Rollrim Piptoporus betulinus / Birch Polypore Pseudoboletus parasiticus / Parasitic Bolete Russula cyanoxantha / Charcoal Burner Scleroderma citrinum / Common Earthball Skeletocutis (nivea) / White Crust Fungus, potentially Hazel Bracket Trametes versicolor / Turkey Tail Tricholoma ustale / Burnt Knight Xerocomellus chrysenteron / Red Cracked Bolete Xylaria polymorpha / Dead Man’s Fingers
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After having to postpone the scheduled foray the week before we were anxious about this week's walk. We need to find specific varieties of mushrooms for effective teaching; the different subspecies display key features that help with identification skills. I want to provide the best possible experience and with no rain predicted for the week before last I decided I had to postpone the upcoming lesson. Sadly, across the country, other fungi instructors I know have needed to do the same. Fungi seasons are always fickle and hard to predict and this year has been even trickier than normal. We had an unusually early showing in the summer due to large amounts of rain, but then everything dried up and there was a period where not much happened in the fungi world. The fungi mycelium requires a significant amount of rain over a few days to grow the fruiting body (mushrooms!) in addition to a drop in temperature, which then triggers growth. The last few weeks have been unusually dry and warm, resulting in little mushroom activity. Finally the rain came in so we were able to begin our hunt. We reccied these woods three days before today's group walk and the diversity and growth from then to now was amazing. It took us ages to enter the proper woods because we found so much on the path leading in! Today finished with a hearty potato, leek, cep, parasol and chanterelle soup topped with a drizzle of cream and sourdough bread to dunk. Thankfully we had a good 'shroom harvest (thanks to our personal parasol and chanterelle spots!) a few days earlier that we shared with our lovely guests. Thanks all for coming and sharing our bounty. Here is the 36* different species we found on the day: (in alphabetic order according to the scientific names) Agaricus xanthodermus / Yellow Stainer Agaricus (too old to ID accurately) Amanita citrina var alba / White False Death Cap Amanita muscaria / Fly Agaric Auricularia auricula-judae / Jelly Ear Boletus edulis / Cep (Porcini) Boletus subtomentosus / Suede Bolete Cantharellus cibarius / Chanterelle Clavulinopsis Helvola / Yellow Club Fungus Coprinellus micaceus / Glistening Inkcap Coprinopsis atramentaria / Common Inkcap Crepidotus / Oysterling Daldinia concentrica / King Alfred’s Cake Favolaschia calocera / Orange Pore Fungus Fistulina hepatica / Beefsteak Ganoderma applanatum / Artist’s Conk Gymnopus fusipes / Spindleshank Hydnum rufescens / Terracotta Hedgehog Hygrocybe ceracea / Butter Wax Cap Hypholoma fasciculare / Sulphur Tuft Laccaria amethystina / Amethyst Deceiver Laccaria laccata / The Deceiver Lactarius / Milkcap (colours too washed out to ID) Lactarius quietus / Oakbug Milkcap Lepiota Cristata / Stinking Dapperling Mycena Oudemansiella mucida / Porcelain Fungus Paxillus involutus / Brown Rollrim Russula / Brittlegill (colours too washed out to ID) Scleroderma citrinum / Common Earthball Scleroderma verrucosum / Scaley Earthball Skeletocutis (nivea) / White Crust Fungus, potentially Hazel Bracket Trametes versicolor / Turkey Tail Tricholoma ustale / Burnt Knight Xerocomellus chrysenteron / Red Cracked Bolete Xylaria polymorpha / Dead Man’s Fingers *excluding any LBJs (Little Brown Jobs) The rain didn't stop us! We braved the elements and were rewarded with finding a plethora of wild fungi. We probably found nearly a quarter of the varieties in just the first few hundred yards. Everyone was taken a back by how much is right under our nose as we hurriedly walk by. It was a good reminder to slow down and take your time! We found our first hedgehog mushrooms after a bit of a trek. We had just come through a younger park of the woodland that was lacking in the right tree types and hardly found anything. This made finding them even more exciting. Some of us scrabbled about in the undergrowth on the side of the bank determined to find as many as we could for lunch. Here is a complete* list of what we found on our Fungi Foray in the Looe area last week. Birch polypore / Piptoporus betulinus Blusher / Amanita rubescens Oakbug milkcap / Lactarius quietus Beech milkcap / Lactarius blennius Jellybaby fungus / Leotia lubrica Beechwood sickener / Russula nobilis Terracotta hedgehog / Hydnum rufescens Wood hedgehog / Hydnum repandum Green elfcup / Chlorociboria aeruginascens Glistening inkcap / Coprinellus micaceus Brown rollrim / Paxillus involutus Wood blewitt / Lepista nuda Candlesnuff fungus / Xylaria hypoxylon Common earthball / Scleroderma citrinum Red cracked bolete / Boletus chrysenteron False death cap / Amanita citrina Sulphur tuft / Hypholoma fasciculare Ringless honey fungus / Armillaria tabescens Brittlegill / Russula Farinipes Spindleshank or Toughshank / Gymnopus fusipes Split gill / Schizophyllum commune Clouded agaric / Clitocybe nebularis *excluding any LBJs (Little Brown Jobs) My aim on the day was to teach my guests how to safely identify and analyze fungi. I also sort to dispel lots of myths around the edibility of mushrooms. We looked at the features of various different types of fungi to learn how to tell them apart. An area that would normally take 30 minutes to walk took us 3 hours! Everyone had fun scrabbling around, exploring the undergrowth, and appreciating the detail in the various habitats. The moment of delight when we found the first Chanterelle led to a pause when everyone slowed down to hunt for more. Another key moment was finding a Death Cap and False Death Cap in close succession to compare the various important features. Know your enemy! The walk ended with ID workshop and a cook up. We had Winter Chanterelles fried in butter and thyme on crusty bread, followed by a mushroom soup. The soup was a simple potato and leek soup made only with a stock from dried cep and cauliflower mushroom, to which we added our Chanterelles, Winter Chanterelles and Oyster mushrooms, and finished with fresh thyme. Here is a complete* list of what we found this week on our Fungi Foray yesterday in the Bodmin area. Fly agaric / Amanita muscaria Common earthball / Scleroderma citrinum Red cracked bolete / Boletus chrysenteron Bay bolete / Imleria badia Death cap / Amanita phalloides False death cap / Amanita citrina Stink horn / Phallus impudicus Winter chanterelle / Cantherellus tubaeformis Chanterelle / Cantharellus cibarius Amethyst chanterelle / Cantharellus amethysteus Sulphur tuft / Hypholoma fasciculare Turkey tail / Trametes versicolor The deceiver / Laccaria laccata Toads ear / Otidea bufonia Common funnel / Clitocybe gibba Brittlegill / Russula Farinipes Zombie fungus / Cordyceps militaris Webcap / Cortinarius Spindleshank / Gymnopus fusipes Candlesnuff fungus / Xylaria hypoxylon Milkcap / Lactarius omphaliformis Gymnopus acervatus (Collybia acervata) *excluding any LBJs (Little Brown Jobs) We are having a wild feast Sunday 19th November. It’s to celebrate the first birthday of Woodmans Wild Ales. There will be lots of foraged foods paired with Stuarts amazing wild ales, we also have a tasting expert to talk use through the various unique flavours. Each course comes with a beer included in the price and is a bargain at £35 a ticket. If this menu tickles your taste buds then please book via Eventbright. The Menu
White Elephant 7.5% wildcrafted with blackthorn leaves, elderflower, sea arrowgrass and sea purslane Crostini with three cornered leek and sorrel pesto with white bean and pepper dulse purée (vegan) Kea Porter 5.2% wildcrafted with kea plums Helford Blue and nettle curd cheese Or Wild herb crusted cheese (vegan) Served with pickled samphire and forager’s chutney Growsette 5.1% wildcrafted with gooseberries Mussels and samphire in beer Or Hedgerow spiced celeriac soup with hazelnut oil (vegan) Served with homemade wild thyme, seaweed and beer bread Redruth Red 7% wildcrafted with bilberries and wild strawberries Cornish venison and chestnut pie Or Wild mushroom and chestnut pie (vegan) Served with seasonal and seashore veg Queenie 8.1% wildcrafted with Cornish apples Medlar sticky toffee pudding and herb bennet custard (Vegan option on request) |