First Pines Near Nanimo

Same forest near Nanaimo, very large and waterlogged White Chanterelles, Firm and no bugs on the Red Juice Milky Caps, and lots of Elfin Saddle. First two Hedghogs I've found near Nanaimo this year.

Above lower left, the one White Chanterelle that I brought home. Even when they were newly emerged (last two weeks?) like this one, most were too waterlogged to bring home.

Still Nothing in Nanaimo, but Up-Island it is Well in to the Season

I drove today to a spot near Port Alberni that I have been speculating about for some time. This was a new area so I had no idea what I would find. Within a few minutes hiking I found many bleeding milk cap (Lactarius rubrilacteus) and then a patch of Golden Chanterelles, and some Hedghogs.

Golden Chanterelle

Golden Chanterelle

Cauliflower Mushroom

Admirable Bolete

Admirable Bolete

Admirable Bolete

Here is a video I took. In it I say that the Golden Chanterelles are just starting, but I did find several patches that were very mature, and most of them had been invaded by a white fibrous mold. I have not seen that before. Other patches of younger specimens were very firm and fresh.

A little further on I found some Hedgehogs.


Lastly I found some Elfin Saddles (Helvella) -- Maybe this year I will actually try eating some...

Fluted Black Elfin Saddle, Golden Chanterelles, Hedgehog

Helvella lacunosa

 Found these Fluted Black Elfin Saddles today, along with a few Chanterelles and one lone Hedgehog. Was surprised to find the hedgehog!

Hydnum umbilicatum

Golden Chanterelles

First Frost

Earlier this week the temperature dropped below freezing. Last weekend I had the pleasure of showing some friends a spot I knew to be good for hedgehogs and chanterelles and as it happened we found a small quantity of both.

Then this weekend I visited some old haunts to see if anything was left, and to my delight I found a good number of fairly large belly button hedghogs, and some late Golden Chanterelles. I also visited a log where I had left an Admirable Bolete and found that it had begun to rot. So with the data from several years now in hand I came up with the following table for when the various choice forest mushrooms are likely to flush. I'll adjust it in the future as I gather more data.

	August		September		October		November		December
Lobster
White Chanterelle
Pacific Golden Chanterelle
Cauliflower
Bleeding Milk Caps
Admirable Bolete
Mika Cap
Pear Shaped Puffball
Conifer Coral Hericium
Club
Fluted Black Elfin Saddles
Hedghogs
Matsutake
Winter Chanterelle
Winter Oyster

Best Video on Cooking Mushrooms

After enjoying a feast of Hedghogs tonight, I thought about a classic video on cooking mushrooms I had seen one time, and thanks to the wonders of YouTube, I was able to find it. I love the repartee between Jamie and Genaro. Brilliant.




Here is a video from last weekend of me in a young forest scoring a nice clutch of Hedghogs, the ones I had for dinner tonight in fact. I am a very happy man.

Two Kinds of Hedgehogs -- Hydnum repandum and Hydnum umbilicatum

Last weekend while collecting Hedghogs near Nanaimo I came crashing out of the bush onto a trail and saw two people bent at the waist looking intently at the forest floor. I recognized the stance -- mushroom hunters. I then spent a few happy hours chatting with Chris and Victoria about mushrooms and related topics and wandering through the forest with them looking for mushrooms. I really enjoyed their enthusiasm and it was nice to share tips and observations with folks who clearly enjoyed hunting for mushrooms as much as I do!

Victoria recommended an app she uses called, Roger's Mushrooms. I went home and found the product on the net right away. http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/   The names comes from Roger Phillips, the man behind the project, and he is someone well known for his photographs and films about plants and gardening. 
If you have found a great resource like this one, I would love to hear about it. comment on this post or send me an e-mail at quietlake at stillinthestream dot com. 

Here is a video from last weekend with a tip about collecting fragile mushrooms like Hedgehogs and getting them home in good shape: 

Yesterday, after a trip to Cathedral Grove to look at the big trees with friends, and three separate specimens of Bears Head (Conifer Coral Hericium) which I showed great restraint in not picking, I returned to the Nanaimo area and went into a piece of forest with fairly dense Salal that I have been interested in exploring for some time. I found a large patch of Lobster Mushrooms, only two of which were in good shape, some small thin Golden Chanterelles, and a number of small Belly Button Hedghogs scattered across about an acre of forest. Not terribly exciting. 

Today I went a little further afield to a location I knew to be good for Hedghogs. I found a lot of Hedghogs,  a bunch of Golden Chanterelles still in good shape (and a good number past there prime too!), and Winter Chanterelles at various stages of development. Here is my video from today:

The Bleeding Milk Caps are almost past their prime and the Golden Chanterelles are declining in numbers and quality, so as the frost threatens to knock down the Hedghogs, it seems likely that we soon will be reduced to collecting Winter Oysters, Winter Chanterelles, and Matsutake from the woods of Vancouver Island. 

But, until the frosts hit hard, we still have a couple of good weeks for picking for those varieties. So, happy hunting!

Remains of the Season -- Chanterell, Hedghog, Cailiflower, Meadow Mushroom

Drove to my reliable picking spot about 20 minutes from my house to see if there was anything left in the woods after the cold snap.

There was still snow in the ditches of the logging road (it has warmed up a lot since then).

The place was clearly picked over, lots of evidence of other pickers, which is to be expected so close to town, but within an hour  I found some waterlogged chanterelles still worth picking (and some I left in the field that were not!) and a bunch of small hedghogs, nothing very big.

Lots of rotting mushrooms of all sorts, clearly done in by the snow.

Here is what I came home with:

Brought home a sample of the mushroom I thought might be a Meadow. Sure looks like it is, but also looks like the bugs beat me too it. Might be the same story with the Cauliflower, which I was shocked to find within feet of the road at this time of year. One Cauliflower I saw the other day was past its prime, but this one looked ok in the failing light. I will wash it up and see.

Meadow Mushroom? Agaricus campestris

This little patch of mushrooms sprang up this last week.I took these photos on the 22nd. I think these may be meadow mushrooms, as I found a patch of meadow mushrooms earlier in the year not far from here. They had the distinctive pink gills, but these are not as noticibly pink. Matchmaker gave one response to my entry -- Agaricus campestris, so it probably is.

Trouble is it could be Agaricus hondensis which is toxic, or Agaricus moelleri, etc. too many look alike agaricus for me to trust identification without someone who knows for sure to guide me. It could of course be Agaricus subrutilescens, another prized edible. Maybe I'll bring one home tomorrow for a closer examination.

I found my first patch of hedghogs today. Have not had a chance to do any foraging except on my regular walks from the house, and I keep thinking that this late in the season I won't see anything. Going to have them for breakfast...