Mushrooms and Cycling... Day 2 of Fun.

Riding the Bikes.

Instead of running for Cheryl,  she decided to take a recovery day and ride her bike with me.   How fun!  Together, we rode the normal 15 mile loop around the Trueblood Bike Path.   With the heat and humidity,  I can't help but think she made the right decision.

Cheryl  hammin it up. 

After wards, we did the normal errands and headed back into the forest to find the Golden Oyster mushrooms we left behind.   They were too small  to harvest yesterday,   so we thought we would give them a day to grow a bit. 

One day later!

One day's growth!

Nearly three times the size from yesterday. 

More Golden Oysters on the way. 

They more than tripled in size!   Impressive!    I cut the two bunches off the tree and noted another cluster pinning at the base.   Yesterday, I peeled off all the Old Fruiting Bodies from the tree to allow new ones to sprout.   I'm very impressed to see another one forming so quickly.   We may have to check it again tomorrow!

Fresh Chanterelles! 

Golden with Round wavy cap.

With our basket full,  we headed back towards the car.   Cheryl wanted to check out the Lion's Mane log before we left the woods.  Perhaps it would fruit more as the Oysters did.

Ridges instead of Gills on underside.

Cheryl LOVES stinging nettle. 

No luck with that one,  however we did find a small Bolee and several Chanterelles!   I was very happy to finally find a Chanterelle that was not old and rotten.  I let Cheryl wade through the Stinging Nettle to harvest the last one.   What can I say?   The thought of stinging nettle makes me feel  generous.  And I'm sure Cheryl secretly loves the feeling on her skin.

Found on twigs?  Check! 

Scarlet Elf Cap Mushroom 

An interesting find was the Scarlet Elf Cap mushroom( Sarcoscypha coccinea ) .   A small red mushroom that grows on sticks.  These guys are too small to eat and too few to harvest.... And too tough to Chew, apparently.  So the jury is still out on why you would want to eat one rather than if they are poisonous or not.  ( I don't think they are, since Indians use them for medicine I guess. )  I hear a cool thing about them is if you blow on them.... two seconds later they will puff out their spores.  I did not know this at the time, or else I would have tried it.

Black footed Polypore.

See the "Black Foot"?  And Polypores?

A quick update,  the Brown mushrooms from yesterday were Black Footed Polypore mushrooms.   Fitting name given that the first inch of the stalk is black.   I'm now 100% positive in the identification.   And they are not edible.  Possibly because they are too tough, ( like leather!)  but I did not read anywhere that they were toxic.   Still a neat find.

Still alive? 

And finally:   How nature baffles me!   Several days ago,  the rabbits ate the base of my Cardinal Creeper vine, killing it!   Or at least that is what I thought.    The leaves were wilting and the vines  no longer reached out.   Without it's root system,  I thought it was doomed but I left it in place because there was one lonely flower on the top of the branches.

With no roots, continues to bloom!

Today ( and for the last several days!)  the vine has continued to BLOOM!   As if nothing has happened to the base.   The leaves are still wilted and the vines droop and flop....  but the buds continue to blossom as if nothing is wrong...  Unbelievable.   I don't know for how much longer I can expect this to happen, but I will leave it alone until the last blossom falls.   I hope the hummingbird finds it at least.

      Maple Oyster Mushroom Burger.       

Tastes like pulled pork and mushrooms! 

The other vines are just beginning to blossom a bit, but they are certainly taking their time.   I wonder if the "animal damage" triggered the plant to "hurry up and make babies"...  So to say.  I know it happens in other parts of nature.  I'm just happy that the plant is blooming as much as it is. 

Cheryl is cooking up some of the Oysters mixed with a Portabella.   She caramelizes them with maple syrup to turn them into BBQ mushroom burgers.  Very tasty!   Simple to do.    Give it a try.