Fall Mushrooms and The Mystery Of The Mostly Unknown.

Autumn Mushroom Hunting. 

With Her Spirit Hat and Power jacket
On. 

It is fall.   And I have been obsessed with Autumn mushrooms because so many cool ones come out this time of year.   There is just one small problem...  I have never seen many of them in real life.

Honey Mushrooms? 

Or deadly Galerina?

I'm now almost certain that we have found many of the species in the forest.   But, for whatever reason, they never hit ALL of the marks.   Meaning, there is always something a little "off" about them that makes me proceed with culinary caution. I'm not about to eat a Deadly Galerina thinking it was an odd looking honey mushroom.

Cluster of Ringless Honey
Mushrooms. 

So, after every trip,  I have been bringing baskets of mushrooms home, gathering spore prints and reading up on them.   I try to find similar odd looking pictures on the Internet, but that is not always the best way.   And books are limited to a few pictures... only of ones that are "Text book" samples.

Chicken fat Bolete, Not really a
Bolete.

In Minnesota,  Cheryl and I found clusters of what I am pretty sure were ringless Honey Mushrooms.  They are edible, but we were miles from home and our books and work shop.  We did not bring any home, but took lots of photos.

But you can see why people call
it one. 

Finding new mushrooms is
always exciting though. 

While walking through the park, we discovered Chicken Fat Bolete!  Not technically a Bolete, not technically inedible... but I doubt I will be trying this one.  It causes....  Runny Bottom in many people.   It was growing under a pine tree, but I'm not sure it was a White Pine. As the Name suggests.

A Blewit?  

Are the gills purple enough?

Blewits have been just frustrating.  They are edible as well, but whenever we find "purple or bluegills", it turns out to have a brown spore print (Violet Cort most likely.) and whenever we find a random white mushroom with light purple gills on leaves with a pinkish spore print, the mycelium is not purple.   There is always something just wrong with the 100% positive ID.  ( Meaning, I'm never 100% on any of them.)

Now they are growing in
our yard?!?

Couch stuffing?  No!  It's a
Mushroom! 

With leaf litter piling up and hiding the ground....  And with the flooding finally receding slightly,  there are not many places dry or clear enough to find anything of note. We managed to find a few Shaggy caps, but they are not out in the numbers or at the locations we have found them in previous years ( at least I am 100% about those guys)

=cough! Cough! cough!=

Watch what happens...

Another find are the Giant Puff Balls!   We have been late on every single one so far this year.  I don't know if the wet summer triggered an early fruiting, or if the cooler weather cut them off short.

I'm always happy to help
Mother nature.  Puffballs have a
tough time of it. 

Dust?   Mist?  No wait,  Spores!
 Re-populating the  forest.

They now look like old dusty couch stuffing.   I can at least have fun spreading the spores and trying to grow them in new locations next year.   Besides, it is fun creating dust in the woods!

Cap is brown,  But spore Print is
pink.   What the heck is it!?

Another Blewit?   Gills are not purple.

As for now,   I'm finding what I think are Blewits in our own yard!   They lack the blue or whitish caps, but every them else checks them off as Blewits.  I could harvest a small lot right now if I knew for certain.  ( Pink spore print, bulbous base, growing on dead leaves and grass in late fall, and in small clusters, but not attached o each other.   Even have whiteish mycellium on the base....But dark brown caps?)  I'll take pics and try to see if I can find a comparison online.

Stockings are picking up. 

Stockings continue to sell.  This weekend,  things piled up to about 12.  But with Aqua Blue felt on hold,  we could only complete 9 for today.  I'll have to cut this post short as I have conversations to attend to.  Cheryl obviously has complete faith in my ability to scare away customers.  It's a big responsibility.