The Smooth Chanterelle Finally Makes An Appearance!

Orange Gems hidden on the ground. 

Also Means: Great
Mushroom Hunting Day! 

It is July!  And we have finally harvested our first round of Smooth Chanterelles.  (Cantharellus lateritius)  These are the guys we Bonanza-ed out last year.  (Bonanza...  Meaning: a huge harvest.. or the Old Western TV show with Loren Greene...  Spell Check does not like me making up words for my blog.)

Another treasure in the leaves.

The few Smooth Chanterelles we found were FRESH!   And they  were either just coming up or of moderate size...  So their true peak has yet to be reached.  We also managed to find a few of the Normal "Golden" Chanterelles. ( just Cantharellus.  I guess)

Smooth Chanterelles VS
Golden Chanterelles.  

Deer are eyeing us with suspicion. 

 I found that our version of the Smooth Chanterelle seems to be a lot more on the "Orange" side of yellow than the pictures online.   Tho, Wiki and Mushroom Expert confirm that they range from yellow to shades of orange. Definately NOT as orange as a Lobster or  Jack-O-Lantern, though.    Plus,  this is the spot where we found them last year.  It is easy to ID a mushroom you have already Found, ID'ed, and EATEN  in the past,

More "Orangy" than the Golden
Chanterelles. 

Easy to spot...  Mostly. 

Looks like the Golden Chanerelles might be on their way out. ( purely subjective observation.)   They are smaller, fragile, and do not seem to last very long anymore.   We have been gathering them up for over a month now, so it is possible they may be reaching the end of their season.  Or preparing for a break.  However,  they have been popping up in our yard, finally,   so that Theory might be totally wrong.

Smooth underside.  No gills,
Hardly any ridges.  

A Rather crinkly top side. 

But the Smooth Chanterelles are just beginning!  I have it documented that they were sprouting up in Late August AND late September last year.  We harvested so many of them, they are one of the reasons we splurged for the Dehydrator!  So, basically,  I'm very excited that we are on the starting edge of the season for these guys.

Two King Boletes..Both Old and
Bad. 

Bolete Eater Fungus. 

A few other finds today.   We missed the King Boletes in their area.   Finding the King Boletes in Corallville is always a lottery ticket!   With about the same odds of being successful.  Often times, we discover a HUGE Penny Bun Bolete only to find that it is too old to salvage.  Today was no exception.   I should also mention that we found two King Boletes on the Kewash Trail last night.. but they were past their prime as well.   King Boletes are so hard to nail down with the Bolete Destroyer Fungus,  Deer, squirrels, bugs, and just missing them.  They just do not last very long after they pop up.   So it makes it that much sweeter to find ones that are harvest able.

Check out how quickly the Bay
 turns blue!

What was yellow is now Indigo! 

We did find  a BAY BOLETE, though.  (Imleria badia)   And one Field Bolete. (Boletus campestris)  I would be happy to find the Bay Bolete any day of the week simply to watch it turn blue we slice it up for the dehydrator.

Field Bolete Turning Blue. 

Side by Side, Field vs Bay Bolete
Bluing contest... Bay WINS!

It is such a fast reaction compared to the Field Bolete.   Cheryl says the Field boletes sometimes take a really long time to turn "slightly" blue...   I was always impressed that they would turn blue in my hand after carrying them around.  But the Bay Bolete has that beat by a mile.

Looks like the bugs had their
share on the underside.  Black Pores!

Shaggy black top and stem. 

Another major find ( for me, anyway.) was the "Old Man Of The Woods."   The only Black Bolete.  Ok,  The nerds at Mushroom expert and Wiki have two possible candidates:  Strobilomyces strobilaceus OR  Strobilomyces confusus.   You can't tell the difference without a microscope looking at the spores.   I really don't care.  It is Edible.  It is OBVIOUSLY a Bolete.  And I brought it home.   This is the first time I have actually found one in the field.  And it looks a little too old to sample/eat.

I Don't have a Microscope.  But close
enough for me. 

So I will gather a spore print,  take a bunch of pictures, and mark it down on the blog for Future Ethan and Cheryl to look up.   Also,  it smells of Earth or smelly leather.   I would think that would make it in the description, but the often label smells as "non-distinct."  Possibly because they do not want to waste the time trying to figure out the smell that matches.

Easy to Identify... they say. 

Would have loved watching it
turn red when bruised or sliced. 

I wish we would have found a fresher version... because this mushroom stains red. As I gather the Spore Print on this one.  The staining process is slow.  In fact,  mine is not staining much at all.  The red eventually turns black... and maybe I missed it already.  Still, it would have been cool to capture a photo of the process.

Does it look similar to these? 

A possible Meadow Mushroom? 

My other mushrooms are waiting for a spore print to allow me to Key them out.   I think the one with the Chocolate Gills is a Meadow Mushroom.   They are not easily ID-ed, so it will be a fun process.   The dark gills should mean it is non lethal,  but there is still a chance it may make you sick.  SO...  I doubt I will be eating this one any time soon until I gain more Experience with it.  ( Porta Bella Mushrooms are members of this family... I think) When or If I ever figure out how to properly ID it,  I will be adding it to the Deer Mushroom and other "hard to ID" mushrooms list of Edibles.  ( It will be like a graduation from little league to the Minors!)  Safety Note: Amanitas do not have chocolate brown gills. 

Successful Day Mushroom Hunting.

Today's Haul of Chanterelles.

Well,  that is all for this episode of "Cheryl and Ethan's Great Mushroom Adventures"    We were successful in finding new mushrooms!  And finding enough to fill up the dehydrator.   Sure, it was not a huge amount, but any amount that uses all of our dehydrator trays is a good day in my book.

Cheryl does not like Poison Ivy. 

Or Logs!

 Thanks for reading this far... and hopefully  you had a little fun finding something new about the hidden world of Mushrooms, Fungus, Wood Nettle, Bugs, and Poison Ivy.  ( We hate Poison Ivy!)   Also,  Cheryl does not  like climbing over logs.

"Finished" Origami Dragon Video. Rough Cut!

Time to put the Actors away...

 So I finally finished my last scene a few days ago and finally have assembled all of the snip-its together.   It is a little long.   There are gaps in the story line that seem much more obvious to me ...now.   But I feel I have spent enough time on this ONE video... And it is time to move on.

"This is kind of boring..."  Ah
the honestly of children.

The first person to watch it was the neighbor's 5 year old kid.   He said it was boring. 

Brad will be disappointed not to
see me there this year....

Good thing I was not planning on taking this film to the Film Festival this year.    But hey!  At least he is honest, though not very helpful.   And I have to remind myself that I was 5 years old once... And I can't even remember half the stuff I said or did.

At least when I showed it to Cheryl,  she was a little more "helpful".  She did confirm that it was, in fact, "boring"...  But in the nicest way possible.   She pointed out that it should have sound,  have a few scenes cut,  or at the very least....shortened.   And there are areas that could use a little more "explanation"  Either with additional scenes or a voice over.     Hmmm  A voice over....  I'll have to think about that one

He's got a good voice....

Imagine a Heroic Narrator voice.   Like Morgan Freeman.

(Ehemmmm , ) ".....Here is where the Red Dragon starts setting the Blue Dragon's forest on fire.   This makes the Blue Dragon very  angry... and now he flies into the sky and roars... very loudly.   Oh!  Look!  The Red Dragon is surprised!   Look out!   Here comes a lightning bolt!...."

Red Dragon lost a leg in the
filming....battle.

I wonder how much he charges.   I was thinking of giving the dragons names as well, but now I'm just happy to be done with it. 

I learned a lot!   One:  Origami Paper can only take you so far in stop motion.  ( The leg fell off of the Red Dragon.....)
Two.   Open shot is pretty simple to use, and once you get the hang of things,   you can have some fun and get decent results.  Three:   Open shot has its  limitations.  and  I doubt any program can cover up for bad stop motion filming.  In other words, there is so much more to learn.  (Lighting, camera focus, green screen,  yadda yadda yadda!  )

But other than that....  Enjoy the disastrous boring film of two dragons.   No sound...  so fill in the gaps with your favorite elevator music or Morgan Freeman's voice.    Which ever one makes it more tolerable.   Enjoy!

A Moderate Mushroom Day... With Moths!

There are always rainbows after
 storms...  

Bad day fishing means
fewer fish to clean....

Whenever we would go fishing with Dad,  there would be times when we were just happy not to get skunked!  "Fewer to Clean!" was Dad's way of looking on the bright side.   And it was a bright side!  Having to NOT have to clean a pail full of fish at 9:00 PM!  After a long day of being baked in the sun.

Bolete!  Lost to the "Bolete
Destroyer" fungus. 

And it is those moments that I think of when we have a day like today Mushroom Hunting.  "At least we didn't get skunked!"   And the fewer mushrooms means that there is less to clean and dry and fuss about.

We found a few Lobsters. 

Sharing the Boletes with the Deer..
Again! 

 Cheryl noted that this was actually a "typical hunt".  In fact, I would say it was probably better than typical.   We managed to find a few large King Boletes, Several Lobsters. A number of smaller Boletes, Including a couple of NEW species!    ( Such fun! I'll get to that shortly...) A handful of Chanterelles, And I even found another Milkcap!     I remember a time when we would find only a small number of Chanterelles and Field Boletes and be happy with that.  Oh, how our standards have changed.....

Mushroom hunting while
running on the Kewash Trail. 

After the rain....

Cheryl also noted that it is possible that the forest is taking a break after several weeks of "fairly decent conditions" for Mushroom fruiting.  ( She is SO Smart!)  Even the cultivated mushrooms have to rest for several weeks before a second fruiting. ( sometimes farmers don't even wait for that, and throw away the blocks after the harvest.)  But I digress.....

Several Clusters of Fresh
Woodear!  

More Blackberries along the Trail.
However,  Storage is becoming an
issue! 

We have had several harvest of Oysters from our favorite logs,  and a number of Boletes from the same area.  I'm sure there are other mushrooms that have been waiting their turn and will begin popping up within a week or two...again. In fact!  I just harvested several large clusters of Woodear from the Kewash Trail yesterday during Cheryl's run.

Gold Stem and Pores,  No Blue
stain when bruised!  

Butterfoot Bolete.  

A few examples are the species we have not found previously!   One is the "Butterfoot Bolete!"(Boletus auripes) They look just like the Field bolete, but have yellow stems and do NOT bruise blue!   (How fun is that!) They are edible, just like the Field Bolete. Judging from the hunks of pores missing,  I'm assuming they must be tasty.

Squirrels stealing our Mushrooms! 

"Sampling" each one...
for flavor?  Or just to
annoy us?

Speaking of the Field Bolete.. and the things that want to eat them... Cheryl and I have been battling the local squirrels for the Boletes in the neighborhood!  Over the last several days, we have harvested a LOT of field Boletes from our yard, the Kewash Trail, and our neighbor's yard.   The squirrels often beat us to the find and eat their fill... OR just take "sample bites" out of each mushroom.    Like a little kid with a cookie!

Dusky Bolete!( the one I found was
much smaller) 

Another exciting find was the "Dusky Bolete" (Porphyrellus porphyrosporus)  Apparently,  they are rare in these parts. ( or no one else has bothered to find and catalog them before)

Gray/brown/dark pores... 

Slow Bruising blue... changing to
red-ish brown!  So cool! 

  They are listed as "Possibly edible"  and one source says they are...   So 50% chance that things would work out if I wanted to eat it.  But since it is so small... and since we have a TON of other mushrooms that have to be eaten ahead of it...  There really is no reason to take the chance at this time.   However,  it was cool finding a rare-(ish) mushrooms in our forest in Iowa.  "Don't be the First"  to eat an unknown mushrooms. (Paul Staments.)

Can you see the moth? 

How about now?  Hint:  Find the
red of the Underwing...

So... Other than a Dud Mushroom day,  we did manage to see several Moths of unusual size.   A Hawkmoth ( unidentified) and an Underwing.   See if you can spot the Moth in this Picture!

Golden Raspberries!  

Hmm...things are looking a little
'crowded' inside the freezer. 

Overall,  Our Foraging success is beginning to wane as the season passes and our storage facilities become cramped and filled to overflowing!    Cheryl can barely fit an ice cube tray into the Freezer with all those Wild Berries we picked.  We still have Mulberries from earlier  in the spring!

Today's Basket of Goodies.

Dried Mushrooms So Far This year.
Not counting the ones we have
 already eaten!

And then there are the Mushrooms.   Golden Oysters are the Big Winner!  With Chanterelles and Boletes coming in second.   The King Boletes and Lobsters are noteworthy!  And Cheryl would like to find more of those.... Because you can never have too many Lobsters.  In fact,  She has saved out the largest Lobster Mushroom to cook up with some Udon Noodles for later.   Fresh mushrooms are the best!

Cheryl prepares to make the
next batch. Soap-making 101!

Mixing the Lye with Distilled
water.  Who said High School
Chemistry was worthless?

As this post continues to get longer,  I will just say that I continue to work on the Dragon video.. ( may post another snip-it later)  and Cheryl continues with the soap.  Shout out to "Far Side.."  for the Jewelweed soap tip.   Cheryl has  known about this "secret poison ivy cure" ever since she started this little adventure.  In fact,  it was one of the "reasons"  she got into this little hobby in the beginning.

Jewelweed.  Snapdragon looking
flower. 

Our goal!  We must really hate
Poison Ivy to invest so much time for
treatment!

We have yet to find some.  ( Looking for that orange orchid looking flower for 100% ID) I think I have seen it on the Kewash Trail many times before.  I even think I can ID it based off of the leaves... But Cheryl wants to be sure before dropping an unidentified weed into her Soap.   I can get behind that.

I'll save my Iowa City Rant for another day.   And perhaps post a finished  video one of these days...   Until then.  Enjoy the cooler Weather!  And Thanks for stopping in.