The King Boletes Have Entered The Stage!

Penny Bun. Porcini.  Boletus Edulus. Whatever name you want to call it.. It has arrived in numbers we have never seen before.  Now, to be fair...  I am simply speaking from my own frame of reference.   I'm sure they have popped up in these numbers before.   It is just that Cheryl and I were not there to capitalize on the Harvest.  However!  Today was a Different Story!

We actually went out to the Coralville Dam area for the Chanterelles.   We knew they were just pinning and thought, after two days of uninterrupted growth, they would be ready for the pickin'.   Especially after last Saturday's Harvest on the Coralville trail.  

But we almost immediately stumbled upon a huge cache Big Boletes where we usually find a few.   Best of all,   most of them were pristine!  Only a few of them had been kicked over by deer or consumed by the White Bolete Eating Fungus.  Cheryl and I quickly filled out bags/baskets and were forced to head back to the car to unload them.   The weather was getting hotter and we did not want to have to carry several pounds of mushrooms around.   And we didn't want to crush the smaller ones in the process. 

After transferring them to a container for the car, we headed back out.  While out there, we met another guy who was also hunting mushrooms.  ( First time ever!) Bear in mind, this is not Morel Season.  This is: Summer Mushroom Season!  And very few people even know what mushrooms are available.   Well, I had to basically talk this guy's ear off while Cheryl looked on in Boredom. 

He said he was the only one who eats them so he was not out to pick too many.   Good news for us!  He must have thought we were being greedy with out three Bags overflowing. But I happen to know that the Boletes never last longer than a day.   Either the deer eat them or the bugs and fungus.   And if that fails, they simply rot in the high heat.  So..basically, if you don't get them the day they are available,  they will not be there for you tomorrow.  ( Make hay while the sun shines!)

Deer and Fungus Damaged Boletes.

We found a few other mushrooms:   A Few Chanterelles, Field Boletes,  Boletus rufocinnamomeus, ( Possibly common name: Bay Bolete...Maybe.) And Possibly Lactarius Subplinthogalus.  ( Still waiting on the Spore Print.)

Boletus Rufocinnamomeus?

The milk cap is the only one in question for its edibility.   I have eaten the Fast staining Bolete before and survived!   Without a tummy ache, I might add..  So I'm fairly certain I have that one Id'ed to "Close enough"

Our largest Find for the day.

( Last year I called it a Bay Bolete and People on Facebook gave me dirty looks.  Haters are gonna hate.) 

But the Milk cap (Lactarius)  Is a new one that I have narrowed down to a couple possibilities.  I have not determined its edibility yet, and I don't feel particularly adventurous today to experiment.

Lactarius Family. Narrowing down...

I will most likely try to determine its  true name and then go from there.  I'm currently leaning to lactarius subserifluus as the main possibility.  Mostly because of the size and color.  However,  Lactarius subplinthogalus  is also a possibility. The smell is very fragrant and the spores on both species is pretty cool.   I'll have to break out the microscope once the spores have dropped.  I can't wait!

So, after two hours of cleaning up and slicing up the Kings, I now have two full trays of mushrooms still waiting to enter the dehydrator again.  good thing we only found a few Chanterelles today.   I don't know what we could have done if we had a huge bag filled with those again.  

Cheryl removes the Caps from the stems.

At the very least, the Mushroom Bin is getting filled up again.   We were down to only a small bag of Oysters from last year.  ( yes, I managed to eat almost all of the mushrooms we found last year by myself!  Hey!   They all taste really great in soups and Pizza...) I think Cheryl had fun today.   Usually she is the one complaining to be let out of the woods after only an hour or so.   A few bugs, thorns, and bouts of poison Ivy never much bothered me.   But I will concede that the heat will creep up on you if you are not paying attention.  And lugging 15 lbs of Mushrooms through the woods can be exhausting.   That is why I make Cheryl carry the big bag.     

An Amanita Mushroom.   Pretty!  Unidentified.

Happy Monday!  Hope everyone had a Grand 4th of July.   Between the Mushrooms and the Blog, I have very little time to do much else.   I still have to make some chalk, install some blinds in the bedroom, and reconstitute my  bubble solution. And then I will have to start anew with chalking in the park.   Who knew being unemployed could be so much work?  Perhaps I should take a break from blogging tomorrow.  It will be easy if I don't go mushroom hunting again, but the mushrooms are out NOW and I the remainder of the Summer could be too dry for them.   So we shall see.