The Gathering Of The Hens...

A Basket full of Maitake!

It rained all day Thursday and that prevented me from doing much outside.   But yesterday I figured I would go out for a walk and some "Forest Therapy"  just to see what the rain might have brought with it....  Besides colder weather.

A GIANT puffball.

The rain does a number on many mushroom types.  The fruiting bodies that are out at the time are quickly destroyed by the rain. 

A little past it's prime now...

I don't know why exactly,  but I think the rain triggers decay in the fruiting bodies or triggers them to spore.   Like this giant Puffball I found.   I read that they may stay white for a long time but once they get wet ( even by morning dew!)  they begin to change into the dusty puffballs we all love  to play with. 

I did manage to gather up a small handful of new puffballs growing on a dead log.  They were far smaller than the giant one, but I did not want to come home skunked... and I know they are edible.  I figured I would give them a try.  

Golden Scaly cap.  Pretty!

I also  managed to find a few Shrimp of the Woods while I was out there.   But I did not feel like cleaning dirty ones, so I kept my selection limited.   One of the perks of having a bountiful year of some species is that you can be very selective with what you bring home.  Otherwise, I tend to keep old and dryer specimens  because they is the only one I found....

Unknown Mushroom.

As the sun dipped down, and as the mushrooms became fewer and fewer,  I began selecting anything that I could later just ID. ( not necessarily eat...) I found a couple pretty, pink-gilled lacteria mushrooms.  An Entaloma  ( one that had NOT been turned into a Shrimp of the Woods.)  And what I thought was  a cluster of Honey Mushrooms. ( Still not sure about these guys.  Hair on cap,  growing near wood and in a cluster.. But dark gills, no ring on stem and dark spore print...)  

But then I found it!

A Maitake!   Sheephead! Ram's Head,  Hen Of The WOODS!!! (Grifola frondosa) At the base of a huge Maple tree.    

As I got closer, I notices several more springing up around the base.   I could hardly believe my eyes.  I have been looking for these guys for a couple of weeks now and had thought I had missed them.  Not only had I found one,  I found several all at the same time. 

Entaloma near Maitake.

And they were FRESH!  No bugs,  Not much dirt or sticks growing in the lobes.  It must have been only a day old... Perhaps only a few hours!  ( I don't know how fast it grows...)  I figured I would pick it before any of my competition found it.   Including the bugs and slugs that seem to love this mushroom above all others.

My basket was literally running over!  Talk about blessings....This is what it looks like. 

I raced home since I could not wait to cook some up and I literally had no more room to continue hunting.   I cleaned and but up the Maitake and set some aside for the future.  I have compared it to Broccoli in that the rosettes are the part you want.  Most of the stem is either a little too chewy or has dirt and bugs. ( there were no bugs on this one though...)   All those nooks and crannys  like to hide things like twigs and rocks.  

Cooking it was also similar to stir-fry vegetables.  I started with the Aborted Entaloma and puffballs,  slicing the puffballs to help cooking. 

And then added the last of the Chicken of the woods and the Hen of the Woods.   In the end,  I had a dinner with all the mushroom spirit animals!  Hen of the woods,  Shrimp of the Woods, And Chicken of the woods!   How cool is that?  

It was great!  ( as expected.)  The fresh Maitake has an interesting texture. I would compare it to broccoli but with a more rubbery/ bacon fat texture.   What an odd description, but that is what I think of when eating it.   And the flavor is very similar to button mushrooms.   Unlike Chicken of the woods,  Hens do not taste like something else.... they taste very mushroomy.

Which is a good thing!  I love mushroom flavor.  And it has flavor.  ( unlike many other "mild" mushrooms out there.) 

Fresh Turkey tail.

Well the cooler weather seems to be here to stay now.   I was out in 46 degree weather yesterday.   IT did not stop the mushrooms though.  

Easier to process!  I will gather more later for tea.

I managed to find some fall oyster mushrooms as well, but had no room to bring them home.   I may go back out there and gather them up later today.  We shall see if I have time for another forest therapy session.  (Which I WILL!  Because, like most other people,  I need Therapy!   And Forest Therapy is always free!)

Fall Oyster Mushrooms!  I will gather later.

Thanks for stopping in!  I wanted to post this yesterday, but I ran out of time.   Blogging takes so long for me... lining up the pictures and checking the spelling...  It also does not help that I tend to get long winded in my posts.  But... If you have read this far... Thanks!  I sometimes wish I could be more like Far Side and Larry.   Keep it short and show pictures.  Let the Pictures do the talking.   But... I tend to like to write a lot.  (Like Mulewings...  We love telling our stories... Right?  )  Enjoy the Day!