First chanterelles showing!

Central California has had some more rain and I am seeing first reports of chanterelle mushrooms being harvested! Should be seeing some boletes, russulas, and some others; it is one of the ways the forest here tells us it is early winter.

I will be in the Stanislaus National Forest this weekend snooping around for turkeys [now in a brief season pre-Thanksgiving], a few trout before stream fishing closes November 15, and, of course, mushrooms - which go well with both!

Hope you are getting out there!

Awesome dweste. This requires extensive photographic documentation.

Warmup today by touring Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve in Citrus Heights CA. Practiced seeing the turkeys and deer in deep brush.

Also visited an indoor range and got help better securing the pellet gun scope and zeroing it in; after trying about four kinds of pellets suddenly the groups tightened and got more predictable with a cheaper grade of pellet[go figure!]

Maybe I will have the confidence to try for a turkey - if I can find and get close to one!

Alas, no joy today. Hitting another area tomorrow.

Dweste, inquiring minds want to know. I thought at first that a chanterelle was probably a French rock group, a counterpart to the Dixie Chicks.

I take it that it is a fungus, very tasty but with no significant nutritional value. I also understand that some of these fungi are rather deadly (e.g., Death Angel). I also understand that it is possible to confuse these varieties and accidentally consume the Death Angel, probably not a good idea...

So, given the lack of food value and the possibility of a really bad outcome, why?

I guess we all have our favorite risk taking activities, so it is nice to have a variety of pastimes to choose among. I would rather climb rocks than pick shrooms, but that is just me...

Au contraire [sp?], Pierre!

Check the USDA nutrition database; mushrooms have significant nutrient value, including protein and minerals. Dried mushrooms rival fresh venison on a pound for pound nutritional basis.

I stick to a very small number of very distinct edible mushrooms: morels, chanterelles, boletes, etcetera. Their combination of size, color, shape, texture, spore tubes versus gills, scent, etcetera are pretiy easy to learn. And I take classes, guided walks, and study the books, just as I do for edible and useful plants. When in doubt, don't harvest or eat the things.

Fungi are abundant during the winter, early, middle, and late, when there are few other plant sources readily available. They cannot run, gradually I am learning where they hide, and often when you find one, you find many. Further, you can mushroom while doing other foraging and hunting, or just traveling. Mushrooming expands your survival opportunities with only a small incremental increase in energy expenditure.

Edit: Today I learned a new mushroom, the garlic mirasmius [sp?]. Distinctive long, dark brown stalk, garlic aroma, and growing habit. Also found button puffballs, an edible. And also a number of poison Amanitas or Death Cap - again with distinctive color, stem, etcetera. Plus many mystery fungi. Again only eat fungi of which you are very sure.

Hey D,I was told by a Friend,That Native Americans Used to use Poison Mushrooms for Fishing,As it is told,there is a Special Amanita,It is Called Amanita Panthorina-Identified by it's Color/Traits:Yellow or Orangeish Yellow with Black spots on the cap.The more common Amanita Muscaria(Death Cap)was not used as the Toxin was diferrent.The Panthorina's were Dried,Pulverized into powder,then spread out over calm water,or in a pond,& The next day fish would be floating on the surface,1/2 alive,but Easy to collect.This Mushroom also was used in combo with some other poison,for Arrows to shoot Deer with but,the info I was told,Pertained to Fish only.For Survival Purposes,It could be an Option,Of course it doesn't sound viable,since you'd have to dry the stuff,& How long would it take to dry?I was told The Amanita Panthorina Mushroom,was Very Difficult to find,have you seen any of this Description? Good Luck with the Foraging!

Never heard of the Amanita Panthorina or the use you describe. I will check it out and ask around.

Thanks!

Maybe because they are called Amanita pantherina (DC.: Fr.) Krombh.

The genus Amanita comprise some 600 species none of which have black spots.

The other one mentioned could be either Marasmius copelandii or Marasmius alliaceus.

M. copelandi

Wicked long day: morning ablutions, 8 plus hours of driving, 3 plus hours of woods scrambling, 2 plus hours of instruction / discussion, and a few meals. This time the wily chanterelle did not escape!

Developing a new mind-set to focus on edibles. If it is not fairly large, tasty, and abundant, the harvest return is not worth its cost. Patient awareness of the micro- and macro-environment to consider candidate associations that might lead to growth and abundance patterns and likely harvest time indicators. Thoughtful focus on color, shape, and size of the first of a target species before harvest to program careful review of the near and further environment to detect more individuals. Harvest practices that respectfullly steward resources and seek to enhance future abundance. Investment of dirt time and record-keeping to allow deeper understanding of a few places and species. Much to think about!

At least dozens of mushroom species seen Saturday. Slippery jacks in the hundreds, a few puffballs, Amanitas including pantherina, my new friend garlic Marasmius copelandi, and - finally! - both golden and white chanterelles! [Cantherellus cibarius and subalbidus.] A demonstration on cleaning, slicing, dry sauteing, and eating chanterelles with garlic - yummy!

I had the pleasure many years ago of going out with a close friend of mine and his wife to hunt for morelle mushrooms. They were experts. This was a real eye-opening experience for me. I learned so much this way in an extremely short amount of time: when to look, optimum locations, types of trees to look near, and exactly where to look. I found dozens' of 'em within 30 mins to an hour, whereas in the previous 40 years of my life in similar environments, I hadn't seen a single one.

Morels in Central CA are a Spring thing. Disturbed earth, especially where there has been fire withing a few years, seem the prime location clues.

Once you see a morel growing in its natural state it is difficult to imagine mis-identification.

How did they taste?

My friends seemed to greatly prefer just lightly saute-ing the morelles in butter, and they were very good indeed. We went out for several days in a row within a block or two of their home in the woods, and each time came back with a couple hat fulls. They also had quite a bit of rhubarb, and we cooked that with quite a bit of sugar and used it as topping on top of vanilla ice cream. Awesome.