Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Mushroom season



Whilst we are incorporating Briga into the routine, getting anything done is a challenge.  So I thought I´d just post some photos of the mushrooms Breo and I have seen on our morning walks.  This seems to be a cracking year with so much rain in November.

I don´t know much about fungi. There´s a lot I don´t know about a lot of stuff, and frankly, mushrooms aren´t high on the list.  I don´t pick them for two reasons - 1.  I would no doubt poison myself directly and 2.  There are lots and lots of more knowledgeable people around who do, so I figure I should leave the ones I see to repopulate.  They are really beautiful and interesting in their range of shapes and sizes, so here is a selection.










5 comments:

  1. We have had what looks like 'normal' mushrooms growing in our sheep paddock for the past few years, and every year they appear we have a discussion about whether or not to pick them, and each year we do not, the result being that there are a lot of mushrooms this year as they have grown more of themselves!

    They still remain unpicked..... Like you, I do not want to risk poisoning myself!

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  2. Hi, Coco!

    You have such an enormous variety of sizes, colors, and shapes of mushrooms, more than I have, I think. You have lovely ones with some turquoise, some with fringes, and some that look like hats. Amazing! There is one variety that grows here that we eat called "Chicken of the Woods". It may be just a fungus and not a mushroom - I dont know how to tell the difference. It is bright orange, grows on oaks, and does not look like the other mushroom/fungi. I wouldn't touch any of the others with a ten-foot (3 meter . . .) pole. This is it:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetiporus

    Pam

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  3. Hi Vera,

    I´m with you. Between what they spread on the fields and the ones that are lower than Breo´s raised leg, and the ones that shut down your liver once eaten, I´ll pass. Mushroom hunting is a thing here, but there´s always someone who makes a mistake.

    Hi Pam,

    I have heard of Chicken of the Woods, and I´m sure they´re delicious. But I´ll just buy chicken from the supermarket, thanks. The shapes and colors are interesting, aren´t they? Farming mushrooms on oak logs is a thing here, too. Another opportunity to support small rural businesses!

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  4. Hi Coco,

    Love the photos - and I'm with you too in that I know enough (of not very much) to know not to consume any wild mushrooms. The consequences of getting the identification wrong are not good. Nothing quite says 'toxic' like the red mushroom! Isn't it amazing how something as small as a mushroom can eat a tree stump?

    Cheers

    Chris

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  5. Hi Chris,

    Yep, that red one doesn´t look promising, does it? It´s very wet and every time I go out, I see more mushrooms! Triffids!

    Cheers

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