simonb

It was spring when the thieving beavers came by. They tasted a couple of the maple and oak, but there are 15 completely bare poplar logs floating around in the lake; quite obviously their favorite. They even pulled all the poplar chunks out of my firewood pile and now there are completely bare pieces of firewood floating around the lake. Why cut a tree down with your teeth when someone can do it for you with a chainsaw?

I've only found one of these in the last few years, then this year 5 of them show up right behind my shed; tasty!

I've never seen anything like this; tough polypore like mushroom but with traditional cap & stem shape. Was growing out of a stump. It is very thin; probably only around 1/4" thick cap, but 3 to 4" diameter.

Now this same tree is sending out masses of honey mushrooms, plus many more pholiota.

A couple of beautiful mushrooms unfortunately growing out of my large sugar maple with the treehouse in it. Hopefully it isn't parasitic.

I see that one of my trees is sending clumps of the pholiotas each fall. Is there any way to safely identify the different species without microscopy? If they taste half as good as the pholiota adiposa that I grow on blocks they would be a treat.

Found this one growing in thick pine cedar forest. First time I've ever seen one with such a thick stem; is around 1.5 inches diameter. Does seem a bit brittle like most russula species.

Found a couple polypores growing on birch that actually have a fleshy texture. I've never seen anything on birch that wasn't hard as a rock. Any suggestions?

Lots of good identifying features; yet I haven't been able to place with certainty. Found these on the edge of the pine forest (mostly red and white pines). The cap is a dark red brown, is not slimy but it hasn't rained for a few days. It is not velvety, has a slight tack to the touch. The pores are a dull yellowish color with no staining. The stem is dark on the bottom, and the upper portion above the ring is lighter with many dots. The flesh is very mild tasting and no staining. My first thought is Suillus glandulosus (“Boreal Bolete”) but most pics I see of it show much coarser pore surface.

Yes the same spots will produce again next year. Enjoy; my favorite mushroom so far. Cubed and fried with potatoes makes an incredibly tasty breakfast treat with gorgeous bright orange color.

I imagine this is a new issue for growing mushrooms on logs. I made up a mix of log and spawn types; total of 50 logs. We piled them in a dark part of the woods where it always stays moist near the lake. I had 4 perfect stacks and after 1 week in the woods I came back to find 12 logs missing, and another 3 or 4 half chewed apart. I don't get along with beavers at the best of times; but this one really boiled my blood. I'm surprised they wood eat them when covered in so much paraffin wax.

Has anyone seen something like this before. At first glance it looks like a pale COW, but if you look closely in behind looks like small Lions Manes growing. This is in a mature Sugar Maple in Ontario near Ottawa.

About 5 years ago 1 half of a large oak tree broke off beside my main trail through the woods. Since then I've been checking the tree for mushrooms almost every day when I walk by. Well after years expecting some hen of the woods or chicken of the woods it finally happened and its a beautiful young and clean specimen. Hopefully this becomes a recurring theme for the life of this tree. Now I just need to find a Hen of the woods.

I found the taste and texture not bad. They were not too grainy, very mild mushroom flavor not unlike generic grocery store mushrooms. A bit of the color remains after cooking which could make for some fun meals. I might try pickling one to see if the color holds fast; would be a very cool looking jar. I see these most years on my property; so hopefully in a wet summer like we are having enough will pop up to make it worthwhile.

Very thick ridges, also with a lot of cross veining between them. The interior is solid white, definitely splits easily. Pleasant smell, but I can't say I've ever detected the fruity smell described for some chanterelles.

It is the year of the lobster at my place in the Ottawa Valley, Canada. I can barely keep up with the numbers this year, had to bust out the dehydrator. Last night included a find of the single larges specimen I've ever found; about 5 or 6 inches across and in very prime shape.

I'm fairly confident these are chanterelles. Found growing on the ground in the ironwood forest (eastern hophornbeam) roughly 4 ft from the base of the tree. Strangely the 4 of them were growing in a clump; uncommon for chanterelles.

Sorry for the washed out photo; these were taken in the kitchen. The true color is incredibly vivid indigo blue, and bleeds blue where cut. These were found in a group of 3, are quite young so still in great shape. They were growing on the ground in a hardwood forest of mostly ironwood (eastern hophornbeam). Any tips for preparing these?

Its a bitter bolete; I picked it just to try and id it.

Our wetter than normal summer is producing incredible numbers of early mushrooms. I'm especially thrilled to see so many lobsters this year; one of my favorite edibles. Hope everyone is having a great summer hunting season.

I find quite a few of the below each year. They are always growing on the forest floor. The stalk is nearly pure white with a veil remnant. The gills are white, and the spore print also looks white (or a very light color). The mushroom is certainly very brittle; snaps off quite easily. Stalk is always tall and slender, the caps are 3" to 5" across.

Thanks to some heavy summer rains the forest behind my house is now producing these in abundance.

I'll have to take a closer look when these start to appear next month. I'm fairly certain that these are the mushrooms that were turned into copious amounts of lobsters last summer; my all time favorite edible so far.

I personally believe they are true chanterelles because the "gills" are more of a ridge, not really a true plate when you try rubbing them off. they are however very closely spaced which gives me pause; and before this year the only chanterelles I've eaten were from the coniferous forest. These are the first I've found growing in the hardwoods.

Need some help distinguishing chanterelles from false chanterelles. These certainly seem to have closely spaced gills/ridges, but they are not very plate like compared to true gilled mushrooms. Also these are growing on the forest floor in mixed hardwoods, not directly on any obvious dead wood. Thanks