coastwx

I saw Dave's response to another post and found a similar unknown mushroom this past weekend. These were growing from ground underneath a decaying log that was shedding some decay litter. Unfortunately, no spore print, but plan to search the area this coming weekend and will update if there are any left.

Gotcha Scott. I misspoke... the 3 clumps of lions mane may be on sycamore, but that's all I've noticed on that species. Seems like hericium are not a tied to a specific tree type. Just orders some lions mane plugs and the mushroom mountain folks said they would grow just fine on the sweetgum limbs that were trimmed last weekend. Glad you had a satisfying harvest. We're pretty much stocked up till spring now. Got 6 foodsaver bags in the freezer with sauteed hens, a bag of hericium, tub of dehydrated chanterelles and black trumpets, and should have a lot of fresh fall oysters emerging any day now through Dec.

That is great to hear Scott. My second fall hunting mushrooms has only netted 1 producing tree, but actively trying to find at least a couple more for maitake security :-) I've wondered about Sycamore because there are a number in the woods I call home base, but see very little fungi activity. It's good to know they are a possibility... and maple because my eyes thus far are trained on the big white or red oaks. These came off a red oak to be specific. Last time out I took a new trail for a while and came across the largest white oak I've ever seen and got a bit excited, but nothing. Anyhow, did the processing of these hens last night. Glad I did not wait any longer to pluck because two had a few bugs starting to make burrows and maybe 10% was starting to degrade. 1/4rd was sautéed with onion and garlic. Half was tossed in generous does of olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted at 380 F for 45 min. The other came out the best. Tossed in olive oil, S&P, fish sauce and a touch of soy sauce, roasted with the other. It was the best mushroom I've had in my life. Put all on cookie sheets in the freezer. This evening I'll cut with pizza cutter into squares and exercise this Foodsaver for a lot of winter goodness!

Looks like a prime get Chef! Was there only one at the base? The tree I found last year had 2 large ones, but this year 4 medium. It's the perfect time here in the Raleigh area.

Harvested the other clusters after heavy rain yesterday. I should have harvested a day earlier to make processing a bit easier, but still in prime shape.

Good deal! The one I picked yesterday was sauteed, then laid out on tin foil covered cookie sheet in the freezer. Once frozen, I cut into chunks and put in freezer bag. For breakfast on work mornings I use this steam egg poacher with omelet tray. Just pull out a chunk of mushrooms, mix two eggs and cheese and put in tray and cook.

Think back of the indigo found this summer, most have come under oaks here around Raleigh. Ran across a prime specimen yesterday, but left in place.

Thanks...We made some really good pizzas last night with combination of maitake, oysters and shiitake. The maitake harvested yesterday was so good sauteed... better than the slightly past prime ones last year. We have a few days of rain on tap that should help the remaining clusters.

It's been a good week for mushrooms here in Central NC. The two finds on my first serious forging expedition last Oct, the ones that cemented forging as a hobby, appeared again on almost the same date. The Hericium erinaceus formed in 3 clumps about 6" in diameter. All was harvested in prime shape and sauteed and froze for my omletes in coming weeks. Yesterday while exploring a big stand of white oaks, another 6-8" lions mane was found on a log that will be around for a few more years. Another smaller young one was on the other side of the log, so left for later in the week. As indicated in the other thread, the hen of the woods oak had 4 hen clusters that emerged last Mon or Tue. I checked on Sat and they were approaching bowling ball size. Shortly after the picture below was taken, a group of scouts came down the trail with the leader stopping pointing to stuff. I kind of trailed them a bit, but they walked by the hens without noticing. I'm going to stop by today and harvest the one that stands out the most. Unfortunately, I have yet to find another hen oak. Found some massive white oaks, but no more hens. I did find some fall oysters for pizza night. Oh, shiitake logs are producing.

Oh, we just had our first 40's night 3-4 days ago, so this may be a trigger to consider here in central NC. I suspect all hen oaks in the area are producing. Good time to do some intensive exploration of white oak forests.

Cross post from the Facebook page. I had to re-check the hericium yesterday and look for the grifola frondosa emerging from the oak that produced my first hen last year. I was in luck. The lions mane has doubled in size from Sunday and 4 clusters of hen-of-the-woods emerged in the last 2 days. Last year I got 2 hen clusters, so excited to see 4 already, maybe more. My main worry is that someone will come along and grab before they reach prime eating size. Hericium growing on underside of sycamore I think. Need to double check. The big issue is the closeness to ground. I dug it out a bit and replaced the plastic with thick paper bags to keep them out of the dirt. This is one of 4 clusters. One of the very young 2 day old hens.

Great finds! We're waiting here in NC. I've been out several times over the last few weeks and nothing to note was collected. My shiitake logs are filling up the void. The positive... the tree that produced my first lions mane find last Oct has three clusters forming in the same spot. It was that same day the first hen of woods was found, so with the 40 deg nights, I'm hoping my lucky day is soon.

I may have to check the black trumpet spot here at work on my lunch break.

Wowzer John! Congrats... I was under the impression that these were done for the year, so thanks for the lesson learned. Went out Sat morning, but nothing much even though we had the nice soaking rain last week. The positive, my shiitake logs at home exploded after our soak last week.

Zero this weekend. Saw very few fungi outside of some really small delicate white mushrooms that were growing on decomposing twigs. Dave was probably correct about a dry out period after so much rain. We did finally get cooler air here in NC, so that should set us up well for the fall. I was delighted that one of the Hericum plugged logs done in the spring has been triggered. Did not expect anything until next year. Hope you found some more chanterelles John.

That is encouraging John. I hope to find some on my hike this morning. We had a tremendous 6+ inch rain on Tue.

Yes, most likely black staining polypore from a month or so ago. I found one in early July and the remnants were noticeable for a two months.

Had to follow up after this last 7 day precip was explored this morning. Our house and many of my mushroom spots are located within the black square. Our home is at the center of the square. Our rain gauge failed, but a neighbor said his 6 inch max overflowed. He said his pond hit overflow for the second time ever. Right at 10 inches over the last week!

Thanks for the informative response Dave. Our wet summer has re-emerged after short break. A large area around Raleigh including our home got 6 inches + yesterday. This weekend the longer range models are showing cool air that will drop low temps into the mid 50's with highs in the upper 70's. My shitake logs are turning white now with a couple that popped out early late last week including one suprise Hericium (guess one got mixed up in the shitake plugs) noticed on Sunday. Hopefully I'll have some nice pictures this weekend. I suspect this weekend will be good for hunting :-)

Found two clusters on the same tree during one of my first attempts at foraging last Oct. I've been watching the same tree for the last few weeks. It appears like some mycelium is appearing on the tree just above the dirt. For the more experienced, are there triggers or signs to keep an eye on that may indicate a hen is about ready to form?

One other point... I assume it was the cooler nights in the 50's a week ago that was the trigger. We've been fairly dry with no rain, so those roots must provide enough moisture.

Thanks... I've found a HDR (assume high definition record) setting on the phone that seems to take much clearer pictures. John, they were great tasting. Outside of lions mane I believe these honey mushrooms have been my favorite. Nice firm texture even after long cook and that rich earthy classic mushroom taste. I cooked for 30-45 min in tin foil on the grill along with a mixture of peppers, onions and tomatoes from the garden. Made sure to lighly sample. No stomach issues so ate the rest last night. My wife had a sample as well with no issues and she has a weak stomach.

A. tabescens is almost a sure bet. Found them in my yard (near Raleigh) yesterday growing off old oak roots. Then, I found them (and A. mellea) throughout a park later in the day.. all growing off oak root systems.

I take a walk around the yard yesterday morning and mother nature surprised with my first Armillaria. This A. tabescens was growing off the roots of old oak that we cut down years ago. Then, while cooking sausage on the deck 3 other clusters of A. tabescens were growing off the roots of pin oak that we cut down several years ago. Unfortunately, only the first cluster was fresh. After finding so many in the yard, I had to check out the oak stands at my main spot. It was not disappointing. Although we've had little if any rain for 7-10 days, clusters of both A. tabescens and A. mellea were in every part of the park that had oaks. I suspect all of central NC has these delirious fungi growing right now. Did not find any massive clusters, but my hunt was much shorter than normal. Plan to revisit today. Also found a big oyster flush, but left as they were just past prime. Oysters on a down poplar Prime A. tabescens found in the yard just outside the garden. First A. mellea. Some old, but a few younger ones that were cooked last night. Another cluster

Congrats on the great find! I've been monitoring a tree that produced three big clumps last Oct, but nothing yet.