Jump to content

Getting close to that time around here


Recommended Posts

Intellecast is one I always go to for winter radar. Great resource!

Thanks for the quantative relation of precip and morels. I ran across a local forgers website that indicated some yellows were found last weekend not too far away. If none are found this weekend, I'll shift to scanning wood/trees instead of the ground.

I do open water swims and practiced this morning at a lake 50 miles west of my other spot. Noticed a nice stand of hardwoods, so had to take a 30 min walk after the swim. In short order 4 different species of gilled mushrooms were spotted, so you're right on... I suspect that oysters may pop over the next few days. I'll upload some pics. The only one I could identify was a russula emitica possibly. Another could be Armillaria.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today's haul was very slim. A very few LBMs and a number of these in the pics. Close attached non-staining gills, caps lavender to pink, turning brown after picking 6-9 cm. No sign of a veil. No spore print yet. One pic shows caps turned brown and stem interior. Found among moss in an open glade with pine woods on one side, broadleafs on the other. Does not bleed, aroma faint and pleasant mushroomy.

post-686-0-84960400-1398972865_thumb.jpg

post-686-0-24736700-1398973316_thumb.jpg

post-686-0-94155900-1398973682_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hunter, those are Russulas. Mushrooms of this genus are mostly difficult to ID to species. A few species from this large genus offer good edibles. But most are fragile/insubstantial, some are acrid tasting, and a some are sickeners. Most Russulas have stalks that snap/break like a piece of chalk. Insect infested examples like the one pictured are typical.

Coastwx, Armillaria would be a very unusual find during spring here in eastern NA. Off the top of my head, I'd guess you may have found either an Agrocybe or Pholiota species. These are brown-spored mushrooms.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My mother lives closer to Asheville. She posted this picture of a huge fungi growing at the base of huge oak in her front yard. I suspected cincinnatus Laetiporus, but the picture looked like it was growing from ground rather than wood. She confirmed it was growing from wood. Mary helped confirm. Within an hour my Dad was using slices in a soup he was preparing.

post-664-0-89649800-1399031599_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thought they were. A much more pink variety is common now too but I can't get to them before the deer, mice, voles, ants and pill bugs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

More Russulas today, plenty LBMs of a variety that comes up and disappears again in less than 12 hrs., and tiny marble-sized giant puffballs. How do I know they're puffballs? Don't but that's where they were last Summer. That's it. No oysters, no boletes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hunter, my trip yesterday was a bust in more ways than one. Walked up on someone with two dogs unleashed. One jumped my dog. I got them apart, but it kept coming back biting his rear end (he ended up with multiple puncher wounds). My dog took down the other dog. I was rolling on the ground trying to separate. Ended up with a possible MCL injury in the dust up that will keep me out of the woods for a while.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just checked the map of soil temp at 4 inches here for NE. Illinois and it shows 45 degrees. Mid central town of Ottowa, Illinois has a morel festival this week end and soil temp there is 46. I don't think it will be much of a hunt. We will probably be 2 weeks late here and we could use some rain as well. Not looking too promising, but things can change in a hurry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coastwx, in that situation, it may have been more effective to give that dog a boot to the ribs. I hope you got the person's info in case there are any vet bills to be paid. If people choose to leave their dogs loose, then they need to take responsibility for them. I'm sorry to hear you and your dog had to go through that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And maybe to pay the Dr. bills too. Really sorry to hear you had to go through that. If it's of any consolation (probably not) These dry windy days have not shown me anything to pick.. I just go grazing along, eating greebriar tips and wild strawberries, looking for the protein to accompany them. I'm still waiting to see if the new Ganoderma will push the old out of the way, and have found another source of 'em. And there's a stump of mushroom, the leftover where I collected an old Beefsteak mushroom last year, that looks like it's swelling, although it's too high to tell for sure. But not even an oyster.

Looks like you're going to have to get better and show me how it's done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys! Best of luck as things keep warming up. It does look dry here in NC though. We have several stumps on the property that produced Ganoderma the last few years, but I was unaware of their value at the time. I guess I'll be able to entertain myself if these come back soon. It was May or June last year, so it's probably close to that time Hunter.

ACL tear is the diagnosis. Surgery required if I want to keep this active lifestyle. Forging may be a possiblity towards the middle or end of June with brace. I should have kicked the out of that dog in hind sight, and got her information, but it's too late now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The puffballs I wrote of never did get much larger than a marble, then turned brownish. Picked one to make sure. It had an undeveloped brown spore mass in the interior. I had kept that one watered during this dry hot weather, leaving another as a check. Made no difference to these.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

The initial ACL tear was not affirmed by the MRI. Ligaments just fine, it was a torn meniscus. I could not be repaired so they removed about 70% of a medial one.

No all the way back, but just walked over a mile around a lake at work less than 6 days after surgery. The improvement in the last 3 days has been more than I'd ever expect. Tender walking in my own woods two days ago has transitioned to almost normal walking today with no pain. I suspect I'll be back in the woods this weekend for short hike if the doc says ok. Our dog is just fine Dave. Thanks for the concern.

We had 3-5 inches of rain in the area with storm late last week. At least in my woods, it did nothing to awake the fungi. I suspect we need several days of moisture instead of this very dry air that has been in place for the last few weeks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Torrential rainfall rarely results in fungi until about a week afterward. Things need to begin to dry out before the new flushes of mushrooms come in. I think you're probably well set up for a beginning to the summer mushroom season in NC, coastwx. Warmth is what you need now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That will be perfect timing. Heavy rain last Thu-Fri. No Labor Day trip to the beach, so should be able to hunt this weekend... at least check out the trees that last produced oysters in Dec.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.