Mushrooms.

Just got back from walking the dog with half a bucket of mushrooms. Any of you lads found any yet?

Nothing yet, but haven't been up in the woods for a week or so.

We have plenty of fungi here but as we have no idea which are safe to eat we don't use any of them. One day we will go on a foraging course

I checked my sporned logs yesterday and found one huge Shiitake mushroom. It has been two years since I inserted the dowels into these logs so they take their time! Hopefully there will be a lot more to come. No sign of the Oyster`s yet.

I have just been watching a bloke putting dowel spawn into logs like we did but, he boiled the logs first! Apparently the logs need to be fresh cut but the life needs to be boiled out of them before the mycelium can grow. I am going to give it a try.

I found this growing between two raised beds this evening - I get a couple every year in the same spot. Should prove very tasty fried up with a bit of bacon and a handful of eggs...

A few fields around here have a few field mushrooms but most have none. No sign of my favorite horse mushrooms or giant puff balls. Hopefully this rain will get some more going.

Skinned and sliced, it yielded four dinner plates, piled high, of puffball steaks. I gave away half of them and still have way more than I can eat!

Not the easiest of job, skinning a giant puffball. If its young enough I dont bother and just slice it and fry it. I have had these in the past three years but as yet none this year. With all this rain and warm weather perhaps I will have some yet.

Two big puffball steaks, fried in butter, then made into a sandwich with good cheddar cheese and gently fried till the cheese melts... a couple of pickled onions, a pint of cider, followed by a glass of brandy and a pipe of Dorisco... it's a terrible life bein' a smallholder...

Yep. A sh**ty job but someone's gotta do it.

I have just been watching a program on growing your own mushroom. My project of seeding fresh cut logs with dowels has been dismally abandoned after three years of waiting. Now I am advised that the logs must be fresh cut but dead!. It would seem that boiling the logs in a large tank for some time will do the job and also kill off any airborne competitors for our seeded dowels. Interesting dont you think?

I had a similar result years ago and abandoned the project. Years after, I came across one of the logs sprouting oyster mushrooms!

First shroom of the year: a fine horse mushroom. These are getting plentiful in my little wood.

I think horse mushrooms are the best. A nice strong flavour that I like. When I was a lad some old folks would not eat them favoring the field mushroom instead. P.S Careful Sean, you nearly gave us a "Mug shot"

Giant puffballs are early this year - this is my second one.

Right! I will go and have a butchers tonight. It should be a good year by my thinking. Hot and dry for a time then followed by warm rain early fall. Fingers crossed. The conifer wood has lots of fungi growing but I dont see anything that I recognise. Unfortunately the books have photos of pristine examples, which very few in reality are.

Picked the third today.  Last year I allowed one to grow to full size and when ripe, scattered the billions of spores all over the place.  Honest to God lads,  this thing fried in bacon fat or butter takes some beating.  But at its finest, it should be used to make fried cheese sandwiches: my favourite is with stilton but organic English Cheddar is superb too!



PS Isn't it a shame that, as far as I know, there are only two people in the country (myself and Cristy) who appreciate these things! I hope I'm wrong!

I am sure your wrong Sean (hopefully). As far as foraging is concerned there is nothing to be had yet over here. To dry by far. Once the rains come hopefully we shall be able to gather some, like last year. I shall just have to be content with Nettle Beer until the Apple harvest comes in. Which is looking ok.

I have some Horse mushrooms growing in a poly! No idea where they came from but very welcome they are. I guess they came in with the heap of compost I have stored in there.

Nothing here yet, though I wasn't up in the woods for a couple of days and it only takes a day (or night) for them to appear - as testified by their Irish name "Fás áon oíche" which means: "one night's growth".