PNW FUNGI

Get out in the woods when you can. Our NW is abundant right now with choice fungi. Some shots from yesterday.

Helping out my friends today for an event. Talking mushrooms! Please checkout for your mushroom supplies. Growkits, fresh mushrooms and dried mushrooms! At today and tomorrow! Mushlove!

Matsutake sashimi: Pine mushroom sliced thin, olive oil, lightly salted. The best way I’ve had these beautiful mushrooms so far.

Fomitopsis mounceae is a species of shelf fungus. Originally thought to be identical to the red-belted conk, studies show that it is in fact a discrete species. The original specimen was isolated from Edson, Alberta on a poplar tree. This species was named after Irene Mounce, a Canadian mycologist. They make a good tea, but have to cut them up while fresh otherwise they turn hard as a rock and can hardly cut. The tea is bitter but I like it. Considered a digestive tonic, this mushroom is thought to relieve inflammation of gastrointestinal tissues. Red belted polypore is also indicated for immune system stimulation and antihistamine qualities. Some animal model studies have even indicated that this polypore may have some anti-cancer potential.

Candy cap mushrooms! One of my favorites that have the intense smell of maple syrup. Me and my son Louis got out and found some :) Found these under some fir trees.

Matsutake or “Pine mushroom”

Autumn in the Pacific Northwest is an amazing time of the year. The beautifully colored fall leaves, the rain making the air smell so fresh. Mushrooms of all sizes and in every color around.

When finding edible mushrooms we use our sight, taste and smell. When it comes to smell, matsutake are up there on top of the list!

One of the very best mushrooms on the planet!!! Some people say they smell like cinnamon or red hots. I like to think they smell like dirt spice as Yellow Elanor would say. We made a pine and chanterelle mushroom soup with ground beef, cabbage, rice, carrots, peppers, chicken broth.

The matsutake mushroom can be found on the ground, under and above. When you find one be careful to look around for raised ground “Mushshrump” sometimes with a small amount of white showing. They like to hide. The cap is white to slightly yellowish and has a strong spicy-fragrance around the gills. The gills are white and typically dip in where they join the stalk. This mushroom has a veil that, when young covers the gills, and opens with age forming a prominent ring on the stalk. The stalk is not bulbous. The matsutake mushroom likes sandy soil found under pine, fir and hemlock. It is commonly found from British Columbia to Central California.

Be very careful not to confuse the pine mushroom with Smith's amanita (Amanita smithiana) mushrooms are toxic and found in mature or old conifer forests in the same areas as pine mushrooms.

Aleuria aurantia (Orange peel fungus)

This little cup fungus looks like a dropped orange peel but is more fragile. Is actually edible too.

Love finding mushrooms that look so freaking cool!

Mushlove!

Russula xerampelina
“Shrimp Russula”

Identification features:

The Cap is 5 to 14 cm, convex, later flattening and with a depression, colors varied and mixed, dull purples, reds, wine-colored, cinnamon, straw, fawn, brick or dull brown, moderately firm, sometimes hard, soon dry and matte; margin eventually furrowed, one-quarter peeling at most. Stalk 1 to 4 cm x 3 to 12 cm, white or tinted rose, staining honey to brownish ochre especially on bruising, firm to hard, firmly snapping unless wormy. Flesh white, firmly snapping. Taste mild. Smell mild to fishy with age. Gills adnate to adnexed, creamy white becoming dull yellowish to brown, fairly broad and thick.

Solitary to common under conifers, mostly Douglas fir.

Taste is not peppery with a nibble-n-spit test. If spicy or peppery don’t eat it. The young mushroom caps are mild and great for stuffing & broiling, and the middle-aged mushrooms have enough of the shrimp characteristic to work well as a mild meat or seafood substitute.

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Coprinus comatus or the shaggy mane. Looks like someone found this patch before me. So I grabbed some of the ones knocked over for dinner. This mushroom is pretty easily identified. A saprophytic mushroom that has a cylinder shaped cap. Gills start off white, then pink, finally becoming black with age. Growing in clusters or alone. Sometimes confused with shaggy parasol. Part of the ink cap family. They don’t last long in the fridge and if you forget them in the fridge like I have they turn to a bag of black ink. Black spore print. Excellent flavor to this mushroom and edible.

The beautiful mycelium growing on rye grain. Something magical about watching the mycelium network spread throughout. Creating spawn and then transfer to substrate. From there we have the fruiting body or mushroom.

Oyster mushrooms popping on this downed alder tree! The beautiful fall weather is here and that means the mushroom season is in full swing. Time to get your basket and get out there!