Foraging

[Stakem]

Use this safe space to talk about finding things in the wild that you can eat.

Ive been on an absolute tear with mushrooms lately. Ive posted some in the hunting thread which I might copy pasta here with more details.

Tonight I took my nephew out and we scored the single greatest haul of chicken of the woods that ive ever had the pleasure of finding. We walked in the woods for 3.5 hours and found 5 spots with them including a tree along the road that had them a good 15+ feet out of reach (which I might go get tomorrow with a ladder.) Total haul was just shy of 13 pounds and there are 2, if not 3 different sub species of chicken of the woods included.




We finally have what I would consider a surplus, so I am going to experiment with trying some different approaches to cooking and preserving theses.

 

[bigstrunso]

Man, I LOVE chicken of the woods. Have not had in years. Need to find some.

 

[Stakem]

Man, I LOVE chicken of the woods. Have not had in years. Need to find some.

It was “the one” that got me started.

But now, having had the great fortune of finding morels, 4 types of chanterelles, black trumpets, cauliflower mushrooms and old man of the woods… chickens still hold a special place in my heart but they have fallen down a bit on my list of favorites.

Its still a real neat experience to witness someone eating them for the first time. “WAIT, this is a mushroom?!?!?” hah

 

[Stakem]

Over lunch today I grabbed the extension ladder and went to get the chickens I previously mentioned that were out of reach.

On the way there, I spotted more from the road so I stopped to get them as well. And on the way home, I saw even more…. unbelievable that I got 14lbs within an hour on 3 different spots/trees.

This is what I saw that caught my attention, can you see it? Its a little hard to spot:


Zoomed in:


After walking up to it:


Whats on the other side though?


Jackpot!

And the other find, 10 yards off the road:

 

[Stakem]

Dropped my kids off at soccer practice and took a 90 minute walk looking for chanterelles.





Pretty solid score. The reds are my wife’s favorite and these were a little larger than what im use to seeing.

 

[Kentucky]

Dropped my kids off at soccer practice and took a 90 minute walk looking for chanterelles.





Pretty solid score. The reds are my wife’s favorite and these were a little larger than what im use to seeing.

Killin it man! I just picked a bunch of the reds back home in eastern KY. We got our fill and left so many out there for next go around..

 

[Stakem]

Less than an hour outing tonight with my wife and son who asked me to take them out shrooming while my daughter was with friends playing hunt in the woods.

Man, had we not run out of daylight I have a feeling we would have really gotten into them. The place where we were felt really shroomy and we started seeing black trumpets but lost daylight and had to head out just as it was getting good!

 

[Stakem]

Pretty sweet mixed bag this am. 4 types of chants, trumpets, cauliflower, chicken of the woods and an old man.

 

[Stakem]

Lunchtime walk in our back yard ends up producing one of the most vibrant and fresh/juicy flushes of chickens ive come across in years.

 

[Stakem]

Driving down the road at 65mph and the unmistakeable aura of the golden chanterelle catches my eye. So I turn around and pull over to investigate. Sure enough it was, just a little too old to pick.

So I decided to walk around the area seeing what else might be there and I was gifted the single greatest score of black trumpets I ever came across.

 

[SAISON FUCK]

Oyster mushroom bonanza at my in-laws. They have now sent us home with 12 lbs.

 

[Stakem]

Ive gotten to the point where I have seen 3-4 flushes of chicken of the woods in the last week and a half and I have not taken any. I just cannot justify taking any more when we already have ~30lbs in the freezer and deer season is 2 weeks away.

Im trying to expand my horizons and learn more shroom species regardless of whether or not they are edible. With the change in weather, places that were booming with other species in the spring/early summer are now coming alive again with different stuff.



I believe these are honey mushrooms. I saw them for the first time on our property on friday and since they are now everywhere I look. Its my understanding that these are super destructive little bastards and if found on what looks like a healthy tree, the tree is gonna be dead in the near future. I took a spore print of them - they are white, have a cap that looks hairy and a ring along the stem. Im timid with trying new shit that im not 100% certain of despite these identifying factors. Its just that all the pictures ive seen online dont look exactly like these and thats enough for me to throw up the caution flag until I better understand.

I also came across these yesterday which I believe are yellow fly agaric. Toxic unless you know how to process them with heat and then you can use them as a narcotic. Im not rolling the dice, but they sure look cool.

 

[Beerologist]

Ive gotten to the point where I have seen 3-4 flushes of chicken of the woods in the last week and a half and I have not taken any. I just cannot justify taking any more when we already have ~30lbs in the freezer and deer season is 2 weeks away.

Im trying to expand my horizons and learn more shroom species regardless of whether or not they are edible. With the change in weather, places that were booming with other species in the spring/early summer are now coming alive again with different stuff.



I believe these are honey mushrooms. I saw them for the first time on our property on friday and since they are now everywhere I look. Its my understanding that these are super destructive little bastards and if found on what looks like a healthy tree, the tree is gonna be dead in the near future. I took a spore print of them - they are white, have a cap that looks hairy and a ring along the stem. Im timid with trying new shit that im not 100% certain of despite these identifying factors. Its just that all the pictures ive seen online dont look exactly like these and thats enough for me to throw up the caution flag until I better understand.

I also came across these yesterday which I believe are yellow fly agaric. Toxic unless you know how to process them with heat and then you can use them as a narcotic. Im not rolling the dice, but they sure look cool.

That first picture is 100% Armillaria sp. (Honey mushrooms), not positive on the current species name for the ringed honeys on the east coast, but definitely in the Armillaria mellea complex They are definitely edible but have been known to cause issues for some people if drinking alcohol at the same time. The black on the left side is Strobilomyces floccopus or S. confusus - both edible as well.

The Amanita is likely (as you mentioned) Amanita muscaria var. guessowii.

I found a couple Fistulina hepatica on a bike ride the other day. One of the few mushrooms I'll actually eat raw and goes great in a sorrel salad. Didn't take a picture till I got back though.

 

[Stakem]

That first picture is 100% Armillaria sp. (Honey mushrooms), not positive on the current species name for the ringed honeys on the east coast, but definitely in the Armillaria mellea complex They are definitely edible but have been known to cause issues for some people if drinking alcohol at the same time. The black on the left side is Strobilomyces floccopus or S. confusus - both edible as well.

The Amanita is likely (as you mentioned) Amanita muscaria var. guessowii.

I found a couple Fistulina hepatica on a bike ride the other day. One of the few mushrooms I'll actually eat raw and goes great in a sorrel salad. Didn't take a picture till I got back though.

Thanks man! I am aware of the alcohol warning, I heard the same about chicken of the woods. I read that its important to cook honeys really well as they release a sort of slime when heated? I think im gonna go ahead and pull a small sample to try whenever this rain stops. Im familiar with the old man of the woods in the picture - its the only bolete we pick but I want to expand our horizons on them as well. We have a ton of them scattered all over our property and ive found that when I come across them its usually a good idea for me to slow down and focus on the dark/shadows as sometimes black trumpets are nearby as well.

Maitake are apparently starting to flush, I need to get out this weekend and find some!

 

[Beerologist]

Thanks man! I am aware of the alcohol warning, I heard the same about chicken of the woods. I read that its important to cook honeys really well as they release a sort of slime when heated? I think im gonna go ahead and pull a small sample to try whenever this rain stops. Im familiar with the old man of the woods in the picture - its the only bolete we pick but I want to expand our horizons on them as well. We have a ton of them scattered all over our property and ive found that when I come across them its usually a good idea for me to slow down and focus on the dark/shadows as sometimes black trumpets are nearby as well.

Maitake are apparently starting to flush, I need to get out this weekend and find some!

I haven't been out really foraging in a few years aside from picking the stuff that I conveniently stumble upon. We do have an old dead tree on our property in RI that has flushed at least 15 lbs of maitake a year for the past 4 years, so I'm looking forward to that again. I worked for Paul Stamets for a couple years during/after college and was heavily into foraging for ~10 years but kind of let that fall off when I went back to grad school. I really need to make a point of spending more time exploring the woods and finding fungus.

 

[Stakem]

I haven't been out really foraging in a few years aside from picking the stuff that I conveniently stumble upon. We do have an old dead tree on our property in RI that has flushed at least 15 lbs of maitake a year for the past 4 years, so I'm looking forward to that again. I worked for Paul Stamets for a couple years during/after college and was heavily into foraging for ~10 years but kind of let that fall off when I went back to grad school. I really need to make a point of spending more time exploring the woods and finding fungus.

This year has been exceptional for me. But I think its a combination of several factors that I likely will not experience again until I am of retirement age.

I found myself with a bunch of free time this spring/summer to just wonder the woods. Usually this is an opportunity I only get on the weekends if im lucky but this year with moving into our newly constructed home, I do not yet have a lawn that needs mowing, no garden to tend to and im no longer coaching both my kids on seperate baseball/softball and soccer teams. I also work from home now, so thats like an automatic 2 hours im not wasting traveling to/fro work daily.

I try to be in the woods as much as possible, off the beaten path scouting for hunting seasons. This newly found love of mushrooms has become a serious distraction from my usual routine.

 

[Beerologist]

This year has been exceptional for me. But I think its a combination of several factors that I likely will not experience again until I am of retirement age.

I found myself with a bunch of free time this spring/summer to just wonder the woods. Usually this is an opportunity I only get on the weekends if im lucky but this year with moving into our newly constructed home, I do not yet have a lawn that needs mowing, no garden to tend to and im no longer coaching both my kids on seperate baseball/softball and soccer teams. I also work from home now, so thats like an automatic 2 hours im not wasting traveling to/fro work daily.

I try to be in the woods as much as possible, off the beaten path scouting for hunting seasons. This newly found love of mushrooms has become a serious distraction from my usual routine.

While I'm certainly a bit jealous of hauls and that you have made, or been fortunate, to have time to get out, this thread has made me realize how much I miss it and need to make getting out and mushroom hunting a priority again. I really appreciate skimming this and the inspiration its given me. Thanks!

 

[SAISON FUCK]

And now for something completely different.

Northern Spicebush. When dried, the berries taste like allspice. The flesh of the berries when fresh are a little more citrus forward, strangely enough. Apparently the branches also taste like cinnamon. Maybe we will test that out this fall/winter.

 

[OceanOfMead]

And now for something completely different.

Northern Spicebush. When dried, the berries taste like allspice. The flesh of the berries when fresh are a little more citrus forward, strangely enough. Apparently the branches also taste like cinnamon. Maybe we will test that out this fall/winter.

Awesome! We have a spicebush but it's the inedible Japanese kind.

 

[Stakem]

Took the fam out for a hike tonight since the rain finally stopped. I really wanted to find hen of the woods but the majority of old trees we came across were poplar which is super exciting for morels next year but didnt do us any good tonight.

I found 2 small flushes of oysters that were too far gone and then we hit a dying oak tree that had a full on beginning flush of chickens.

I told the wife and kids we have no business taking any but my wife went apeshit demanding we take some as they were so damn tender and moist. I took a couple handfuls and left the rest to mature for someone else or to maybe hit again in a couple days. Not gonna lie, after pulling some clusters off…she was right, chickens dont get any better than this! Holy shit are they soft.