July Newsletter

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It’s summer and we have entered an exciting month on the mushroom front. These next few months are when the flood gates open. Many of the delicious, colorful and most variety of different mushrooms are popping out! It’s been rainy and the forest is moist, perfect conditions for the hunt. I get excited to do my walks during this time and all this month I will be leading them. It is also important that we spend time outside absorbing the fresh air and vitamin D of the sun during these times. You can sign up under the book now tab. Besides being out picking the wild stuff, I have dove into growing some fresh mushrooms for the markets, I’m currently growing Lions Mane and Gray Dove Oysters. I get my growing blocks from a friend in the mushroom world, his name is Matt and he runs Mayland Mushrooms out in Burnsville. His blocks are top notch and easy to do. I encourage anyone interested in doing it yourself at home to check out his blocks: http://maylandmushrooms.com/

With all the good mushrooms coming out I will have plenty to sell, picking the wild ones has always been a favorite past time for me. This month I will be collecting Chanterelles, Leather Back milk caps, Black Trumpets, Chicken Of The Wood, Beefsteak, Blue Indigo milk caps and some Bolete varieties. All mushrooms are $15 per pound and I sell half pounds as well. For many people mushroom picking is scary and it should be if you haven’t learned enough, or perhaps having the time is a challenge, so let me do it for you! Wild mushrooms make for a great addition to your dinner plate, they can be a way to get creative with your meals. I will have fresh picked mushrooms available at the tailgate markets as well as to order directly from me, if your interested in being on my notice list you can email me. I will send out notifications when I have new stuff straight from the forest. I do caution people to go easy at first, wild mushrooms are harder on our systems to digest, so small portions are a great place to start.

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So what’s out there now? Well there’s a lot! The Chicken of the Wood is out and about, Chanterelles have begun to pin and pop, Leatherback Milk Caps, Boletes, Corals, Oysters, Boletes, Puffballs, Russalas and the very prized Chanterelle family, smooth, golden, cinnabar, Black Trumpets, and Appalachian. It’s always a great forage when you find a patch of chants. Really the better question is what’s not out! Above are some of the great edible varieties. I caution everyone not to go solely on pictures when picking on your own, there are many lookalikes out there and plenty of room for error, when in doubt toss it out. Many mushrooms can be turned into jerky very simply, the process is as easy as boiling the mushrooms for about 10 minutes, marinate in a nice sauce of your choosing for 5-6 hours, then dehydrate until mostly dry but still have a chewy consistency and there it is. I enjoy people sharing photos of the different meals they prepare with the mushrooms they buy from me or find on my walks. One of the latest was a friend who came on a walk and we found Cauliflower mushrooms. She made an awesome stir fry with them and shared this photo. I also like to make a nice soup with these ones. Hope to see some new faces out on a walk or at the market this month! Happy hunting ya’ll.