October News Letter

Fall has arrived and with it brings the end of the abundant mushroom season. However there are several things still out to be on the look for. I am planning to do a few more walks in October if it works out. This year has been my best yet for walks and I want to thank all those who joined me. The interest in learning is alive and well and thriving in our area for sure. In market news, many markets are planning on winter markets this year and I hope to be a part of those, more information with dates and which markets is coming soon. For now I’m still doing Weaverville and East Asheville on Wednesdays and Fridays, running through the end of this month. This week I will be at both. As fall and winter set in, it is prime time for me to be out Chaga hunting. I’m fully stocked with all my products, so contact me with any needs or wants you may have. So let’s get into it!

Out this month and pretty much ending the season as a whole are these wonderful mushrooms: Honey, Beefsteak, Chickens, Hens, Blewits, Puffballs, Lions Mane, Turkey Tail, Bears Head Tooth. You will see others as well but these make up the edible treasures. Honey mushrooms are known as the largest living organism on earth, measuring 2.4 miles across in Oregon. Honeys are great tasting, especially the stringy stems. They often grow in clusters and always on wood. They have white spore prints, often with a veil around the stem and sometimes with black hairs on the cap. There are Ringless Honeys, which can be smooth on top and no veil. The Deadly Galerina is the look alike to Honeys, they are smoother on the cap and darker orange color and have dark gills. Honeys have white gills. Miatake, Hen of the Woods are a favorite edible of mine taste wise. They are also wonderful medicine, as is Lions Mane. The Bears Head Tooth mushroom taste very similar to Lions Mane and it’s medicinal properties are showing promise much the same as Lions Mane. Blewits and Chickens should stick around through the month and one not pictured here is the Fall Oyster, sometimes called Golden Oysters, which I have found in the winter months before. Here’s a helpful link having to do with Honey mushrooms with a few recipes included: https://foragerchef.com/honey-mushrooms-the-pride-of-eastern-europe/

I want to take a minute and thank everyone who supports what I do….I am grateful to each of you!! I have met so many wonderful people through this work and feel blessed not only to share my passion but live it everyday. Enjoy the changing days and embrace the fall, it’s a pretty season in these mountains and it’s last chance to gather some mushrooms for awhile.