This was my FIRST real Morel, ever!
It was only 3 inches tall. Found May 9 in Stockbridge MA.
Some people call this the Grey Morel but it is just a young Yellow Morel.
IT WAS A GOOD YEAR !
The first edible mushroom of 2004, for me, was the Morel:
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This was my FIRST real Morel, ever! |
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When I got home I found Oysters growing on a dead Aspen log in the back yard.
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May 13. This was one of 31 Yellow Morel found in Eastern MA growing under old apple trees. |
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May 23. Found Aspen Scaber Stalk growing in a grove of Aspen in Westboro Wildlife Management area. |
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June 18. Went out with Vlad and Sasha on the Cape. They got a bucket full of Scaber Stalks. I did not find even one. They were too fast for me. |
August 8 I find my first King Bolete.
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August 14 I run across a small patch of Golden Chanterelle in Northboro. There is enough for a mushroom fry. Life is good. |
August 17. The patch of Smooth Chanterelle, I discovered last year, produced enough for a fry today.
August 21. The Smooth Chanterelle patch produced a little more then last time.
August 22. The BMC Foray at Carlisle produced little edible mushrooms, as usual. I suspect that those in the know, do not show ALL the mushrooms they found. After the foray I stopped at Bolton Lime and got Lobsters, Common Chanterelle and two different kinds of Milkys. The Hygrophorus is petering out. Very few volemus.
August 24 Edmund Hill and back yard. Parasol mushrooms.
August 28 The first Chicken of the Woods.
August 31 At Northboro. Two Chicken of the Woods. One with white pores. One Lobster. A hand full of Smooth Chanterelle.
September 2 Back yard. 5 Giant Puffballs.
September 4 Westboro WMA. Found a couple of dozen bicolor or some other blue staining Bolete. One lonely volemus. No rain now for about 10 days. Things are getting dry. How does the rain dance go?
September 6 Westboro. I found a handful of Distant Gilled Lactarius and 4 bicolor. At Chanterelle Hill I got several Lactarius volemus, several Common Scaber Stalk, 2 Scaly Tooth, 2 unknown Boletes, I looked at an old Chicken cincinnatus, and possibly Honey Mushrooms. I am surprised the pickings were so good considering that it has not rained in quite a while.
September 7.
Westboro. Went back to the oak trees to get the rest of the honey
mushrooms but the critters beat me to them. I took a picture of an
older specimen's section between the cap and the ring, and it did have the
gill
lines to the top of the ring. Also I did take a couple of the old caps and
wrapped them in white napkins for a spore print. Checked a few hours later
and as best I can tell the spores are white. I think that is close enough
to "pale cream".
I found 3 small bicolor. At another location I got a small
lobster and a handful of Distant Gilled Lactarius.
They are predicting rain tomorrow and for a few days thereafter. Time
to concentrate on eating rather then hunting. Today I made bicolor soup.
It came out quite tasty. This is the way I will use Boletes.
September 10. Shrewsbury got 1.35 inches of rain in the past two days. Found a new patch of Smooth Chanterelle in Westboro. Got a mess of them. Then went to A1 site and got a hand full Red Chanterelle and about 5 caps of Honey. Also found a young tender Chicken.
September 11. Bolton. Some Distant Gilled Lactarius, Honey, Chanterelle, and 3 Lobster. At Stow Town forest, Lactarius corrugis, Distant Gilled Lactarius, and Honey. Westboro, Chanterelle Hill, Honey, Green Quilt Russula.
September 12. Purgatory. Distant Gilled Lactarius. Edmund Hill. Distant Gilled Lactarius, Honey. Pisgah woods. Bicolor, Chestnut Bolete, Chanterelle.
September 15. Was tied up with car problems the last two days. Went out today and found only old mushrooms. Again we have had no rain for about 10 days. This time last year the Grifola frondosa was popping up. They are promising substantial rain this Saturday.
September 18. Saturday. We got 2.41" of rain today! Friday was drizzly.
September 19. In Westboro got 3 old Lobsters and one Lactarius volemus. In Northboro noticed that a few more Smooth Chanterelles were popping up. Got Smooth Chanterelles and some Lactarius volemus. Found one prime Lobster and one young Aspen Scaber Stalk and a couple of Red Chanterelle. Still no sign of the Hens.
September 20. Northboro.
A bicolor twin. Young and firm. Aborted Entoloma is starting to
appear. A prime Boletus ornatipes. Too bad it turns black after
cooking.
At Westboro WMA. Aspen Scaber Stalk is coming up. The larger specimens
were chewed up by slugs. Found 5 small Lobster.
September 21. Checked
infected oak in Westboro. Still no sign of Grifola. In Stow found several good
size Aborted
Entoloma. Also a patch of 10 Lobsters.
In Bolton found 2 Lobsters and several Lactarius volemus.
September 22. Boynton
Park in Worcester. Finally enough Hedgehog
for a fry!
Purgatory. Couple more Hedgehog and some Distant Gilled Lactarius.
September 23. Pisgah Woods in Northboro. Aborted Entoloma is growing slowly. Too small to harvest. Found 2 Blewit for the first time. Westboro WMA. Found a prime specimen of Aspen Scaber Stalk. A handful of Smooth Chanterelle. New England Power. Found 3 KING BOLETE! Unfortunately they are older and in worse shape compared to the first that was found there. I brought them home and will introduce them to my back yard woods. It looks very much the type of environment I found them in.
September 25. Westboro
WMA. Found about 2 dozen what I believe is Slippery Jack. Tell me if I
am wrong, please.
I am off to the Cape for a week. Will report when I get back.
September 26. On the way to Denis Port I stopped at Beebe Woods in Falmouth. Found a few Honey mushrooms. And a small white Bolete the surface of the cap looking like the human brain. Photos later.
September 30. Hunted the elusive KING. Went to Race Point, Head of the Meadow entrance and Marconi Station site. Fly Amanita was all over the place. Picked about 4 shopping bags full of Aspen Scaber Stalk. One Russian neighbor took 3 bags off my hands. KING still eluding me. Found what I believe is what the Cape Cod guide calls Boletus projectellus.
October 1. Came home from the Cape. Saw that the Shaggy Mane was up in the yard.
Oct. 2. Checked Mass. Electric. Nothing. At Northboro found a handful of Smooth Chanterelle. 5 Aspen Scaber Stalk. At Pisgah Woods found a mess of Aborted Entoloma.
Oct. 3 Northboro. Slippery Jack, Blewits. Westboro, Aborted Entoloma and Slippery Jack.
Oct. 4. At Bolton Lime found one large Lobster and Aborted Entoloma. At Stow Town Forest, Aborted Entoloma, Blewits and possibly Honey. Also a Bolete that at first looks like a King.
Oct. 5. Checked around Jordan Pond (in the back yard). Found some Red Chanterelle, and one 7.5” diameter Giant Puffball. After cutting off the root area most of the rest was pure white. Will cooked it differently and see if it tastes better.
Oct. 6 Last night we had a killing frost in my area. In Westboro I found some Boletes that were semi freeze dried. The only thing I saw that was not effected was a large white Clitocybe of some kind.
Oct. 7. Westboro WMA. The Slippery Jack are alive and well. Found a batch of large Aborted Entoloma. I believe I finally found a small clump of Fall Oyster, the real Pleurotus ostreatus, growing on a semi dead Maple.
Oct. 9 Did not go out to the woods. Just checked around the apartment. Found a handful of Red Chanterelle, some puffballs and Shaggy Mane.
Oct. 10 Walkup Reservation in Westboro. Found Slippery Jack, Painted Bolete, Aborted Entoloma and my first Grifola frondosa of the year!
Oct. 13 At Beebe Woods in Falmouth, found a large Hen of the Woods.
Oct.17 At Beebe Woods in Falmouth, found a large Hen of the Woods and a Chicken of the Woods.
Oct. 21 Race Point
in Provincetown, a mess of Scaber Stalks. All shapes and sizes. Some
had very large stalks and brown caps, so for an instant I thought King!
The white stems became covered with scabs after a while and they stained when
cut. Some stained bright green. Some were heavy with a lot of water
while others were relatively light. The caps had an orange tone on some,
tan on others and brown on still others. I suspect that the Cape has more
then the two Scaber Stalk species that are listed in the Cape Cod guide. I
found a Russian that gladly took them off my hands.
On the way back I stopped at a spot in Truro and
found a mess of Matsutake! This is the first time I found this
mushroom. Thanks for the heads up, Pavel :o) I washed them, since
they were covered by sand, and fried a few up in olive oil, onions and garlic.
I found another favorite mushroom!!!
October 26 Made another trip to northern Truro and picked more Matsutake to take home. While I was at it I picked another shopping bag of Scaber Stalks for the Russian.
October 27 In Westboro I found 7 Hen of the Woods and harvested 4 bunches.
October 28 In Northboro I found 3 Hen of the Woods and harvested 1 bunch.
October 29 Boynton Park. The Late Fall Oysters are up on the same fallen tree with a few Brick Tops. At a base of a 4 foot diameter Maple stump found what looks like Honey mushroom clumps. Will visit in a few days to see what they turn into.
October 30 Purgatory. Went out with Jerry. Found a few Black Trumpets, Slippery Jack, Blewits, and Brick Tops.
November 3 Boynton Park. Went back to check on the mushrooms that I saw last time and to look for Oysters. The Late Fall Oysters were being worked on by squirrels so I did not harvest any. The Brick Tops were gone. Then I went to see if the Honey Mushrooms were large enough to harvest. It looks like deer found them large enough to harvest. This indicates, to me, why I find so few edible mushrooms at Boynton Park even though it appears to have ideal conditions for mushrooms. Too many mushroom lovers in that park!
November 4 Today we had a hard frost of 23. This is the end of the mushroom season, for me, for the most part. I still will take walks in the woods and look out for a possible Oyster until the really cold weather comes.
November 9 Temperature got down to 21.
November 10 Temperature down to 15! No use looking for Oysters until January thaw :o)
November 25 Find a Tree Volvaria growing on an Oak by Jordan Pond, in the back yard.
Summery
Only one of the 30 or so infected Oak, found in 2003, produced Grifola frondosa
this year. Still I found enough to dry. Corrugated Milky had a poor
crop this year compared to 2003. Chanterelle Hill patch of Smooth
Chanterelle did not produce well this year.
I started the year with the goals of finding my first Morel and the first King.
Both goals were realized even though I did not find a King in good enough
condition to try eating. Something to look forward to, next year. The
unexpected surprise was finding Matsutake on the Cape. I can not see how
the King could taste better then Matsutake. I have enough mushrooms dried
and frozen to last the winter. Looking forward to next Spring!
Here is another web page where I reported what I found.
And another on my Morel finds.
