fungi
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Shaggy Parasols on the Table
Here at Shortsinwoods, we harvested a huge crop of Shaggy Parasols (Chlorophylum rhacodes) this Fall. These mushrooms dehydrate very easily, and after doing this we found ourselves with about a half dozen gallon-size bags full! Continue reading
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Ready or Not, Morel Hunting Season Is Almost Upon Us!
The Morel may be my favorite mushroom (taste-wise), but the Spring season isn’t my favorite season. There are a few other mushrooms out there in the Spring, but not near as many as in the Fall. So Morels are definitely the focus. Continue reading
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Does the Design of Mushrooms Show a Divine Sense of Humor?
Okay, I promised I’d share my thoughts about Lycoperdon (Puffball mushrooms). Lycoperdon puffballs sliced and ready to prepare. Each fall we see clusters of these rimming the various trails through the forest areas where we hunt Chanterelles and other delicious shrooms. We’ve harvested them while they’re young (firm and white), but they are a lot of trouble Continue reading
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Do You Want To Start With Cultivating Something Healthy, Easy, and Delicious? Try Oyster Mushrooms! (Part 2)
How to cultivate delicious Oyster Mushrooms at home. Continue reading
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Why Do Oysters Need a Bath? (Part 1)
Growing Oysters from straw logs is fast and relatively easy, but doesn’t work as well out of doors, so I decided to go a different route. I purchased about 200 Oyster spawn plugs, little wooden dowels impregnated with the mycelium of Pleurotus ostreatus … Continue reading
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Have You Ever Had a Hedgehog?
Hedgehogs are a late fall/early winter mushroom that grows in damp, ferny areas, and in my mind it is one of the more savory and simple-to-cook shrooms. I love it as a side dish, or as a breakfast mushroom with scrambled eggs. Continue reading
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Preparing to Partake in the Putting Away of a Plateful of Palatable Puffballs
What do you do with Puffballs? (Other than the boyish delight of stomping on them and watching the little “wolf farts”* spew greenish-brown “smoke” comprised of billions of puffball spores into the air!) Most puffballs are indeed edible. I had never had them before, and this season we saw a goodly number of Lycoperdon* not… Continue reading
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How To Identify False Chanterelles
This time of year there are tons and tons of Chanterelles out there in the forests of Western Washington. And among them, false Chanterelles, hiding like wolves in sheep’s clothing! How can you spot them? Continue reading
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Boletes: The Bacon of the Mushroom World
PJ is a master chef and couldn’t wait for me to let him loose in my kitchen to see what he could do with those Boletes (mostly Admirable Boletes, and also some Slippery Jacks). Continue reading
Mushroom Obsession 