Forage Fellows 🍄🌱

Ahoy foragers! I know it's been a cold quiet winter, but we're standing at the base camp of a very fruitful season of foraging! I saw the other day that a morel had been spotted in Georgia, and I did some crunching of data soon to be published on my soon to be published website, and have it on good authority that next week might be our first promising window for morels!

I've never eaten one, have no idea how they taste, and am on one hell of a mission to find one this season.

For me, ramps and morels! I know we still have a couple of months, but I'm already prepping my knowledge and researching my locations.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/16647060

Candy caps (Lactatius rubidus) are fruiting abundantly on the Northern California coast right now. My family and I picked about 2 pounds today. For those unfamiliar, these mushrooms develop a strong maple flavor and odor when dried.

I’ve never had so many before, so I’m interested if anyone has made anything interesting with these. I’ve made ice cream in the past which was excellent but it might be good to mix things up a bit.

I’m particularly interested to see how they would work in more savory dishes and if anyone has eaten them fresh. Is it worth doing or do they need to be dried to be appreciated properly?

I’ve got my work cut out for me. But the timing should be perfect with thanksgiving.

View the spoiler for my guess at what I think it might be, but please first come to your own conclusion before looking at mine — I don't want to bias your guess.

They were found in mid-november in the Salish Coast region of Cascadia. They were growing out of woodchips composed of a mixture of western hemlock (majority), and western red cedar.

Side view of one full mature specimen:

A group with a sample of the substrate (the cap appears to be umbonate):

A closeup side view, and internal view of the stem (it appears to be hollow):

Cross section of the gills — they appear to be adnate, or sub-decurrent:

Underside of view of the gills:

Spore print (first on white background (the split is due to two halves), second on a black background):

Examples specimens once dried:

Examples of the colony, and the location/substrate in which it was growing:

Cross-posts:

• https://sh.itjust.works/post/28348065
• https://sh.itjust.works/post/28348063
• https://sh.itjust.works/post/28491127

My first time finding lobster mushrooms! A nice patch of them was on a path I walk several times a week. I picked the biggest ones and left some smaller ones that are still growing. I plan on checking back in a couple days.

I learned today that lobster mushrooms are actually a parasitic fungus!

Anyone have any recipe suggestions?

I recently found out that Screwbean Mesquite is ground into meal and flour and used in baking. As a kid we would chew on Mesquite Beans, but we never messed with these.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19329231

We’ve seen a lot of media chatter about these AI generated foraging books and unfortunately I think the danger is real. Be careful what information you absorb and make sure it is from a reputable source.

Although, to be completely fair, I’ve seen plenty of wrong or misleading information from books authored by humans as well.

The USDA's plant database shows something like 50-ish native viola species in Pennsylvania, where I live. As far as I can tell, they're all more or less edible, but what about the flavor? Are there any especially choice species that really stand out? Internet sleuthing doesn't seem to turn up much of anything. So far, I'm getting the vague sense that purple ones generally taste better than yellow or white ones, and that short species might be sweeter than tall species.

This seems like the sort of thing that somebody somewhere must have figured out by now, since violet used to be a pretty popular flavor. The classic liqueur Creme Yvette is very specifically flavored with these obscure Italian Parma violets, which implies that they must taste somehow unique. So what about the rest of them?

This is a little off the beaten track as far as usual foraging posts go, but I had a question. Has anyone tried spinning Eastern Tent Caterpillar webs into a usable thread/yarn? I'm definitely not one of those people who hates them and wants them gone; they're native here and relatively harmless, despite what naysayers would have you believe. However, they sure do make a ton of webs! I'm sure they could probably stand to part with a little here or there right? Like, after they're done with them?

Not sure if it would work, but if it is spinnable, seems like it might be a convenient local source for an ahimsa silk alternative.

I'm gradually working through my forage wishlist. Next up, persimmons! What's on your wishlist?

Just watch out for the mosquitoes, ticks, flies, leeches, thorns, and poison ivy!

Found in Cascadia/PNW in mid-August.

If it is indeed chicken of the woods (ie laetiporus), I'm curious as to which species.

Cross-posts:

• https://sh.itjust.works/post/23666921

Another first. Will be doing the nibble test tomorrow.

I liked the print as it was kinda retro colorful, so I sewed it into a bag with toggle closure and belt loops. The canvas belt is also a revived old belt I got 25 years ago. My mum made me the little labels (I had to edit my name off them for the internet!)

Butter and garlic, yep, it's delicious! Don't judge my filthy forager nails lol

I live in the Rio Grande valley, not much to forage until the rains come in. But these New Mexico Olive trees grow all up and down the river, they are always so full of fruit. But they are painfully bitter.

...until recently, ramps (Allium tricoccum) have been a fairytale. I went to Vermont for a trip and my friend showed me her ramps field, although it was summer and they'd all died back to flowers. Well, hiking in an undisclosed location in east Tennessee today, I saw this. I rubbed my fingers on it and... YEP, RAMPS. Further down the trail it got completely boombastic with them. This is a random trailhead off a main road, so I suspect I've got a good chance of snagging a respectable harvest next season. So exciting.

Il know that bramble are eatable and I can recognised them perfectly but I couldn't bring myself to eat it. It feels to weird. I should'nt have forrage it.
I've made a flower-leave salad and mugwort fritters out of the rest.

publication croisée depuis : https://jlai.lu/post/6859176

Picking mulberries by the dumpster—mostly above my head but the ones I could reach were tasty.

The flower petals are feijoa—I recently learned they are edible and delicious. They taste like marshmallows.

Hope y’all are having fun and staying safe out there!

My wife and I walk our dogs on a trail along the Rio Grande every morning, and years ago I found this patch of Mountain Gooseberries. The birds usually get to the ripe ones before I do. I never pick too many to ensure the birds do have enough. As the patch has grown, and continues to grow, I eat more.

I almost missed fiddlehead season but was able to get out Sunday and collect a few that were still curled up tight.

I’ve heard there are a few edible species but we only harvest the ostrich fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris. I love them lightly battered and fried (after blanching) or pickled to go in bloody marys.

More info: https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2540e/