St George's a plenty!

 Received a phone call from a friend of mine today who had found some mushrooms just across the road from his Mum's house after a quick pic was sent i was straight over in the car as i knew what he had found straight away.

The beautiful and very tasty St George's mushroom's. These appear in the spring (Along with the morels they are the only 2 edible species that have an April/May season) usually around the 23rd of April (Hence the name) I was starting to think i was going to miss out on these this season as my only other spot for these has not produced this year. But we had a very good haul of 30 or so as can be seen, so after leaving a few for his Mum and taking the rest back home they will be tonights tea, Yum!
(Apologies that the pics are wrong way up, i have them saved the correct way but the blog won't let me upload them as saved??!?)

Spring morel hunting

Hi All
After a bit of a break for the winter season and a house move i have been back out hunting my April/May nemesis the Morels. I knew of a spot where i could find semi free morels (Where the cap overhangs the stipe unlike true morels which are flush with the stipe) which i went back too and picked a few this year (Some books state that they are 'said' to be edible but may cause stomach upsets in some people, other books say they are fine to eat. I have given them a cautious try and was totally fine with no ill effects, so had a larger meal of them and all was well for me.... However do take caution if trying this species) The rest were dried on top of the boiler for a later date.


 Then while at a friends house at the weekend we went for a walk across the back fields and within 100yards of his house BOOM a BIG tick off my list as i found one of my most wanted mushrroms Morchella Esculenta, the classic Morel!

It was probably past its best and a little elderly but as it is known to be the best eating morel out there i had to give it a go and after a bit of trimming down and cutting off the best bits i can honestly say it is one of the best mushrooms i have tasted. So i just have the slightly more common Morchella Elata to tick off the list which is more at home on bark mulch in the local town and round industrial estates to find now. May have missed it for this season but there is always another chance next spring!!

Allethorpe Wood

Some pics from last sunday while out walking in Allerthorpe Wood.
Amongst The Below We Have:
Fly Agaric
Birch Polypore
Horsehoof Fungus
Stinkhorn (Lots of stinkhorns around this year!)
Tawny Grisette
Brown Birch Bolete (Leccinnum)
Common Earthball
Common Yellow Brittlegill
Butter Cap

01-10-2011 Nut Wood

As it was a lovely day out there today i decided to go out for a few hours foraging even though it seems like as it's so dry out, the season maybe a little later this year BUT there were still plenty of bits to see, maybe 20 species of mushroom with just the odd edible (But nothing majorly interesting yet!) And i decided to pick the last blackberries i will get this season as they are pretty much gone over now, Oh and a small bag of hazlenuts to see how they roast up.

Fungi Species i found in the woods today:
Stinkhorn
Jelly Ears
Clouded Agaric
Common Swamp Brittlegill (Or maybe an ochre brittlegill, was a yellow russula that wasn't too peppery)
Some Sort Of Lactarius (A quick taste of the latex told me it was a HOT one, Thats the best i could do!)
Sulphur Tufts
Red Cracking Bolete (I Think)
Oyster/Pleurotus (Think it was a branching oyster but not 100%, see pic)
Shaggy Scalycap
Honey Fungus
Armillaria Ostoyae (I Think)
Common Puffball
Dead Man's Fingers
King Alfred's Cakes
+ maybe 5 or 6 more that i couldn't identify, oh and a couple of woody brackets/polypore's that i couldn't (be bothered to) identify.

A couple of pics from the day

:

21-08-11 Nut Wood & Spring Bank Graveyard Hull

 Got Excited yesterday when walking through spring bank graveyard in Hull, saw a nice patch of what on first glance appeared to be small horse mushrooms or a similar Agaricus species. After pulling a couple up i noticed the bulbous base and yellow tinges around the cap and bottom of the stipe.
I decided to take a few back home anyway and get the books out to confirm my suspicions and i was right, they were yellow stainers which i think are one of the most common causes of mushroom poisoning in the UK. Although not life threatening you can end up on the loo for 24hrs and it doesn't sound like something i wold like to experience!
Most striking characteristics are the bulbous base and when cutting the base of the stipe it will stain chromium yellow on reaction with the air. They will also show small tinges of yellow around the edges of the cap.

 The rest of the pics below are from Nut Wood (Again!) I haven't identified most yet apart from the obvious Stinkhorn, and the large group up against the tree stump were again Mica ink caps (Although i see 'Mica' isn't used anymore as its common name, that seems to be from my old 70's book, i must do more research and find their new common name, but i'm sure they are from the Ink Cap family)

Oh And i would just like to say hello to the first follower of this blog, Annies Antics. Hope you enjoy the pics!

 Stinkhorn

Nut Wood, Hull 07-08-11

 Blackberry

 Elderberry

 Gooseberry

 Hazlenut

 Jelly ear

 Mica Ink Cap (?)

 Rowan Berry

 Stink Horn

Hips

Sloes

Haws

Possibly White Bryony??

Redcurrant

Dead Mans Fingers