Mushrooms

[spawnofthesith]

Any fellow myco nerds? Fungi are one of the most fascinating things on the planet.

I got into foraging a couple years back (was interested in it for a while before that but it took some time for me to feel confident). One of the best choice edibles that grow around here is our on Rocky Mountain Porcini (boletus rubriceps). That's kind of my go to forage for because they are relatively easy to identify without any fatal look a likes. And they are fucking delicious. Hoping to finally find some morels and chanterelles this year but we'll see. I've also found some oysters and I found some coral fungus that was pretty tasty this past year as well. Leccinum grow everywhere in the mountains, they upset some people's stomachs, and plenty of other people don't like the taste, but I fall in neither of those categories so if I'm coming back empty handed after a foray I'll usually bring some of those home to cook up and throw in a soup or pasta. Looking forward to this foraging season to kick off, especially now that I have an air fryer and can do superior dehydrations than just in an oven.

 

[spawnofthesith]

 

[norminal]

Morels are plentiful here in Appalachia. I’ve used them in pasta dishes before, but other than those, I enjoy a good portobello or shiitakes in a few of my dishes.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Morels are plentiful here in Appalachia. I’ve used them in pasta dishes before, but other than those, I enjoy a good portobello or shiitakes in a few of my dishes.

I know they're around as I regularly see people in the FB groups around here with literal bucketloads, I just haven't found my own spot yet lol. Hoping to go out with a lot more frequency this year though

 

[fretworn]

I watched about seven dudes hurl all night long after picking amanita muscaria mushrooms in the Rocky Mountains on a camping trip one weekend.

A week later in biology class teacher was showing slides of shit you should never put in your mouth.

That picture from Alice in Wonderland comes to mind.

But edible mushrooms are another thing… There’s a huge community here on the Washington, Oregon border that hunt

 

[norminal]

I know they're around as I regularly see people in the FB groups around here with literal bucketloads, I just haven't found my own spot yet lol. Hoping to go out with a lot more frequency this year though

Once you find them. Tell no one!

 

[la szum]

Once you find them. Tell no one!

Definitely! People wield/draw firearms over Morel territory here. Lots of State and Federal land means no
one can legitimately claim it, but that ain't dissuading some from taking it that serious.

$40 to $60 a pound here is not out of the norm peak season---late April/late May.

Identifying more species is something I want to learn to about.... both for medicinal and culinary purposes.

Hen of The Woods, Turkey Tail, Puffballs, and Morels (White, Yellow, Black) I am all good with. Anything
else scares me.

 

[norminal]

Definitely! People wield/draw firearms over Morel territory here. Lots of State and Federal land means no
one can legitimately claim it, but that ain't dissuading some from taking it that serious.

That’s how it is here with Pawpaws. I’ve got GPS waypoints saved for those.

 

[spawnofthesith]

I watched about seven dudes hurl all night long after picking amanita muscaria mushrooms in the Rocky Mountains on a camping trip one weekend.

A week later in biology class teacher was showing slides of s**t you should never put in your mouth.

That picture from Alice in Wonderland comes to mind.

But edible mushrooms are another thing… There’s a huge community here on the Washington, Oregon border that hunt

Amanita muscaria have to be prepared in a pretty specific way to be non toxic, and even then, by most accounts the psychoactive compounds are not all that pleasant anyways lol

 

[la szum]

Ego dissolution is never supposed to be "pleasant," or is it?

 

[fretworn]

Yawning in technicolor

 

[spawnofthesith]

Definitely! People wield/draw firearms over Morel territory here. Lots of State and Federal land means no
one can legitimately claim it, but that ain't dissuading some from taking it that serious.

$40 to $60 a pound here is not out of the norm peak season---late April/late May.

Identifying more species is something I want to learn to about.... both for medicinal and culinary purposes.

Hen of The Woods, Turkey Tail, Puffballs, and Morels (White, Yellow, Black) I am all good with. Anything
else scares me.

I get nearly as much enjoyment just coming across the non edible stuff and photographing and learning more. But I do like being able to take something home to eat lol. So much cool shit out there

Ego dissolution is never supposed to be "pleasant," or is it?

Well I'm a fan of psilocybin containing mushies too haha, but...

Amanita contains muscimol which is more of a sedative/hypnotic than a psychedelic

 

[spawnofthesith]

On the note of those other kind of mushrooms., I dabbled in cultivation with pretty great results a few years back. With the recent law changes in Colorado might investigate getting back into that

 

[la szum]

Amanita contains muscimol which is more of a sedative/hypnotic than a psychedelic

Lots of Shaman look like they are only sleeping.

 

[la szum]

Autumn is really the peak time here for various Fungi. Spring is hyped here because of the high $$ Morel,
but the decaying logs and forest floor really come alive in September/October before the frost sets in.

I need to start cramming. It is one of the times when I wish there was a tighter communal network, where
you could easily seek out and find trusted sources of knowledge from someone specific to a locale.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Autumn is really the peak time here for various Fungi. Spring is hyped here because of the high $$ Morel,
but the decaying logs and forest floor really come alive in September/October before the frost sets in.

I need to start cramming. It is one of the times when I wish there was a tighter communal network, where
you could easily seek out and find trusted sources of knowledge from someone specific to a locale.

Yeah even in the local facebook groups here good luck finding anyone that will talk to you about anything besides elevation. But its also a cool sense of adventure


My drummer has a family cabin in burn area that is at the right elevation for morels, might try and hit the hunt around there soon. Only thing is is that its 4hrs away. Need to make a long weekend of it and get the whole band there and do some mountain jamming recording lol

 

[jellodog]

Giant puffballs the size of footballs here. You can peel off the skin and thickly slice them like a huge mushroom steak - fry them in olive oil and black pepper. Amazing.

As long as they are perfectly smooth and don’t have gills then you can eat them. If they’ve been growing too long then they can get bugs drilling into them, but it’s easy to see if they’re ok. They have to be fresh and very white looking, both on the exterior and all the way through.

 

[la szum]

Do they taste like Mozz?

 

[spawnofthesith]

Giant puffballs the size of footballs here. You can peel off the skin and thickly slice them like a huge mushroom steak - fry them in olive oil and black pepper. Amazing.

As long as they are perfectly smooth and don’t have gills then you can eat them. If they’ve been growing too long then they can get bugs drilling into them, but it’s easy to see if they’re ok.

View attachment 5391

I’ve found exactly one puffball out here and it was smaller than a golf ball lol. That looks awesome

 

[jellodog]

Do they taste like Mozz?

Nah. It's been a couple of years since I last had some, but IIRC it's just like the most extremely rich mushroomy flavour ever, in a good way. Strong, but not overpowering. Almost meaty... but not really quite that flavour either.