but I found Grifola frondosa (maitake) in late October, with a little help from Ron who works for a MD parks service. It seems that it is coming in later and later, if at all. Since I find maitake further north before finding it here, I believe it needs a certain range of cool temperatures, above freezing, before fruiting.
I’ll add a photo later.
If you are planting perennials, plants that need winter dormancy, or trees, it’s time to get them into the ground before it freezes. Many of the herbs and medicinal plants I grow are better planted in fall than spring, especially given that winter seems to start and end a month later around here than it once did. Of course, I’m sure you know not to plant annuals or tender perennials outside now.
Eatmore T.
and our highly specialized, networked economy makes economic sense, as Adam Smith pointed out 227 years ago. However, there is no guarantee we won’t wake up one morning and be without a lot of things we take for granted for weeks, months, and maybe years. It happens to other societies. What if your electricity was on for only a few hours a day, as is the case in Iraq and other countries? How would you preserve your food, keep warm or cool, as the season dictates, or obtain food as your local grocer cannot keep cooled and frozen products on hand? You may wish to learn a few lost techniques for surviving sudden calamity, or at a minimum, have instructions handy in case you need them. The “rugged individual” is a myth in this society. But if lots of people retain bits and pieces of old knowledge, a community can put them together. At least until things are back to somewhat “normal.” All the accumulated technological knowledge in the world is not likely to disappear as it did in ancient civilizations, because we are more connected to the outside world than they were and technological knowledge will not be destroyed (however, whether the economic wherewithal to put things back together exists, depends on the situation and how widespread the calamity is). So do yourself a favor. Learn some of the lost knowledge of our forefathers and mothers today. Eatmore T.
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| Plants, Seeds, More! |
Yep. Even though I only have a handful of cornstalks left after only getting maybe 25 to grow out of 3 15 ft rows of corn, I got a very small “ear” of infected corn. In a year in which conditions have not been ripe for corn smut.
Was this due to the fact that I rubbed smut spores from the ear the Amish farmer gave me on the seeds? Or did it occur naturally? I’m not sure, but I’m saving this little ear to inoculate next year’s seeds.
Eatmore T.
…make cranberryade? Nah, preserve them in vodka. Then make martinis with the vodka and cranberry-applesauce with the berries.
cranberry bog
I moved from the Lincoff foray to the Canaan Valley of WV in search of wild food. It was dry there also, so I settled for wild cranberries. They were not as ripe as the could have been, but I find that they do not taste any better when they are solid red, or close too it, as they taste when they are red and yellow.
The day after picking cranberries in the Canaan Valley, I visited Dolly Sods. The state of WV had authorized a one week bear season, due to the large number of bear-human contacts this year and the road was loaded with pickup trucks with tracking dogs. I did not venture too far off the main dirt road going through the Sods because I had no blaze orange with me and I look too much like a bear. Found a few cranberry bogs and places to explore for mushrooms should we ever have a wet August again. I am thinking the Boletus edulis or a similar species should grow under the red spruce. But the weather conditions have not been right in the 3 years I have been searching.
Eatmore T.
North Park, PA, September 20, 2008. The Eastern pattern of flood-drought continued at the Western PA Mushroom Club’s annual Gary Lincoff foray. There were several inches of rain a week before this foray. High winds dried the ground. As you can see below, the chanterelle display contains no mushrooms. They have been scarce in the Mid-Atlantic this year.
Pholiotas were found as well as some parasol mushrooms (not pictured). There may have been one maitake found in North Park. As usual, there was way too much food, much coming from harvests of seasons past. Pittsburgh cooking is heavily oriented towards modified dishes of the immigrants who labored in the city’s steel industry in its heyday. And Gary Lincoff was at his witty best. It’s a bit of an effort for me to get to Pittsburgh (actually, north of the city) for a one day foray in September, but this is probably one of the best bargains in mushroomland if you like this kind of thing.
Eatmore T.
These are some tasty fruit if you can get them. One of America’s native fruits, ripening in September in the Mid-Atlantic and in Michigan also I am told. I picked mine along the Potomac River. Not gonna say which state.
Eatmore T.
About 6 inches. We veer between flood and drought these days. Did it come too late? I don’t know yet. Stay tuned.
Eatmore T.
This story is from second-hand information. It may not be completely accurate. It probably is.
I was driving through Fredonia, NY and I spotted a fairy ring of Agaricus arvensis mushrooms on the lawn of a chiropractor’s office. I immediately drove up to the parking lot. Noticing that there were people in the office who had a good view of the lawn, I thought I should ask permission.
The chiropractor told me that I was welcome to have the mushrooms, but he warned me that someone else had picked one and taken it to the local extension agent, who told him it was poisonous. Apparently the extension agent thought it was poisonous due to the ring on the stalk. Huh? Agaricus arvensis is SUPPOSED to have a ring around the stalk.
I guess it’s better to err on the side of safety if you must err. It would be far worse if a deadly Amanita was identified as an edible Agaricus. It is possible that an Amanita was picked and taken in for identification. I found one amongst another patch of arvensis earlier, thus reinforcing the rule that one must identify each and every mushroom you pick. However, I believe it is more likely that the extension agent simply didn’t know mushrooms very well, but allowed his pride to get in the way of a simple “I don’t know” answer.
Eatmore T.
Agaricus arvensis
