cab
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Saint Georges Mushrooms... Anyone found any yet?This is the weekend... This is when I hope to find my first ones. I've had a couple of reports of them appearing elsewhere in the country, and this weekend I'm going to check out all my regular spots for them.
Anyone found any yet?
My own report of this weeks forage will appear here after the weekend... Wish me luck...
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Behemoth
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What sort of environment are they usally found in?
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Bugs
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Good luck!
Haven't looked much yet, we do know some pasture (according to your Wild Foods in April article being the place to look) but might not get a chance to try this weekend. That's a patch of common, grazed some of the time by rare breed sheep, where last year we found lawn puffballs (I think..or meadow?) and field mushrooms aplenty. But it's chalk again. Does that sound likely or not?
Course not that it matters because you know me, I'll have to get out the cross and holy water, and have a sleepless night if TD tries them. But I would take pics
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cab
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Behemoth wrote: | What sort of environment are they usally found in? |
Around field edges, near hedges, good pasture, but I've had them from around rugby pitches, aropund woodland edges, etc.
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cab
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Bugs wrote: | But it's chalk again. Does that sound likely or not?
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It's worth a shot. If there are agaricus there and puffballs then why not? Try looking around trees on your pasture, by fences and around the edges. They form rings, and you can often spot the rings from a distance.
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nettie
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Nothing yet here Cab, am off to look tomorrow morning.
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cab
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Picked three or four good handfulls of really small St. Georges on Saturday. Very tasty they were too. We're into the season now- watch out for them.
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Bugs
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Well, we went out for a couple of hours last night to our most likely - in our mind - place - looking for these on the grass and the edges, and morels in the sandier bits, among the conifers and the woodchipped paths...but nuffink! We did find a type of wood sorrel (oxalis?) that I've yet to look up...and some woodruff, and wild onions of some sort, but haven't hit the books yet so that's all I can say.
A few ex-ink-cap-alikes and something narsty in the woodchips was all the fungi going on
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mochyn
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We looked yesterday on an exposed pasture with woodland edges, but no luck so far. We'll try again next weekend, when, hopefully, there won't have been a -5C frost the night before!
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Richy Rich
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Surely everyone is aware of me munching St Georges in Coventry... the ring where I picked them from is now BIGGER with about 15 of the blighters...
Its still Morels that I am after though.
Rich
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boff
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what am i looking for ?
any one got a piccy?
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Bugs
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Ooh, main site is back up, good timing - there's a description and links to pics on Cab's April Wild Foods article
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Lloyd
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I think these are they, just come back from wood........Anyone know what the big fella is?....Can I eat him?
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Richy Rich
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Madman -
DO NOT TAKE MY WORD AS GOSPEL... DYOR (Do your own research)
The small white ones in the container look suspiciously like St Georges to me ....
No idea on the biggun....!
Calling CAB!!!
Richy.
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cab
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Madman, as far as I can tell (it's always dodgy picking these things out without getting them in your hand) the white ones are St. Georges mushrooms. The big brown one looks like a dryads saddle (Polyporus squamosus), which I presume was growing on the side of a tree or a dead bit of wood?
If it is, it's edible, but by the time it's as big as that one it's somewhat tough, and not really all that pleasant any more.
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Lloyd
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Yes, it was growing out of a dead log. There are smaller ones too. Suddenly the wood is alive with wild food!
Masses of Jews Ears, also those little orange/red cups, ground elder, colts foot, horse mushrooms, .....Birds, beasts, you name it!!
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cab
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Madman wrote: | Yes, it was growing out of a dead log. There are smaller ones too. Suddenly the wood is alive with wild food!
Masses of Jews Ears, also those little orange/red cups, ground elder, colts foot, horse mushrooms, .....Birds, beasts, you name it!! |
Hmmm... Shropshire, eh?
I think we're about a week and a half to two weeks behind you. The only dryads saddle I found at the weekend was tiny (tasty, though), and the horse mushroom rings are pronounced but bare at the moment. The St. Georges shrooms were tiny compared with the ones you picked.
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Lloyd
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Well, my wood is very sheltered, and extremely wet. The water table is only about six inches below the surface, and the soil is humus rich peat.
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tahir
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Madman wrote: | Masses of Jews Ears, also those little orange/red cups, ground elder, colts foot, horse mushrooms, .....Birds, beasts, you name it!! |
Be great to have photos for the glossary if you can
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Treacodactyl
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One little tip MM, trim the base of the shrooms before adding them to the basket if you're going to eat them. Cuts down on the cleaning time in the kitchen.
Do the St. Georges smell 'mealy'?
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nettie
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A friend of mine advised me to always cut mushrooms rather than pulling them up whole, to prevent damage to the mycelium. It's cleaner too!
Is this right, Cab?
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Treacodactyl
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From the people we've met leading foraging days there seems to be a mix of 'slicers' and 'twisters'. I tend to slice to avoid damage to near by fungi but you cannot always carry a small knife these days.
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Lloyd
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Treacodactyl wrote: |
Do the St. Georges smell 'mealy'? |
Mine just smell of mushrooms, really. Mealy!
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Treacodactyl
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Madman wrote: | Treacodactyl wrote: |
Do the St. Georges smell 'mealy'? |
Mine just smell of mushrooms, really. Mealy! |
Ah, I was going to ask what 'mealy' smelt like. Did you try them then?
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cab
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I'm a twister, it isn't my impression that causes any damage.
As for 'mealy', it's more pronounced as the season progresses. I can't really describe it any other way, other than being what St. Georges smell like.
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Treacodactyl
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cab wrote: | I'm a twister, it isn't my impression that causes any damage. |
When I've had mushroom kits I found when I twisted I some times get a few baby ones come away.
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Lloyd
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Just went and gave them a good sniff....No scent at all. Not "mealy" as in starter, main course then pudding, then?
My bloomin mushroom kit was a waste of money...Not a sausage from it.
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sean
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Madman wrote: |
My bloomin mushroom kit was a waste of money...Not a sausage from it. |
If you wanted sausages, wouldn't a sausage kit (or pig, as I believe they're called) have been better?
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Lloyd
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I ended up buying the mushroom factory, (or Wood, as I believe its called!
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sean
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Fair enough.
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cab
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Madman wrote: | Just went and gave them a good sniff....No scent at all. Not "mealy" as in starter, main course then pudding, then?
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Mealy like a sack of grain is the best way to describe it.
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Lloyd
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Nope...zero smell. Maybe because they are in the fridge.
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cab
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Madman wrote: | Nope...zero smell. Maybe because they are in the fridge. |
The fridge won't help
It's more pronounced with older specimens; the ones you've got will be more kind of chickeny-mushroomy (as opposed to almondy-mushroomy, if you know what I mean).
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Platypus
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Just found these in the garden!
They are quite small, 3-4cm across, not very many of them and the slugs found them before I did.
But could they be St Georges?
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cab
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Platypus; they could be, but it's always hard to say from pictures. They will get extended stipes like that sometimes, but there's something else about them that doesn't look QUITE right.
It's especially hard to tell from a photo of mushrooms that have grown in an unusual spot, becase anything odd about the specimen can be as much down to that as anything else.
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Platypus
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cab,
The stipe of the one in closeup is actually longer than that of the others - it had to grow from under the blue ball.
They smell quite distinctly shroomy (I like that word - even if it isn't a real one ) a bit like chesnut mushrooms do when you open the clingfilm that the supermarkets like to wrap them in .
But I guess that's probably not the way you get them
Anyway, I don't have any plans to eat this batch. If however they put in a regular appearance I would be nice to get a positive ID.
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cab
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Platypus wrote: | cab,
The stipe of the one in closeup is actually longer than that of the others - it had to grow from under the blue ball.
They smell quite distinctly shroomy (I like that word - even if it isn't a real one ) a bit like chesnut mushrooms do when you open the clingfilm that the supermarkets like to wrap them in .
But I guess that's probably not the way you get them
Anyway, I don't have any plans to eat this batch. If however they put in a regular appearance I would be nice to get a positive ID. |
It would be handy to know for sure, wouldn't it?
Have you got a copy of Phillips?
And as for wrapping mushrooms in plastic, it's such a cullinary faux pas that I can't condone it. Flaming supermarkets
Reports of St.Georges mushrooms are coming in thick and fast now, they're appearing everywhere.
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Platypus
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No I've not got a copy of Phillips, is it the one you use?
I've looked on Rogers site, but I find his pictures aren't really comprehensive enough. They are good but I would be happier if there was plan, elevation and side views (I come from an engineering backround )
Now, if somebody could put together a 3D catalogue on the web, where you could rotate, pan and zoom..... WOW!
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tahir
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Platypus wrote: | Now, if somebody could put together a 3D catalogue on the web, where you could rotate, pan and zoom..... WOW! |
If you ever get the urge, we'd love to host it
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Platypus
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I often get the urge.....
But I doubt you'd want to post the results
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tahir
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nettie
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I found some mushrooms that look like the ones in the first pic - they smell like an ancient book! Is that what you'd call "mealy"?
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cab
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Like an ancient book... Yes, I'd say that's close.
As for Phillips, his book tends to give you a good view of all the identifying features you need. It isn't faultless, but it's the best one there is.
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nettie
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Sadly I won't get my hands on a copy till the weekend - I'll just dry 'em for now till I can check it out
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cab
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We took a saunter to our locak scrubby woods yesterday afternoon. Picked a good half basket or so of St. Georges shrooms, and enjoyed chicken and mushroom pie for dinner. Tonight it's sorrel soup (made with sorrel we picked on the way to the woods, along with some Jack by the Hedge for extra flavour), and leftover pie.
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mochyn
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I'm hungry now!
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Res
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Platypus wrote: | Now, if somebody could put together a 3D catalogue on the web, where you could rotate, pan and zoom..... WOW! |
Now that is something we could do in the glossary, eh Tahir
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Res
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Or at least plan, elevation and side views!
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cab
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When you get the knack for what identifying features you need to look at, books like Phillips do quite well for mushroom ID'ing. There's more to it than just looking at the picture, you're looking for textures, habitats, smells, and specific diagnostic features such as gill colour, presence or absence of ring, volva, spore print, etc. The picture itself is only part of it, and the best pictures for doing an ID are the ones showing the features you need.
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Richy Rich
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Cabs last post explains quite well how I was confident on my diagnosis of locating St Georges...
I wanted to re-iterate - when I try to ID a mushroom I use the following -:
1. Time of Year consistency.
2. Weather conditions.
3. Location of find (exposed? field? road side? tree?)
4. Picture of it for ID via web?
5. Cross reference with books...
If I decide to eat them - then I also tell poor wifey what I am doing and if any thing happens to me where the left over Mushrooms are so she can hand it to the doctor trying to resus me...!
In the past I have gone to the extreme of getting a spore print... basically get a white sheet of paper (if dark spores) and leave the cap of the shroom down on the page with a glass over it. After a night or so you are left with a fine print where the cap has been that are the spores.. I once found a bunch of what I thought were psilocybes and wanted to be sure and I think I was right because the spore came up as purple... so I was pretty happy that I had an id...
Richy...
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cab
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I'd say that spore prints are quite fundamental; the first thing I do with an unknown is go for a spore print. I might be able to do something with other identifying features, but a spore print is just essential. I keep a bit of white card and a bit of black, put the mushroom gills down half over both, and put a bowl on top. Doesn't take long.
Once you get to know a species it's less of an issue, of course.
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mochyn
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I totally agree on spore prints: vital. Also (and here speaks the designer) beautiful!
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Richy Rich
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I did have a microscope somewhere to be able to look at the spore prints... but how powerful does the microscope need to be?
Richy
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cab
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Richy Rich wrote: | I did have a microscope somewhere to be able to look at the spore prints... but how powerful does the microscope need to be?
Richy |
I don't use a microscope, I do a spore print to get the colour. Rarely do you really need to go to spore structure, and if you do, it ain't worth it.
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Bugs
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mochyn wrote: | I totally agree on spore prints: vital. Also (and here speaks the designer) beautiful! |
Aren't they? We've still got some pinned to our dartboard/noticeboard from last year, and I am strongly contemplating collecting some mushrooms this year solely to get some nicely arranged prints from.
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mochyn
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Hmmm... think I feel a new design of greetings card coming on...
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Mat S
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Huzah! Found some!I came home last night via a local crematorium / graveyard looking for some jack by the hedge and what was lurking in the grass? A nice bunch of St Georges shrooms. The mower had had a bit of a go at them but they went very nicely with venison sausages and mash when I got back.
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mochyn
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Found some yesterday evening a couple of fields away. Brought home a basketful and sliced them. They're now drying on the Rayburn and we'll be picking more at the weekend to make a mushroom and nettle top quiche. Duck eggs, creme fraiche, few herbs: yumm!
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Mat S
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mochyn wrote: | Found some yesterday evening a couple of fields away. Brought home a basketful and sliced them. They're now drying on the Rayburn and we'll be picking more at the weekend to make a mushroom and nettle top quiche. Duck eggs, creme fraiche, few herbs: yumm! |
Thanks for the idea. Dinner tonight was leek (mine) and mushroom (St Georges of course) omlette (local duck eggs) with a side order of swiss chard (mine and delicious). Looked and tasted great.
Need to find some more mushrooms now. Didn't pick all the ones I found on Weds but don't want to further deplete them.
Mat
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Bugs
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Would you expect the same patch to have several flushes of mushrooms in this case? Maybe there will be some more next time you go back?
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cab
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Bugs wrote: | Would you expect the same patch to have several flushes of mushrooms in this case? Maybe there will be some more next time you go back? |
In a good year, yes, you get two or three batches of St. Georges from a patch. It's best to leave some, though.
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Mat S
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Bugs wrote: | Would you expect the same patch to have several flushes of mushrooms in this case? Maybe there will be some more next time you go back? |
I'll probably pass by that way next week.
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Lloyd
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Madman wrote: | I think these are they, just come back from wood |
This area has now gone quite barmy with mushrooms: If I'd had a carrier with me, I could have picked two or three kilo's. Funnilly enough, thats's exactly what I intend to do. Can anyone please advise how one dries them, as I have far to many to eat in a practical time. Thanks.
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Lloyd
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And Mochyn, are those really MY duck eggs just been eaten?...or someone elses?....Can't believe they kept so well so long!
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Treacodactyl
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Well we've only found a small patch on a path which has always been great for fungi. They were just under a thin hedge. They look just like Phillips' photos and smelt sort of like old rice paper. We've not tried them as I'm still unsure and they were a bit old but fora whilte gilled mushroom they do look reasonably easy to identify.
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mochyn
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Loyd, you fool! I get them from a hennery near here! That is, until my own ducks arrive.
We dry shrooms over the Rayburn on a cooling rack. For ones as big as St George's I slice them about 1/2cm thick and spread them out. Takes about 24 hours if the stove isn't too hot. Overnight they can go on top of the hob cover, and when I'm cooking they go on top of the plate rack.
If you haven't got a Rayburn, what about in the airing cupboard? I think it would take a bit longer but it should work, I guess.
Are you coming to the Smallholders weekend at Builth?
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cab
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Madman wrote: | Can anyone please advise how one dries them, as I have far to many to eat in a practical time. Thanks. |
Sure. See here for advice on drying:
http://cabd0.tripod.com/cabsmushroompage/id9.html
(Bugs, do you think that with some fiddling about this would be a useful article for Downsizer?).
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Bugs
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Ooo arr, haven't you seen it's on my list, but I kept moving it forward because of all the other ones - I think this one's season has come though. Got any pics of your nice jars of dried mushrooms/fairy rings on a string etc, that would make a nice thumbnail?
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cab
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Bugs wrote: | Ooo arr, haven't you seen it's on my list, but I kept moving it forward because of all the other ones - I think this one's season has come though. Got any pics of your nice jars of dried mushrooms/fairy rings on a string etc, that would make a nice thumbnail? |
I can take some. Got a dozen shots or so in my film to use up. Then there's the pics that are already there.
I'll also add in something on pickling and salting, which isn't in the original article.
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Lloyd
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Brilliant. Cheers!
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nettie
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I've discovered that drying on trays makes any maggots crawl out as the mushrooms shrink!
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Treacodactyl
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nettie wrote: | I've discovered that drying on trays makes any maggots crawl out as the mushrooms shrink! |
And you can dry them and have protein sprinkles for adding a twist to your fav dishes.
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nettie
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