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After unusually worm weather all of a sudden the first frost showed up in Southern Ontario. There was even some snow in area surrounding Toronto and Hamilton. Practically we skipped period of cool nights and pleasant days. I think this weather development surprised some of the late fall mushroom species, especially Late Fall Oyster (Panellus serotinos). There is a great number of small and starting mushrooms around, but almost no mature and fully developed ones. The time will tell if frost will prevent further growth of the budding mushrooms. The interesting fact is that freezing changes deep green color of this mushroom to yellow-tan tones. I know from experience that freezing does not bother Oyster mushroom too much and I did eat them after thawing. There is no noticeable difference in taste or texture. I also noticed several bunches of Brick Top mushroom solidly frozen. According to literature, this species is supposed to be less common than S ulfur Cap  (posonous) or Hypoloma ca

Some rainy days and over night temperatures in the low tens - started to feel like October.  The weather is perfect for Blewits and they are around with some slug damage, but bug infestation is minimal. This is a great time to enjoy fresh Blewits (cooked, of course). With some patience you can collect enough for drying or pickling. As October progresses there is more and more fallen leafs in deciduous wood, making it hard to spot even bright colored mushrooms. At this time I tend to concentrate mainly on the coniferous woods.   From now on the Tricholomas take over and show up in great fairy rings. Rings in coniferous woods are easily visible and quite impressive, but hard to catch in the photography. The most common one in this area is probably Tricholoma virgatum. I am not interested too much in Genus Tricholoma although some highly sought mushroom are found in it (e.g. Tricholoma magnivelare ). The grey Tricholomas are yet to show up. Various Suillus species are quite abundant. Th

This recipe was slightly modified from a recipe I found on cookpad Japan - a great site..... This is a hit in our house. No wonder the Japanese call it the "dancing mushroom!" So great.... Ingredients 2 cup dry or 1lb. of fresh maitake mushrooms 2 tbsp mentsuyu for marinade 2 tbsp oil 2 tbsp rice flour 2 cup rice (sushi type) 1 tbsp sesame seeds 2 hot peppers (optional) Cook the rice. While it's cooking, tear your maitake into strips and marinate in mentsuyu with sliced peppers. Simple recipe for mentsuyu is on cookpad as well. Marinate mushrooms for 30 minutes. Mix in rice flour - will be sticky. Pour mixture into hot pan with oil and fry like a pancake. When brown and crispy, flip. Remove to a board and chop well. Then mix well into your cooked rice. Add some sesame seeds on top.   [caption id="attachment_3151" align="alignnone" width="663"] Maitake (dancing) mushroom. I read that when the Japanese find it in the woo

Seems like I dismissed warm weather a little too early. Today expected daily high is 27°C! The forecast is still factoring in humidex! In the woods the fall change is well under way. I guess trees are reacting to calendar as much as couple of cold nights. The colors are amazing. All the shades of green, yellow, brown and red are present. On the floor of the woods big flourish of Honey Mushrooms has passed. There are still some around but big clumps are gone. At this time they are frequently infested by bugs. I found numerous traces of heavy harvesting. Blewits are showing in numbers. As usual they are forming partial or full fairy rings. Due to worm weather some of them are still buggy. This is excellent edible, definitely one of my favorites. Blewit color can vary greatly and it is not recommended for the beginners. For me the odor is one of the main characteristics for recognition. [caption id="attachment_3115" align="alignnone" width="663"] Clitocybe n

The weather in South West Ontario turned into the Fall pattern. Cold nights and fresh, sunny days. This will be a signal for Tricholomas to start and fruit in great numbers. Other cold weather mushrooms  ( Late Fall Oyster , Blewit , Brick Cap ) already started  shyly. The Honey Mushroom had some spectacular growth this year. It was (and still is) present everywhere. [caption id="attachment_3083" align="alignnone" width="663"] Honey Mushroom prime for picking[/caption]   Consequently, Aborted Entoloma was also strongly present. Personally, I am not a big fan of Honey Mushroom. Some people compress the whole mushrooming season  in several days of harvesting great quantities of Honey Mushroom. I presume they are dried or pickled. At some spots traces of heavy harvesting are quite obvious. My search for Maitakes this season was almost completely futile. I was only finding sad traces of harvested mushrooms at the base of oak trees. It is unusual to see big f

It came to my attention that about year ago there was serious mushroom poisoning in Canada ( see Fulminant hepatic failure following ingestion of wild mushrooms ) ending with liver transplant. I am sure that it is quite easy to avoid any possible poisoning just following some simple rules and common sense. If you are not 100% sure what you are collecting DO NOT EAT IT ! This simple rule is applicable to everybody, from total ignoramuses and novices to the highest field experts. Simple: IF IN DOUBT THROW IT OUT!! Now, after reading through several field guides, watching numerous Youtube videos and leafing through hundreds of mushroom images on the Internet you feel ready to go out there and pick some mushrooms. Do not do it. learn from experienced person and in the woods; never do identifications on the basis of images only After you gain some experience and confidently can recognize a handful of edibles and some poisonous mushrooms stay away from several Genera: Tricholoma, Co

This soup is delicious. Serves 4-6 people. Ingredients 4 oz of hericium mushroom [ Hericium americanum ("Bear's-head tooth") or  Hericium coralloides ("Comb tooth"; "coral spine fungus") can be used] 4 cups of water 3 green onions chopped thinly 2 tsp butter 2 tbsp sake 3 tbsp miso paste handful of chopped tofu (small squares) pinch of red pepper flakes piece of dried kombu seaweed (for dashi) handful of dried shaved tuna or skipjack  (bonito flakes)   Method Make dashi from kombu (Japanese stock) Bring 4 cups of water to gentle boil. Add a slice of kombu.  Lower heat.  After 5 minutes, remove kombu with tongs and add bonito flakes.  Simmer for a few minutes and then drain stock through cheese-cloth. Slice hericium into thin slices. Saute in pan with butter and pepper flakes on medium high heat until water evaporates and mushrooms are lightly browned. Add to stock, along with tofu, green onions and sake. Turn off heat. I

At the end of day I decided to go and check one of spruce groves that I rarely visit. It is couple of acres of quite young spruce, obviously planted with rows still visible on the ground. Entering the woods I did not see any mushrooms. It is not easy to move through young spruce. A lot of bending and pushing of the branches is involved. After advancing some 50 meters with no results I decided to leave. At the last moment I noticed lonely Safron Milkcap and ventured a little further. When I squatted down and looked along the ground I discovered a huge patch covered with mushrooms. A little further there was another one, and another one.  This is what guides call "growing gregariously". It seemed that I missed " Mushrooming Window " a little bit. Most of the mushrooms were mature specimens of considerable size and already funnel shaped. When I checked even the mature specimens were totally bug free and in pristine shape. I estimate that within one hour it was possibl