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The sudden cold snap in Southern Ontario introduced deep minus overnight temperatures. I think that will mark the end of blewitts, shaggy parasols, orange milkies and other mushrooms. Tricholomas will probably proliferate after the frost. Unfortunately none of them are on my list of edibles. Too many similar gray species and some are known to be causing severe gastric upset. The mushroom that I look forward to pick is late fall oyster ( Panellus serotinus ).  It is very good edible, greatly under valued and neglected. It will be very hard to find any sources with information about cooking this mushroom. They grow exclusively on logs and trees. If they are on the live tree, it usually means that it is dying. It greatly prefers older logs with still some bark on them. The size can vary, but cap rarely grows more then 7-8 cm. Color is mainly shades of dark green but can turn tan and yellowish if frozen or growing in the some hole. The gills are dirty yellow-tan and quite dense. Frequently

It is hard to walk through any wooded area or neighborhood in  Southern Ontario in the Fall without spotting green balls on the floor. This is the  black walnut , belonging to a tree species native to North America.  Walnuts are a tasty treat, but harvesting and processing requires a lot of work. This year, the crop seems to be extremely abundant. Here are several facts that are good to keep in mind if you decide to harvest some walnuts: walnuts are ready to harvest if your finger leaves an indentation on the green husk the green husk contains natural herbicides and it is not really suitable for compost (although oxidation fairly quickly neutralizes that chemical) green husk leaves yellow stains, so gloves are mandatory the green husk is poisonous to horses and dogs blackened and rotting husks do not affect the quality of the nut the black walnut tree fruits every two years it is not advisable to harvest directly from the tree; wait for fruit to fall on the floor T