A-mushrooming we shall go!
A revisit of a previous blog post, because it’s really just THAT GOOD! It’s mushrooming season here on the Mendocino Coast!
A darling little duo, even if they weren’t edible.
In case you weren’t aware, mushroom season has begun! We’ve had several good bouts of rain lately, and the forest floor has begun to burst with fungi of all shapes and sizes. Just go on a walk right now through almost any of the local trails like Russian Gulch or Van Damme, and you’ll see what I mean. It’s such an interesting, beautiful array of colors and forms! Now, while it wouldn’t be a good idea to eat most of the mushrooms you’ll see out and about on your walk, there are quite a few that are tasty enough to draw the passionately enthusiastic foragers amongst us out into the woods every chance they get this time of year.
Ready for a woodland adventure!
A few of us here at the inn decided to join in the spirit of the season and see if we could discover some edible mushrooms of our own this past week. We met up at the inn, chatting excitedly as we pulled wicker baskets out of our trunks and laced up our boots, ready to dive into the wet and muddy woods. We hopped the split rail fence surrounding the inn’s parking lot and headed out into the part of Jackson Demonstration Forest that abuts our property.
A perfectly charming scene. (sadly, not edible)
This one was violet!! (but not edible…)
And this one had such lovely, violet gills. (also not edible)
As soon as we entered the first stand of trees, our eyes were glued to the ground, casting about in search of fungi – and there were SO MANY mushrooms! They were everywhere. Little bright red balls popping out from under dead leaves, miniscule caramel-colored caps sprouting from a bed of fern-like moss, violet-tinged beauties with wavy edges, a darling white-fringed trio tucked beneath the nodding branches of some woodland bush… Our guide Carrie, who grew up foraging with her family here on the coast, started showing us the various distinguishing parts of the mushrooms we were seeing. Nothing so far was actually edible, but she still took the opportunity to explain the differences between the many fungi at our feet. Was the stalk solid or hollow? Did it break cleanly, or was it fibrous? What did the gills on the underside of the cap look like? Was the cap slimy or dry? What color(s) were the cap and gills? She pointed out the spreading matt of mycelium just underneath the surface of the ground that the mushrooms we saw were sprouting from.
Ooey gooey Witch’s Butter, which some foragers use to make jelly candies.
After another stop to learn about the edible, gelatinous Witch’s Butter growing from an old stump, we turned aside from the rough utility road we had been following and made our way out into the pathless woods. This was new ground for all of us, our guide Carrie included, so we weren’t sure what we would be able to find (or even if we would find anything at all!), but we were out on an adventure.
Check out these beautiful Artist’s Conchs. Hard and woody, they were definitely not on our list of fungi to nibble on, but they were still cool.
Like little kids, we investigated “shrumps” to see what hidden mushrooms were bursting their way out through the layers of fallen leaves. We admired an old fir snag covered in moss and the shelf-like Artist’s Conch. We discussed the health benefits of Usnea, or the Old Man’s Beard lichen streaming down from many of the branches around us. We happily nibbled on the lovely, white Toothed Jellies that were abundant everywhere we turned. We oohed and aahed over the spindly fingers of bright orange Coral Mushroom just beginning to grow in a sheltered grove.
Wow. Take a look at this beautiful Pig’s Ear mushroom we found nestled on the forest floor.
We had been winding around salal bushes and through low hanging branches of tan bark oak for a little while, when suddenly the first gal in our group let out a delighted shriek and stood pointing down until the others of us caught up. She had found a Pig’s Ear! Part of the highly-prized Chanterelle family of mushrooms, Pig’s Ears can be quite delicious when younger… but are often riddled with maggots when they get too big. Yuck. This particular specimen was on the bigger side, and none of us particularly wanted to deal with maggots, so after passing it around and admiring its delicate details, we decided to let it remain a part of the forest floor. It was still exciting though! Our first big edible find.
Discussing the different parts and merits of the Pig’s Ear.
This tiny little guy (not edible) was intriguingly woody yet still incredibly delicate.
From here we decided to circle back around to the utility road. After what seemed an hour of picking our way through veritable thickets of salal and climbing over more downed logs that we could remember, we were all starting to feel hungry and wishing we had brought more water. Once we finally crossed the path of the utility road though and made our way into the more open woods on the other side, we were once again lost in the wonder of even MORE mushrooms. Seriously, they were everywhere. At one point, we were engrossed in discovering how big an emerging patch of orange Coral Mushrooms was going to be (too small to gather), only to realize that we had sat down on several beautiful little White Coral Mushrooms (also too young yet). AND we were right next to what may or may not have been a river of Candy Caps. So many mushrooms.
An adorable baby white Coral Mushroom. We decided to let it grow another week or two before coming back to harvest it.
We finally emerged from the woods in the meadow across from the inn’s entrance. We hadn’t found enough edibles to fill our baskets, but we were happy. We had been on an adventure. We had learned a little more about the wonders of the woods. We had gotten a little taste of the joy that inspires the passionate enthusiasm of the dedicated mushroom forager, and we were ready for more!
Who’s ready to join us on our next adventure????
Our small but very excited foraging group: Zoe, Carrie, and Laura.
Go on a Mushroom Foraging expedition with Carrie when you’re at the inn this winter. Make sure to wear good boots and clothes that you are ok getting wet/dirty/grubby. Pack a snack and plenty of water.
Words and pictures by Laura Hockett