Category Archives: Montana Mushrooms News

Montana Mushrooms News

Fly Agaric

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The Fly Agaric or Aminita muscaria is a mushroom with a rich history.

The Fly Agaric gets it common name from farmers putting them in milk or water to induce a stupor to the flies that consumed the liquid. It is in the Amanita family along with some deadly poisonous mushrooms like the Death Cap, (Amanita phalloids), and the Destroying or Death Angel(Amanita ocreata).

They are fairly common and fun to find. Until I started finding them, I thought they only existed in fairy tales and kitchen decor.

They are the most used image in mushrooms, but most people think they are mythical!

This mushroom also has the most written about it of any mushroom I have researched. Mushroom identification books list it as anything from edible to poisonous. There are stories of Siberians using it for rituals, to likening the colors of Santa clause and Christmas to the famous mushroom. I surely would not eat this mushroom, and do not recommend it to anyone. The poisonous varieties of the Amanita family cause painful deaths as they attack and destroy the liver.

There is plenty to read about this mushroom and plenty of opinions. I just like to find it in the woods as there is a kind of mystical appeal to it. I have found them growing in a circle ranging in size from little unopened buttons to saucer sized caps. When they are large, they are hard to miss! Anytime I find one kind of mushroom, I know the conditions are right for other types.

Montana Mushrooms News, Wild Foraging

Boletes

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The King Bolete, or Boletus edulis is a treat when you can find them!

This has become my favorite wild mushroom to eat. They are tasty and can be quite large, although I prefer them about the size of this little fella. The king is sometimes hard to find and cannot be relied upon every year. Most of us that are hooked on this mushroom usually pick all we can…eat all we can…and dry the rest for another day.

 

 

Sometimes if you are lucky you can find a lot of food with this mushroom. You can eat them rehydrated in the winter, while thinking about when you found them. This mushroom keeps very well if dried and stored properly.

So learn this mushroom, the same way I did, through the books. Your closest friends probably won’t show them to you!

Montana Mushrooms News, Wild Foraging

Forays

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Going on an organized foray is a good way to learn identification. They usually have an expert to help id mushrooms, and other mycophiles at different stages. The group is able to really cover an area and find lots of variety. The mycologist then identifies the finds and someone logs them.

My first organized foray was with Larry Evans, the guru from Missoula with the WMMA (fungaljungal.org). We found edibles even in October and quite a bit of variety. I was hooked on learning as many mushrooms as I could. The ones I have attended since then have always been worth the time. Larry has taught me many tricks to learning mushrooms, but I have a long way to go!

If you get the chance to go on an organized foray, give it a try. You will learn about identification and meet other mycophiles. We will post forays here as they become available.

Cultivation, Montana Mushrooms News, Wild Foraging

Mushroom Patches

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Mushroom hunting, or harvesting, is all about the patches that you find or grow. Once you find some good places that mushrooms grow, you have a (hopefully) private patch. Patches have obvious advantages because you have found or placed mushrooms there, so you have a better chance of finding mushrooms than wandering around the woods. Don’t get me wrong, I love to wander around the woods!

So you have your patch, and if you are careful you can harvest it for years. I also have found that patchs or mushroomy places sometimes produce several types of mushrooms at different times. Another handy thing about known patches, is they tell you when to wander about looking for new patches. If Oysters are flushing in your known spot, you are likely to find new sources when searching in the woods. I also keep my eye on some patches in town that I won’t eat for a variety of reasons. These patches tell me when my hidden mushroom patches, that are harder to get to, are ready to check.

This brings up an earlier topic of cultivating stump mushrooms, and watching them to indicate when their wild cousins are ready to check . I think this is an excellent way to know when to look for wild mushrooms and helps with identification of the wild cousin. Once you have grown Oysters you will know them in the wild.

Cultivation, Montana Mushrooms News

Stump Mushrooms

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I can not walk by a stump without thinking, that stump could be growing mushrooms. Stumps are the most under utilized substrate (material) for growing mushrooms that I see. Choosing the right mushroom for the stump is important, but many mushrooms will grow on a variety of stumps. Cottonwood stumps in particular will host a wide variety of mushrooms. The mushroom consumes the stump and the root system, and mushrooms can be harvested for years on a seasonal basis. The root system gives a place for the mycelium to hide in bad weather, and a place to get moisture for fruiting when the weather is ripe for the flush.

It bothers me to see stumps ground up, pulled out of the ground, or chemically removed, when they could be inoculated. Food can be harvested for years, and the stump is reduced to great soil for planting. When included with inoculation of the tree material removed, food can be harvested from a process that usually involves a lot of waste, and filling of our landfills.

Good candidates are oysters for hardwoods, and conifer corals for conifers. Inoculation can be with dowels or various spawns. This is another great way that mushrooms can help reduce waste while providing a usable product.