Gosh, what a month...and it's not over yet!
We spent the first 10 days of October in the air and on the road, flying to Washington, DC to participate in the Rural Wealth Creation and Livelihoods Conference (which was supported by a grant from the USDA and by the Ford Foundation), then renting a car and driving to Atlantic City (We'd heard so much about Atlantic City that we just couldn't resist spending a day there, and even found fungi growing in a parking lot - see photograph below.), Cleveland's Rock & Roll Museum (Two days was barely enough time to see the incredible exhibits and watch the beautifully done videos!), visiting dear friends Sherry and Zhihao (Thank you for such great hospitality!), and driving thru the Allegheny and Shenandoah Mountains (The fall colors were at their absolute peak!). What a great adventure!
Coral Hydnum: One of our October treasures.
While we were out touring parts of the USA, substantial rains came to Curry County. In fact, one resident reported that a 6" rain gauge completely filled with water during the 3 days of rain. It had been months since we'd had any precipitation worthy of note, and we were overjoyed to hear that the forest floor was properly soaked. We could almost hear the mushrooms popping up!
Upon our return, a quick foray in Port Orford netted us a respectable collection of primarily white chanterelles, although not as many as we would have anticipated based on the rain that supposedly fell in our absence. We also observed some lovely boletes, but when we cut open the caps, we found that they were quite infested.
Elsewhere in Curry County, the king boletes are beginning to fruit. We found several kings that were fully opened, with caps spreading as much as 10 inches, but, here again, the caps were fully inhabited with wiggly critters. On the other hand, we also examined several smaller boletes that were in their prime. As you might expect, these went straight into the dehydrator to preserve their quality.
We've not visited our friendly mushroom buyer, Jake, yet this season. However, during our several drives through Coos Bay, we've noticed that Jake and the other mushroom buyers always seem to have a number of vehicles parked outside their buildings, leading us to conclude that the professional pickers are experiencing some good fortune. Good for them!
A trip up to our cabin on Mt. Hood last week allowed us to visit a couple of our favorite mushroom patches, which range in elevation from 2,000-4,000 feet. Once again, Steven proved himself worthy of the title "Mushroom King" (Oh, please! You flatter me! - ST) when he collected a picture-perfect cauliflower and a coral hydnum, both of which are personal favorites. We also gathered some white chanterelles. Quite honestly, we were a little surprised at the forest floor (the vegetation and the type and quantity of mushrooms), which looked more like what we would have expected to find the first part of October, rather than the middle of October. Needless to say, we're planning another trip up to Mt. Hood in the next couple of weeks, when we expect that the white chanterelles and the matsutakes will be more abundant. A little rain would help.
Our impression is that Fall is late this year, or at least the natural world thinks it is. For example, on October 19th, the Tamarack trees had hardly changed color at all, and the Viny Maples hadn't yet come close to their full color. In most years, both would be at their peak. With a late spring, everything seems to be a couple of weeks late. So, the fact that we didn't find nearly the quantity of mushrooms we thought we would isn't cause for concern... at least, not yet.
Our Birch Boletes were all in their prime.
And, finally, on our return trip from Mt. Hood, we made a brief stop at our usual Salem birch bolete spot. In spite of the fact that the grassy strip where we usually find the boletes in profusion had been recently mowed, we were still able to gather boletes - young, perfectly formed specimens which filled 2 dehydrator trays. Birch boletes are always a delightful discovery.
All in all, it looks like we're in for another great mushrooming season...wouldn't you agree?
Polypore near the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City