It's the middle of November, and yet the days are consistently warm and wonderful. At 1:30 PM today the temperature's in the mid-60s, and the wind speed (Here at Port Orford, normally the windiest point on the Oregon coast!) measures 0.0 on our weather station. Shirt sleeve weather is the only way to describe it. It certainly makes it easy to head for the mushroom fields when the weather conditions are this favorable!
Yesterday's foray into the reserve revealed a world where mushrooms are still king. Golden chanterelles were the order of the day, but there were many other fungi fruiting as well.
The foray was spurred by curiosity more than anything else. We were curious as to what might be happening in our traditional hedgehog (Hydnum repandum) patch. We didn't expect to find hedgehogs because we usually don't encounter them until after the first freeze. However, we certainly didn't expect to find a collection of white chanterelles and yellow feet (Craterellus tubaeformis) in the hedgehog patch, either. Typically, yellow feet show up in the reserve well after the first freeze.
Not all mushrooms are choice edibles.
Some mushrooms are simply lovely photo opportunities!
Another example of this surprise element occurred earlier in the week as I was driving down our old logging road to join up with Highway 101. When I spotted 3 chanterelles growing just off to the side of the road, I brought the car to an immediate stop, climbed out of the driver's seat, and cut the specimens muttering something like "they'll be perfect for dinner tonight and tomorrow and tomorrow." They were as big as dinner plates. Just imagine - their combined total weight when cleaned and trimmed was 2 pounds!
Yesterday's foray was shortened a bit when a friend called and requested us to drop by her home in Port Orford. There were mushrooms growing in the woods near her home, she reported, and she wanted us to help her identify them, hoping that they could be golden chanterelles.
We started off the visit with a bit of basics about chanterelles. After all, the best wild mushroomers are the most knowledgeable. We believe that when we provide mushroom identification for people that we have a moral obligation to leave them with enough information so that they can identify that particular mushroom in the future without our assistance.
Our friend turned out to be a first-rate student. She positively identified these specific mushrooms as NOT being golden chanterelles and was able to state the reasons why they were not. Knowledge is power.
We followed up with a short walk through her woods, finding a substantial quantity of mushrooms, including some perfect admirable boletes (boletus mirabilis) which provided another opportunity for education. For example, when first eating a new variety of wild mushroom, consume only a limited amount to ensure that it agrees with you. Consume only one new variety at a time. Then, of course, we talked about how to preserve boletes and how to cook them. Knowledge really is power.
Thanks for the phone call, dear friend. It's always fun and rewarding to share our mushroom passion!
You have to keep your eyes open in the woods. We must have
walked by this cauliflower several times before noticing it!