It’s funny, wine caps are supposed to be pretty easy. Yes, in that past I have tried multiple types of bed and log culture. None of the beds did well here. Oyster and shitake log culture work pretty good though. Some day I well likely get back into that.
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Good post on the different chanterelles. I have only found the cinnabar one time. I have found the black a few times up in the mountains. I dried some but never did eat any because I wasn’t positive, although when you know a chanterelle is a chanterelle there is no real mistaking it. The blacks are really dark here, like charcoal.
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All these giant mushrooms keep popping up in my yard. I wonder what species they are. I’ve never seen such big mushrooms before.
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They look like a puffball similar to what wd het here. Are there smaller ones?
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I didn’t see any smaller ones. I preciously cut one open, and it was solid on the inside and white in color. Couldn’t see any gills of any sort.
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Check this thread Fall Mushrooms 2019 they look very similar to puffbals here at my location.
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Puffball. Edible so long as they’re solid and white inside. If turning yellow/green, etc., discard…may not be toxic, but eill not taste good.
Slice like bread and sautee in butter. Mmm.
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Thanks guys for the help IDing! They are very hefty mushrooms. It would be great if they are edible.
I think it’s this particular puffball, purple-spored Puffball ( Calvatia cyathiformis)
mushroom-collecting.com/mushroompuffball.html
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Can anyone tell me if this is really Hen of the Wood? They are about a foot wide and growing in an area near where a large maple was cut down 4-5 years ago. For the last few years I’ve been chucking them when mowing the lawn, but posted a picture in another thread and PharmerDrewee thought they might be HOTW, which from what I understand is not only good to eat but actually sought after.
The one one the bottom right was flipped over, so you can see the bottom. I think the one one the bottom left was also moved.
These average about a foot wide, maybe a bit more.
Is there anything I should look for to confirm their identity with more confidence?
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They do look like hen of the woods. @Johnnysapples i know you harvest this type whats the best way to easily identify them?
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The fronds on hen of the woods are delicate, that appears to be a Berkeley’s polypore. The time of year is suspect also. Hens are fairly reliable showing up around the first week of October here, it could be a little sooner for you since it is a bit cooler there, but it still seems too early to me.
In the wild, Bondarzewia mesenterica fruiting bodies fan out in large undulating semi-circular fronds, its fuzzy surface zoned with many shades of brown (Fig 1). The pore layer below is thick (2-3mm), with pores irregularly shaped and soft, in texture resembling the russuloid gills to which they are related (Figs 2 - 4). The pore layer of Bondarzewia is deeper, more elongated and angular than that of Grifola frondosa which has a thinner (1-2mm) pore layer, and smaller, more tightly organized, pores. Most obviously, Grifola frondosa forms more numerous, smaller and drab grey-brown fronds, 2-6 cm across (Fig 5), while Bondarzewia forms fewer large fronds, 7-12 cm across, in more colorful shades of brown with tinges of purple and orange. Under the microscope, Bondarzewia spores are round with distinctive amyloid ornamentation (darkening to purple when stained with iodine) unlike the oval, smooth spores of the true maitake, Grifola frondosa
https://namyco.org/bondarzewia.php
Or it could be a black staining polypore, but they are usually stained black by the time they reach that size.
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The puffballs and wine caps are up in southern Michigan. I found a bunch of old wine caps under decorative grasses when I was trimming the grass. I always pull up winecaps and throw them under woodchips in random spots.
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I’m finding winecaps we planted(?) in spring. I thought they were duds and weren’t going to come up. Something has been getting to them though- the area they are sprouting in has been dug up. There’s been a possum around at night, I wonder if they eat mushrooms.
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Interesting. We have loads of possums and every other critter, but nothing really bothers the wine caps. They get bug infested in warmer weather, though. Everything is local. My uncle has deer devour pumpkins, but our deer won’t touch pumpkins.
It could just be my chickens making a mess of things as they’re so good at. They may not be targeting the mushrooms and eating them but just scratching.
I cut down an Illinois Everbearing Mulberry, well down to about 14 inches, and have 3 good heavy logs. Each one is 8-10 inches in diameter (it was a very healthy happy tree) and 3-4 feet long.
I went into Detroit looking for the mushroom people at Eastern Market, hoping to find dowel spawn. Sadly the first employee I spoke to had no idea what I was talking about. Another employee came over and said they normally only have straw spawn but don’t bother making or bringing any except in spring.
Anyone ever grow mushrooms in mulberry? My thought was oyster mushrooms, but only because these seem to be the easiest to source… I haven’t seen dowel spawn anywhere but online, though.
Scott
I don’t know what would grow on mulberry, but I know the wood is very dense. It makes great wood for turning on the lathe, knobs, small handles, etc… Oyster mushrooms usually grow on softer woods, but I have heard of some success with oysters on mulberry.
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