Esther queried:
How do mushrooms feel about acid soil?
----------------------------------------
They don't like it, not one little bit.
One "folklore" cure for mushrooms (for those inclined to rid their lawns of
them) is to spray a 50/50 mix of water & lemon juice or vinegar upon them.
- Tera.
I dono why I don't see more mushrooms. You would think, with my woodsy yard
that I would have quite a few but I hardly ever see one. And, I don't see them
on my regular hikes much, either. How do mushrooms feel about acid soil?
Esther
Have you had a good rain lately? That should bring out any that might
be around. Sometimes you have to get down close and dirty to see some
of the tiny, fairy-like types. These puffballs are the first big ones
I've ever found. I wasn't even looking for them. I happened to notice
them as I was driving across campus. I had to use my raincoat to
gather them in!
Lee Ann
Lee Ann Reiners
Please respond to Gardens & Gardening
To: GARDENS@LSV.UKY.EDU
cc: (bcc: Esther Czekalski/US/BULL)
Subject: Re: edible mushrooms
Have you had a good rain lately? That should bring out any that might
be around. Sometimes you have to get down close and dirty to see some
of the tiny, fairy-like types. These puffballs are the first big ones
I've ever found. I wasn't even looking for them. I happened to notice
them as I was driving across campus. I had to use my raincoat to
gather them in!
Lee Ann
> I dono why I don't see more mushrooms. You would think, with my woodsy yard
> that I would have quite a few but I hardly ever see one. And, I don't see
them
Yes, actually, I think we are caught up with rain right now. For some reason,
west of Boston we got a bit more rain than Boston did and we've have a couple of
very rainy weekends lately. I used to have/see Mushrooms in Michigan. In fact
I had a mushroom ring on my front lawn for most of one summer. I finally gave
in to the neighbors hints that the fact that it was so visible was because the
rest of my lawn was so nitrogen deprived and fertilized the lawn. Mushrooms
were still there but harder to discern the "magic ring".
Esther
Lee Ann Reiners
Please respond to Gardens & Gardening
To: GARDENS@LSV.UKY.EDU
cc: (bcc: Esther Czekalski/US/BULL)
Subject: Re: edible mushrooms
Have you had a good rain lately? That should bring out any that might
be around. Sometimes you have to get down close and dirty to see some
of the tiny, fairy-like types. These puffballs are the first big ones
I've ever found. I wasn't even looking for them. I happened to notice
them as I was driving across campus. I had to use my raincoat to
gather them in!
Lee Ann
> I dono why I don't see more mushrooms. You would think, with my woodsy yard
> that I would have quite a few but I hardly ever see one. And, I don't see
them
That's another thing: the puffballs were growing in fairy rings. I
never saw puffballs in fairy rings before!
Maybe you could buy some mushroom spawn or plugs and try some log
cultivation. I bought plugs for Oyster and shitaki mushrooms to
plug into my woodpecker tree. You aren't supposed to plug different
types into one stump, but since they won't take returns, I have
to at least try. better than wasting a set of plugs. I will
put on variety on a thick side branch, and one on the main trunk.
Lee Ann
**********************
Well now, maybe different kinds have different tolerances or preferences,
because here in the East Texas pineyforest the soil is definitely acid, and
we have loads of mushrooms! I've always noticed them, but haven't learned
enough about them to eat any. We have puffballs and strange looking things
that grow on dead wood as well as different sizes and colors of mushrooms.
If they grow here, they can't be too picky about acid conditions. Maybe you
could check with Fungiperfecti or Mushroom People or one of those kinds of
places.
Therese
cabincrk@OnRamp.net
East TX, zone 8b
Try looking them up in "Mushrooms of North America" by Orson K. Miller, Jr.,
published by E.P. Dutton. This is the easiest guide to mushrooms that I
have found so far. Once you start "mushroomizing" (like botanizing, only
concentrating on mushrooms!), you'll have a great time exploring their
world.
Lee Ann
==============
Think certain types must like it Esther as I have acid soil and I get lots =
of mushrooms on our lot. Just wish I knew if they were edible.
Penny
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The plugs I referred to are specially prepared spawn I bought from
Fungi Perfecti, and they are specifically designed for plugging into
logs of certain types of compatible host tree stumps. The puffball
spores would have to be puffed into compatible growing conditions.
Some puffballs grow on the ground, some on decaying logs, and some
might even be specific to certain types of trees, i.e. maples or
oak. If you puff a lawn puffball at a stump, it would be a waste
of time. Check the Fungi Perfecti website (I don't have it handy,
it's at work) and you can read a bit about growing your own mushrooms.
I've never done it, but am looking forward to the attempt.
Lee Ann
===========
If I collect the spores of those tiny puff balls on the front lawn and =
plug them (if that the correct term) into some old stumps (have a pile) =
would that work or will they only grow from the ground.
Penny
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Yes, there is no substitute for learning in person about mushrooms. There
are so many delicious and safe ones, and so many deadly poisonous ones.
Lee Ann
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We have had several sprouting after the buckets of rain Dennis dumped on us,
but I had no idea they were edible!
Pauline Botelho
Wilmington, NC
gnp@wilmington.net
Date: Wednesday, September 01, 1999 4:02 PM
Subject: Re: edible mushrooms
yard
> that I would have quite a few but I hardly ever see one. And, I don't
see them
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Think certain types must like it Esther as I have acid soil and I get lots =
of mushrooms on our lot. Just wish I knew if they were edible.
Penny
> Esther Czekalski
I dono why I don't see more mushrooms. You would think, with my woodsy =
yard
that I would have quite a few but I hardly ever see one. And, I don't =
see them
on my regular hikes much, either. How do mushrooms feel about acid soil?
Esther
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Do you mean you have puffballs sprouting, or just mushrooms in general?
The big puffballs? If they are puffballs, be sure to slice them in half, top
to bottom, before you eat them, just to make sure they are puffballs
and not buttons of some other mushroom.
Lee Ann
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I had never heard of them until my DH showed a ring to me, first week I =
knew him, on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. As a child, DH and his =
Dad used to used to go mushroom hunting. Will never forget them now. :-)
Penny
> Esther Czekalski
Yes, actually, I think we are caught up with rain right now. For some =
reason,
west of Boston we got a bit more rain than Boston did and we've have a =
couple of
very rainy weekends lately. I used to have/see Mushrooms in Michigan. In =
fact
I had a mushroom ring on my front lawn for most of one summer. I finally =
gave
in to the neighbors hints that the fact that it was so visible was because =
the
rest of my lawn was so nitrogen deprived and fertilized the lawn. =
Mushrooms
were still there but harder to discern the "magic ring".
Esther
Lee Ann Reiners
Please respond to Gardens & Gardening
To: GARDENS@LSV.UKY.EDU
cc: (bcc: Esther Czekalski/US/BULL)
Subject: Re: edible mushrooms
Have you had a good rain lately? That should bring out any that might
be around. Sometimes you have to get down close and dirty to see some
of the tiny, fairy-like types. These puffballs are the first big ones
I've ever found. I wasn't even looking for them. I happened to notice
them as I was driving across campus. I had to use my raincoat to
gather them in!
Lee Ann
> I dono why I don't see more mushrooms. You would think, with my woodsy =
yard
> that I would have quite a few but I hardly ever see one. And, I don't =
see
them
> on my regular hikes much, either. How do mushrooms feel about acid =
soil?
> Esther
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Lee Ann
If I collect the spores of those tiny puff balls on the front lawn and =
plug them (if that the correct term) into some old stumps (have a pile) =
would that work or will they only grow from the ground.
Penny
> Lee Ann Reiners
That's another thing: the puffballs were growing in fairy rings. I
never saw puffballs in fairy rings before!
Maybe you could buy some mushroom spawn or plugs and try some log
cultivation. I bought plugs for Oyster and shitaki mushrooms to
plug into my woodpecker tree. You aren't supposed to plug different
types into one stump, but since they won't take returns, I have
to at least try. better than wasting a set of plugs. I will
put on variety on a thick side branch, and one on the main trunk.
Lee Ann
> rest of my lawn was so nitrogen deprived and fertilized the lawn. =
Mushrooms
> were still there but harder to discern the "magic ring".
> Esther
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This just doesn't seem logical to me as many mushrooms are found in the =
woods and the soil there must be acidic with all of the decayed leaves and =
rotting trees, etc.
Penny
> teragram
Esther queried:
How do mushrooms feel about acid soil?
----------------------------------------
They don't like it, not one little bit.
One "folklore" cure for mushrooms (for those inclined to rid their lawns =
of
them) is to spray a 50/50 mix of water & lemon juice or vinegar upon them.
- Tera.
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Thanks Lee Ann - I had borrowed a book from my neighbours which had all =
kinds of plates in it, but I still didn't feel secure about eating any. I =
will eventually take a course where you go out on field trips. Our garden =
club had a guest speaker one time who showed us slides, etc. but I'd feel =
much more comfortable seeing and hearing about them 'in person'.
Penny
> Lee Ann Reiners
Try looking them up in "Mushrooms of North America" by Orson K. Miller, =
Jr.,
published by E.P. Dutton. This is the easiest guide to mushrooms that I
have found so far. Once you start "mushroomizing" (like botanizing, only
concentrating on mushrooms!), you'll have a great time exploring their
world.
Lee Ann
==============
Think certain types must like it Esther as I have acid soil and I get lots =
=3D
of mushrooms on our lot. Just wish I knew if they were edible.
Penny
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Thanks Lee Ann
I'll check out the site. Have seen TV shows on the subject, but memory =
fails me. Good luck with yours and do let us know how it works.
Penny
> Lee Ann Reiners
The plugs I referred to are specially prepared spawn I bought from
Fungi Perfecti, and they are specifically designed for plugging into
logs of certain types of compatible host tree stumps. The puffball
spores would have to be puffed into compatible growing conditions.
Some puffballs grow on the ground, some on decaying logs, and some
might even be specific to certain types of trees, i.e. maples or
oak. If you puff a lawn puffball at a stump, it would be a waste
of time. Check the Fungi Perfecti website (I don't have it handy,
it's at work) and you can read a bit about growing your own mushrooms.
I've never done it, but am looking forward to the attempt.
Lee Ann
===========
If I collect the spores of those tiny puff balls on the front lawn and =3D
plug them (if that the correct term) into some old stumps (have a pile) =
=3D
would that work or will they only grow from the ground.
Penny
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Hi Lee Ann and all,
I've looked at the spawn and plugs but what worries me is the way that they come
in batches. Except for when I entertain I cook for one. I can see where using
the spawn/plugs outdoors might have longer benefits. If they were to like the
environment you might get populations that would reproduce more normally. But
frankly, I was waiting for you to tell us how it went. I am especially
interested to see if anything overwinters. So nice that this list is full of
experimental people.
Esther
Lee Ann Reiners
Please respond to Gardens & Gardening
To: GARDENS@LSV.UKY.EDU
cc: (bcc: Esther Czekalski/US/BULL)
Subject: Re: edible mushrooms
That's another thing: the puffballs were growing in fairy rings. I
never saw puffballs in fairy rings before!
Maybe you could buy some mushroom spawn or plugs and try some log
cultivation. I bought plugs for Oyster and shitaki mushrooms to
plug into my woodpecker tree. You aren't supposed to plug different
types into one stump, but since they won't take returns, I have
to at least try. better than wasting a set of plugs. I will
put on variety on a thick side branch, and one on the main trunk.
Lee Ann
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The good ones that I hunt must like acid soil because they only grow under
pine trees in the pine needle duff. We have found a lot of porcini
(boletus edulis) this year, they are quite abundant. My poor dehydrator
has been working overtime. Jane
> I dono why I don't see more mushrooms. You would think, with my woodsy yard
> that I would have quite a few but I hardly ever see one. And, I don't
see them
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checked out the site Lee Ann and printed some docu. Will look for a =
Canadian source of the spawn. Thanks again.
Penny
> Lee Ann Reiners
Yes, there is no substitute for learning in person about mushrooms. There
are so many delicious and safe ones, and so many deadly poisonous ones.
Lee Ann
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Penny, you might try these people. Have no experience with them myself as I
have all the puffballs I need behind the barn.:-)
WESTERN BIOLOGICALS LTD.
Box 283
Aldergrove, BC V4W 2T8
Phone: (604)856-3339
Comments: Wide variety of mushroom spawn for home gardeners. $3 refundable.
HTH
Bill Loke; Kars, Ontario. USDA Z 4B/5A
checked out the site Lee Ann and printed some docu. Will look for a
Canadian source of the spawn. Thanks again.
Penny
> Lee Ann Reiners
Yes, there is no substitute for learning in person about mushrooms. There
are so many delicious and safe ones, and so many deadly poisonous ones.
Lee Ann
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Thanks Bill - thats the only one I have found so far too. I wasn't =
particularly wanting to try the puffballs, just wondered whether it would =
work. Wouldn't mind trying some others tho as we both like those shrooms.
Penny
> Bill Loke
Penny, you might try these people. Have no experience with them myself as =
I
have all the puffballs I need behind the barn.:-)
WESTERN BIOLOGICALS LTD.
Box 283
Aldergrove, BC V4W 2T8
Phone: (604)856-3339
Comments: Wide variety of mushroom spawn for home gardeners. $3 refundable.=
HTH
Bill Loke; Kars, Ontario. USDA Z 4B/5A
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Think I saw it on a Canadian Gardening program (quite a while ago), you could order the whole kit
.. . .if memory serves they also sent the growing medium. Can't
remember if it was a Canadian source or not. Think it must have
been 'cause if I remember David visited the people making the kits,
well guess they could have been in Washington state.
Jill
> I'll check out the site. Have seen TV shows on the subject, but memory fails me. Good luck with yours and do let us know how it works.
> Penny
Jill
Zone 5 (in a good year)
Peterborough, ON, Canada
jillfyffe@home.net
***********************
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With the kits it is important to ask about yield. I did the math on several
offers in various catalogs and the mushrooms turn out to be quite expensive.
Unless you cannot get good quality mushrooms at the store or you find a better
deal than I did, they are not worth it. IMO. Also remember that you will get
most of your yield in one or two flushes and then the medium is spent.
Convenience is an issue.
If you can introduce spoors to a natural environment and add in environment they
need to reproduce over time, the cost picture changes.
Another reason to justify the costs and inconvenience might be school age
children. It's great to take any opportunity to show children where foods come
from.
Esther
Jill Fyffe
Please respond to Gardens & Gardening
To: GARDENS@LSV.UKY.EDU
cc: (bcc: Esther Czekalski/US/BULL)
Subject: Re: edible mushrooms
Think I saw it on a Canadian Gardening program (quite a while ago), you could
order the whole kit
.. . .if memory serves they also sent the growing medium. Can't
remember if it was a Canadian source or not. Think it must have
been 'cause if I remember David visited the people making the kits,
well guess they could have been in Washington state.
Jill
> I'll check out the site. Have seen TV shows on the subject, but memory fails
me. Good luck with yours and do let us know how it works.
> Penny
Jill
Zone 5 (in a good year)
Peterborough, ON, Canada
jillfyffe@home.net
***********************
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In my case, my primary objective in growing mushrooms is to hasten the
decay of my woodpecker tree. Of course, the edible choice mushrooms
will not go to waste! 8-)
Lee Ann
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Lee Ann,
I'm curious (a polite word for nebby). If you want to get rid of the
tree why don't you just cut it down with a chainsaw? Or do you like
taking the natural approach - all things in their time?
Karen
On Thu, 2 Sep 1999 15:59:39 -0400 Lee Ann Reiners
___________________________________________________________________
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That's one folklore cure that has worked for me in the past. killed
those mushrooms instantly - they turned all black and oozy. It also
killed a bit of the lawn around the mushrooms but what I did was spray
the mushrooms until they died off (you need only wait a half hour or so)
and then watered the lawn like crazy to prevent the lawn die. The
mushrooms didn't come back that season. I would retreat the next year
if they appeared again (from the spores), but I found that a heck of a
lot easier to do than digging up the front lawn to 3 feet depth - the
only "permanent" cure for fairy rings. I did, however, use full
strength vinegar.
Vinegar also worked on tent caterpillars and weeds.
Brenda in Lethbridge
teragram wrote:
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Okay, just so everyone is clear on this one...
Puffballs are edible and delicious, fairy ring mushrooms AREN'T!!!!
Brenda in Lethbridge
Pauline & Gary wrote:
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Fungi mycelia are very sensitive to changes in pH. Any kind of acidic
conditions will kill them off very quickly. I think that if you were to
pH test the areas where the mushrooms are actually growing, you might
find it's not really acidic. That having been said, you may find
certain varieties that can withstand the acidic conditions. The pricey
pine mushrooms are one example. However, in general, mushrooms do not
like acidic soil.
Brenda in Lethbridge
Penny Nielsen wrote:
> This just doesn't seem logical to me as many mushrooms are found in the woods and the soil there must be acidic with all of the decayed leaves and rotting trees, etc.
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Ah! You don't know about my yard and wild natives project!
To zero in on the tree, I had a mid-sized maple damaged in a storm
last summer in which half the tree was destroyed by wind. The other
half was precariously hanging over my brand new house. So I had
it taken down to a 20 foot high stump. I am experimenting with
it, to try to attract insects and other decay-enhancing critters.
Once they establish, then the woodpeckers should be attracted to
my big stump, and after they are established, den animals should
be able to use the tree for nesting and denning. The mushroom
plugs should help the decay to progress a bit more rapidly.
I should have plugged in the spawn several months ago, but the
darned stump keeps sprouting. I have girdled it twice, and it
still won't wilt.
Maybe I should be documenting this whole thing and write a book
about it! 8-)
Lee Ann
> I'm curious (a polite word for nebby). If you want to get rid of the
tree why don't you just cut it down with a chainsaw? Or do you like
taking the natural approach - all things in their time?
Karen
<<
There are several seed companies that offer the mushroom kit but imho that's
a very expensive way to get fresh mushrooms. McFayden for one has kits for
oyster and shitake mushrooms.
Bill Loke; Kars, Ontario. USDA Z 4B/5A
could order the whole kit
fails me. Good luck with yours and do let us know how it works.
Is it really only one kind of mushroom that makes rings? I thought it was just
a mechanical thing about how spores would be "seeded" from one mushroom, the
center of the circle, and then the next generation, in the small ring would find
better conditions where the mushrooms hadn't grown yet and so each generation
would enlarge the ring. This only works with one kind?
Esther
Brenda Pink
Please respond to Gardens & Gardening
To: GARDENS@LSV.UKY.EDU
cc: (bcc: Esther Czekalski/US/BULL)
Subject: Re: edible mushrooms
Okay, just so everyone is clear on this one...
Puffballs are edible and delicious, fairy ring mushrooms AREN'T!!!!
Brenda in Lethbridge
Pauline & Gary wrote:
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There is a species of mushroom commonly called the Fairy Ring mushroom
but I can't remember which one it is. But you are right Esther, many
other mushrooms can grow in rings. Here on campus, many fairy rings
of Agaricus campestris (pinkies) exist. And there were several
perfect fairy rings of the Calvatia puffballs I found earlier this
week. That was a first for me--seeing puffballs in a fairy ring. Wish
I'd had the camera with me.
The fairy rings are formed when a spore falls in a favorable location
and begins to grow, creating the plant which is called the mycelium.
If the soil is somewhat uniform, the mycelium will grow evenly into
a circle, and after a few years mushrooms will form at the outer
edges of the mycelium. Each year the mycelium expands into a
larger circle, and the subsequent fruiting bodies form larger fairy
rings. By measuring the rate of advance, botanists have been able
to calculate that some fairy rings are around 400 years old.
I found a book upstairs that mentioned the Calvatia cyathiformis I
found are often found in fairy rings.
Another book lists the Fairy Ring Mushroom as Marasmius oreades, and
says it is edible and delectable. But that does not mean that any
mushroom growning is a ring is edible!
Lee Ann
> Is it really only one kind of mushroom that makes rings? I thought it was just
> a mechanical thing about how spores would be "seeded" from one mushroom, the
> center of the circle, and then the
next generation, in the small ring would find
All this talk of mushrooms made me go out and look for some the other
day. But all the puffballs I found were dried up and almost at the
puffing stage. Next year I'll have to look earlier in the year. Maybe
our drought made them dry up quick.
Karen
On Fri, 3 Sep 1999 15:11:43 -0400 Lee Ann Reiners
___________________________________________________________________
The secret isn't necessarily going earlier in the year so much as going
earlier in the _day_! Mushrooms grow typically after a rainfall, and
some are so short-lived that they sprout, grow, poof and wither in hours
or days.
Watch toward the end of the month for Shaggy Manes--Coprinus--aka
Lawyers Wigs. We usually have them popping up their lucious little
heads in early to mid-October around here. May be a bit earlier
in your area. (Karen, if you want to learn more about mushrooms, I
can give you a name of a person to contact, Dorothy Fornoff, who
lives over by Indiana Twp. or thereabouts.)
Lee Ann
Ahhh, that's why the puffballs were all dried up. We haven't had any
rain in over a week! We're supposed to have rain maybe on Monday or
Tuesday. I'll look then. I was going to look for a mushroom book next
time I'm at Northland Library. I don't know that I'd trust myself to eat
any, I just wanted to find some. Where is Indiana Township--I'm not
familiar with it.
Karen
On Fri, 3 Sep 1999 15:45:19 -0400 Lee Ann Reiners
___________________________________________________________________
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Ahhh, that's why the puffballs were all dried up. We haven't had any
rain in over a week! We're supposed to have rain maybe on Monday or
Tuesday. I'll look then. I was going to look for a mushroom book next
time I'm at Northland Library. I don't know that I'd trust myself to eat
Another idea is to contact the naturalist at North Park and see when
the next nature walk is scheduled in which they might look for mushrooms.
Find out if they still have the Thursday morning walks. Concentrate
on learning the easy ones for our area: Agaricus campestris (pinkies),
Coprinus comatus (shaggy manes), puffballs, chantarelles. Once you
learn those really well, then you have a basic group of safe mushrooms
to start on.
We are supposed to have rain Monday too, so if I find any goodies popping
up around here, I can let you know when to look and what to look for.
any, I just wanted to find some. Where is Indiana Township--I'm not
familiar with it.
Other side of Rt. 8, over toward Dorseyville Rd.
Lee Ann
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North Park is a great idea, and only about 10 minutes away. I knew they
had nature walks, I'll have to call like you suggest.
Karen
On Sat, 4 Sep 1999 07:53:43 -0400 Lee Ann Reiners
___________________________________________________________________
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I believe it is only one variety that forms the rings. I'm not sure
without looking it up (my textbook is at work), but it probably has
something to do with prolific spore production (enough to spit out and
form the ring). I will check though when I get hold of my book. But, I
do know that the fairy ring mushroom (at least the main variety if there
are more than one) is NOT edible.
Brenda in Lethbridge
Esther Czekalski wrote:
> Is it really only one kind of mushroom that makes rings?
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Hi Brenda,
The primary fairy ring mushroom is marasmius oreades which is definitely
edible. In Orson Miller's Mushrooms of North America, he refers to this
marasmius as edible and choice and he is right! Great mushroom soup! They
dry well and have wonderful flavor.
"The fairy rings increase in size each year as the mycelium or spawn grows ut
into new grass. The fungus plant dies within the circle,leaving an advancing
ring of mycelium from which the fruiting bodies arise." (Miller)
Mary Lou in Bemidji, MN (zone 3)
where if it ever stops raining, I'll try to pick some fairy rings if they
haven't rotted.
I believe it is only one variety that forms the rings. I'm not sure
without looking it up (my textbook is at work), but it probably has
something to do with prolific spore production (enough to spit out and
form the ring). I will check though when I get hold of my book. But, I
do know that the fairy ring mushroom (at least the main variety if there
are more than one) is NOT edible.
Brenda in Lethbridge
Esther Czekalski wrote:
> Is it really only one kind of mushroom that makes rings?
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Hello All;
My ignorance is showing as I know very little about edible mushroom in the
wild other than morels.
Are the fairy rings the same type of mushroom everywhere or are some common
in some parts of North America but not others?
How likely Is it that Brenda's Fairy Ring mushrooms and Mary Lou's are the
same kind?
Drat now I will have to go buy another book just to identify mushrooms.
This list will be the collapse of my bookshelves yet!! LOL
Martha
M Brown
NW Oklahoma, USA
USDA Zone 6b, Sunset Zone 35
ut
> into new grass. The fungus plant dies within the circle,leaving an
advancing
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Hi Jill - probably saw it on CG too but also I recall a guy in Quebec who =
was big into growing shrooms like this - think it was a part-time =
business too.
Bill Loke kindly sent me another address in Ontario, so will check it out.
Penny in Halifax, N.S. where we had a fabulous 4 days of sunshine and warm =
temps - up to 85 (30) a couple of days
> Jill Fyffe
Think I saw it on a Canadian Gardening program (quite a while ago), you =
could order the whole kit
.. . .if memory serves they also sent the growing medium. Can't
remember if it was a Canadian source or not. Think it must have
been 'cause if I remember David visited the people making the kits,
well guess they could have been in Washington state.
Jill
> I'll check out the site. Have seen TV shows on the subject, but memory =
fails me. Good luck with yours and do let us know how it works.
> Penny
Jill
Zone 5 (in a good year)
Peterborough, ON, Canada
jillfyffe@home.net
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Re the kits, totally agree Esther. That was my first reaction too. I =
often see them advertised in the the back of gardening mags.
Penny
> Esther Czekalski
With the kits it is important to ask about yield. I did the math on =
several
offers in various catalogs and the mushrooms turn out to be quite =
expensive.
Unless you cannot get good quality mushrooms at the store or you find a =
better
deal than I did, they are not worth it. IMO. Also remember that you will =
get
most of your yield in one or two flushes and then the medium is spent.
Convenience is an issue.
If you can introduce spoors to a natural environment and add in environment=
they
need to reproduce over time, the cost picture changes.
Another reason to justify the costs and inconvenience might be school age
children. It's great to take any opportunity to show children where foods =
come
from.
Esther
Jill Fyffe
Please respond to Gardens & Gardening
To: GARDENS@LSV.UKY.EDU
cc: (bcc: Esther Czekalski/US/BULL)
Subject: Re: edible mushrooms
Think I saw it on a Canadian Gardening program (quite a while ago), you =
could
order the whole kit
.. . .if memory serves they also sent the growing medium. Can't
remember if it was a Canadian source or not. Think it must have
been 'cause if I remember David visited the people making the kits,
well guess they could have been in Washington state.
Jill
> I'll check out the site. Have seen TV shows on the subject, but memory =
fails
me. Good luck with yours and do let us know how it works.
> Penny
Jill
Zone 5 (in a good year)
Peterborough, ON, Canada
jillfyffe@home.net
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Hi Martha and all,
There seems to be difference of opinion and/or information. All mushrooms
propagate in a similar way, that I know of, so I hypothesized that fairy rings
are not unique to one variety of mushroom. I have seen posts in support of that
and posts in contradiction. It is an interesting question but not all that
important, as long as people don't eat mushrooms based on what they read here.
Wisdom that all of the knowledgeable people here seem to share. I like the
suggestion of working with a naturalist in your area who will help you identify
the ones that you can easily identify, and which are hard to mistake for their
poisonous cousins.
Esther
Martha Brown
Please respond to Gardens & Gardening
To: GARDENS@LSV.UKY.EDU
cc: (bcc: Esther Czekalski/US/BULL)
Subject: Re: edible mushrooms
Hello All;
My ignorance is showing as I know very little about edible mushroom in the
wild other than morels.
Are the fairy rings the same type of mushroom everywhere or are some common
in some parts of North America but not others?
How likely Is it that Brenda's Fairy Ring mushrooms and Mary Lou's are the
same kind?
Drat now I will have to go buy another book just to identify mushrooms.
This list will be the collapse of my bookshelves yet!! LOL
Martha
M Brown
NW Oklahoma, USA
USDA Zone 6b, Sunset Zone 35
ut
> into new grass. The fungus plant dies within the circle,leaving an
advancing
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email to listserv@lsv.uky.edu with the message: Review Gardens
*Your* subscription will not be included in any Gardens reviews if
you send email to listserv@lsv.uky.edu with the message:
set gardens conceal
At our last garden club meeting someone brought in a puffball to share
with everyone. It was about 2' in diameter. It had one chunk taken out
of it and eaten by the original collector. So I assumed it was safe and
made a mushroom omelet out of it the next day. It was very mild and not
bad. However, I really had to psyche myself up to eat a wild mushroom.
If someone hadn't already eaten part of it i don't think I would have
eaten it. I've read too many murder mysteries to trust wild mushrooms.
Deborah Turton
While hunting for morels, I used to find some puffballs that ran about 6 to
7 cm. in diameter. The first time I prepared them, I sliced them and fried
them in margarine or olive oil. The oil or margarine was really too hot,
so I essentially made mushroom "chips" like potato chips. Those were
really, really good. Yummm. Margaret L
Mycologists always warn, though, to cut through the middle of a puffball to
see if it truly is a round mushroom or if it's a different kind that hasn't
opened up yet. I have a feeling Carol is implying there are toadstools
that are not safe and mushrooms that are. They're all mushrooms, and
"toadstool" is as much of an old wives' tale as putting a silver coin in
the pan you're frying them in to detect toxicity. I've known people (don't
know whether they're still living) who said "if an animal took a bite out
of it, it must be safe." That presupposes animals are smarter than
humans. The animal may have tottered behind the bush and turned toes
up. Having said that, there's a photo on the cover of the Fall issue of
"Mushroom, the Journal of Wild Mushrooming," of an abandoned robin's nest
abundantly supplied with a squirrel's cache of 52 individual
truffles. This was in New Brunswick. We used to have an active member of
this list who lived in NB, didn't we? Margaret L
I had some morels at a friend's house years ago and thought it was the best food
I ever ate. They are not hard to identify and nothing poisonous like them. I
found a morel on our land and brought it in, cut it in 2 fried it up and shared
it with my husband. Now mind you these things are not very big! I was sick on
one half on one morel!!!. I was so disappointed. I since heard that some people
are susceptible to morel "poisoning"
susan
Margaret Lauterbach wrote:
We are lucky enough to have giant puffballs of the kind you describe
in the orchard. They are best eaten as quickly as possible after
they've attained full growth - we egg and breadcrumb and fry huge
steaks from them. The small ones are also good but not quite as good
as the giant kind and less of an excuse for a mushroom party.
kathryn
> I've read too many murder mysteries to trust wild mushrooms.
> Deborah Turton
Sea snakes are even more poisonous than most mushrooms Deborah but even less
likely to do one an injury. It would be interesting to see how many many
millions die each year of pollution or the seeping ever present industrial
poisons in comparison to the few unlucky eaters of poisonous mushrooms. It
is reckoned that half a million people are killed by faulty medical practice
in the US each year.
One thing to keep in mind while eating wild mushrooms is that most of the
nice ones are quite unmistakable but that a lot depends on the place where
they grow. Almost all mushrooms have a tendency to concentrate heavy metals.
I would not touch them if they grew beside a busy road or in the smoke of a
chemical plant. But I would not like to live near there either.
john
There are false morels, but IMO they look nothing like the true Morchella.
Cautions are not to drink wine with morels because the combination makes
some people ill. But I've never heard of morel "poisoning." Margaret L
Deborah Turton wrote:
Deborah
I think probably many people have a feeling that mushrooms are
mysteriuos and sinister, but in fact they are much like any wild food
such as the berries and nuts which we usually feel more at home with.
Not all the latter are nice or even safe to eat, but we think nothing of
picking the ones we have learnt to distinguish. As Margaret has said in
her posting, puffball is a very safe fungus to try as there is nothing
dangerous you could mistake for it. The only trick is finding one at the
right stage, as only young ones are actually edible. As they get older
the firm white flesh inside is replaced by a dry brownish mass of
powdery spores not at all nice to eat. When the spores are fully
developed a pore forms through which they puff out in clouds (hence the
name)
There are several species and the one you shared was I think an
unusually big ball, I have found them here, but only about half that
size. There are also some very tiny species with balls no bigger than a
small mushroon button and these are not worth the trouble of collecting.
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
I see there are plenty of posts about edible fungi. I don't want to read
them all online so I will wait until the earthlink mail server is fixed. It
appears the web mail server is ok.
I don't know that I would call it poisoning, either, I did have wine with my one
lone 1/2 morel, but then I did the first time I ate a plateful. THey are so good,
too!!!
susan
Margaret Lauterbach wrote:
--=====================_6815359==.ALT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Puffballs are one of the easiest to identify safely. When you slice them, if there is nothing that looks like a small gilled mushroom and the flesh is not purple, you have a very tasty mushroom. The flesh is somewhat softer than that of gilled mushrooms and usually creamy in color. I saute it in butter with a sprinkling of herbs...delicious. At 10:58 AM 11/5/02 -0500, you wrote: >At our last garden club meeting someone brought in a puffball to share >with everyone. It was about 2' in diameter. It had one chunk taken out >of it and eaten by the original collector. So I assumed it was safe and >made a mushroom omelet out of it the next day. It was very mild and not >bad. However, I really had to psyche myself up to eat a wild mushroom. >If someone hadn't already eaten part of it i don't think I would have >eaten it. I've read too many murder mysteries to trust wild mushrooms. > >Deborah Turton B --=====================_6815359==.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" Puffballs are one of the easiest to identify safely. When you slice them, if there is nothing that looks like a small gilled mushroom and the flesh is not purple, you have a very tasty mushroom. The flesh is somewhat softer than that of gilled mushrooms and usually creamy in color. I saute it in butter with a sprinkling of herbs...delicious.
At 10:58 AM 11/5/02 -0500, you wrote:
At our last garden club meeting someone brought in a puffball to share
with everyone. It was about 2' in diameter. It had one chunk taken out
of it and eaten by the original collector. So I assumed it was safe and
made a mushroom omelet out of it the next day. It was very mild and not
bad. However, I really had to psyche myself up to eat a wild mushroom.
If someone hadn't already eaten part of it i don't think I would have
eaten it. I've read too many murder mysteries to trust wild mushrooms.
Deborah Turton
B --=====================_6815359==.ALT--
