With all the rain we’ve been having, and the cool mornings for the past couple of days, the fungi are loving above ground life. This morning there were mushrooms galore!

Fall is Coming

Have you noticed fall in the air yet? We’re on the cusp here in the Ozarks, but this morning held a chill in the air. The sun’s rays are falling to the earth at a slightly different angle. Shadows are casting from a different sort of light. Fall is almost here. I can see it now, feel it and even hear it.

This is my favorite time of year, a liminal time. A doorway between two seasons – one I’m ready to let go of and one I’m ready to welcome.

Mushrooms

In just a small area behind the house there were at least four different varieties.

Rob found the prize, a smooth golden chanterelle:

I didn’t have a chance to go farther to look for more of them, but right behind the house there were several. Most were already aging, but the one Rob found was fresh. So I diced that single one up and sauteed it in butter.

Then I went down to the other logs where the oyster mushrooms like to grow and picked some of those to go with supper. Here’s an article about how nutritious this wild food is. I had thought mushrooms were empty foods with no nutritional value. That’s true of the white button mushrooms you buy at the grocery store, but definitely not so about some of the other varieties.

This one is a pretty mushroom, but I’m not sure what it is and there are too many of this sort that are poisonous, even deadly, so I will just take pictures of it and leave it alone:

Found some boletes that were deteriorating and smelling like dead fish:

This last mushroom won the prize for most unusual find for today. I’ve never seen one like this.