Interesting article - thanks for posting it. I’m known around where we live as “the mushroom lady” because I have been known to ask people if I can pick the mushrooms growing in their yard. I always ask if I could bring them half of what I pick and they always always say “no”. Some even say “oh, no, I buy mine at the store.” Hiding my smile, I say thank you very much and go get my haul.
I pick them in yards, farm fields and deep woods whenever I get the chance.
We have chanterelles (5 kinds), morels, meadow mushrooms, horse mushrooms, salmon waxy caps, chicken mushrooms, king boletes and other edible boletes, puffballs, shaggy manes, oyster mushrooms, hen of the woods, blewits and more here some of which grow in great profusion. My favorites to eat are chanterelles, meadow, horse, puffballs and shaggy manes by themselves, in stews and in soups.
I love mushrooms and have learned enough not to kill myself or my family with them!
I have a question maybe you could answer...I use to get giant puffballs growing in one spot on my property..One year, one got a large as a small kitchen table....
One year I put out a salt lick for the deer and of course during the winter snows and spring rains I am sure a lot of the salt went into the ground. Now I have no puffballs growing....is it possible that the salt lick killed the puffballs rooting system...
I haven’t had any for 5 years now....and only had put out one salt lick.....
just wondering if that could have been the reason they disappeared...every once in a while I will get a handful or morels in spring, but never in the same place twice...thanks..
Have you eaten elephant ear mushrooms? I found one, just one, when I was about 10, took it home, fried it in butter, and ate it. It was great. The only other mushrooms I saw back then in the countryside near Peoria were morels and hen of the woods.