Fall 09 mushrooms

Well tis the season for fall mushrooms again and things are starting to pop. many areas are doing well and a few areas are way to dry still.

Here are a few samples of some of the wild edibles i can find at my outdoor grocery store in the cascadia belt.

some matsutake mushrooms



an odd lobster mushroom where it parasited on its self in a double growth



bears head mushrooms


lots of chicken of the woods mushrooms


the chicken mushroom

09 06 09 fall NW porcini

bears head mushroom above and 40 fall king boletes below

headed up to mt adams for a mushroom foray, it was pouring rain all day and unsightly cold, snow level low for September 6th and at 4500 ft i was freezing.

any how, we hit T lake and got a few boletes, hiked around some trail and got a few more.
went to C lake and found 1,, headed for the rock collecting zone on clear creek and scored some jasper and agate.

Spring 09 morels - low lander river morels

Att: update
Morels on the move, they started a few weeks ago, but temps are uninvitingly below normal. as of todays date, snow levels in the Cascade foot hill are at 2500 feet and that is super low for this time of year. I did a recon last sunday, covered 175 miles to 20 patches and not much to see. I only came home with 12 morels and kinda dissapointing, to say the least.

Conditions will improve I hope. the low land river morels are finally popping but slow and no quantities like the past several years iv been documenting results of areas I frequent.

I suspect improvements soon as the weather is trying to warm up, still 3 foot of snow near clear lake on mt hood, the mtn passes still have fresh snow and seems no end in sight.

My predictions are of this - memorial wknd should produce lots of natural and fire burn morels along with spring king boletes, my recon concluded that the moisture content was there but tempatures are to cool to fruit the mycelium.

Here is what I found, so far this season.

A couple in habitat


Could be a bakers dozen



Mmmmm freshys




keep on foraging and happy trails
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NW Fisherman's Portafino Alfrado

NW Fisherman's Portafino Alfrado



1 fillet of Alaska White King Salmon
1 can chopped clams
1/4 cup Oregon cocktail shrimp meat
1/2 pound egg noodles or full bag if desired
1/4 of an onion
5 dried morel mushrooms
3 dried slices of matsutake mushrooms
dill, parsley and chives
salt n pepper

First cube up the salmon in one inches squares and fry in the skillet
Add some onion when fish is brown on one side, turn fish.
add alfredo sauce
add chopped clams and juice - let simmer a bit
add shrimp meat and simmer until shrimp are hot
now add your favorite type of noodles and blend simmering a bit more, allowing the noodles to absorb the seafood and mushroom flavors.



one might add some garlic, but believe me it has tons of flavors going on and need not add any garlic unless you crave it, might also suggest adding some fresh sugar snap peas for color - what jazzed it up the best was adding the dried matsutakes and morels.

yum
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Trip to the ol farm

Well I wanted to go visit gramma, she is getting up there in years and has glacoma now, for being near 90, she is in pretty good health.

I miss the days of learning to fish trout and crawdads in the creek, I also learned to fly fish, in the pond in the side yard. We used to hold a fishing tournament on new years day, if it wasnt frozen over, also if it was we were ice skating or trying too.

The pond with the old Barons house surrounded with hay fields and old xmas trees.


The farm house and barns with the creek in the forground


Great gramma Lentz has a road named after her in Oregon.



Gramma Hoard was born in this old school house, now listed as a ghost town, wish the place was on the national historic register.





Me finding the last of the wild mushrooms of the season, Amanita Muscaria, the most photographed mushroom in the world.


Tons of them


Amanita muscaria in a fairy ring



Another shot of the fairy ring, December 08



A shot of young button amanita fly muscaria



This was truly an amazing shot and find, was so alice and wonderland to see so many amanitas in one place, this fairy ring contained over 150 mushrooms in the circle. that was up to 15 feet wide. In all my mushroom adventures id never seen anything quite like this, iv found fairy rings before but not like this one.

Fall 08 wild Mushrooms

Well Fall is almost over and I have been on the trail sence september looking for edible mushrooms in the cascade mountains.
my success has been rather good for the lil delights. most of my explorations are on Mt Hood and Mt Adams, both extinct volcaneos, perfect habitat for mushroom colonies.
here are some examples

Fall king boletes - mt hood oregon



Mt Adams and Takalahk Lake - Washington



king boletus edulis mt adams washington



Large white chanterelle mushroom - Clackamas river drainage


A large matsutake in habitat



Pre fluff matsi in the snow



Lost in a forest - all alone



angel wings feasting off a rotting log, Clackamas drainage



The elusive blue chanterelle mushroom - Clackamas drainage



Another troop of blue chantys



more mushroom habitat with giant trees 8ft wide on the butt



Myself engaged in white water rafting on the white salmon river - Washington



watching the guys go thru a rapid on the white salmon river



Very large white matsutake flag



Cauliflower mushroom and matsutake



A matsutake on a bed of averaged sized hedgehogs - Oregon



older lobster mushrooms



same big hedgehog with a matsi



This is matsi town - where I do my shopping


Myself after finding an old large cauliflower mushroom



This is a recap of the fall events that made my days fun for the time being.I can only hope for better fun next fall.

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NW Fried Oyster

The NW Fried Oyster

Fried steak and fried oysters with sweet and sour red cabbage with pickeled walla walla sweet onions and Baby Chanterelles.







First you'll need a nice Egg
beat it up in a small bowl and make a dredge
add sea salt and pepper



Cracker crumb seasoning
add
Matsutake smoked powder, Salt, Pepper, Garlic powder




1 teaspoon Nucoa margerine, per / 2 oyster



Fry 1 to 2 Min per side per size of Oyster

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