Mushroom Lovers 2013

[mass]

Pic quality may not be the best.. tough to get good pics when running from 30 billion mosquitoes.
Feel free to contribute..

















My pride and joy yelling,"FOUND ONE!!

 

[SgtSarracenia]

That last pic don't look like a 'shroom. That looks like a crumb cruncher, very rare in their natural habitat. Great pics, including your pride and joy.

 

[mass]

Thanks buddy.. Still can't get that crumb cruncher to eat mushrooms yet though.

 

[SgtSarracenia]

Thanks buddy.. Still can't get that crumb cruncher to eat mushrooms yet though.

Mushrooms at all or just those?

 

[mass]

at all..
He's never really tried them, but the answer is always the same,"I don't like em'.. "

 

[SgtSarracenia]

have you guys tried to put diced mushrooms in spaghetti sauce or something where he cant figure it out?

 

[mass]

nah.. it's not like they're a crucial part of his diet, so we don't force him in anyway. More for us..

 

[DragonsEye]

I hate you, Travis. I haven't had any morels in a decade or more. :-(

Back in the dark ages when I was a kid used to find morels in the woods behind my parents's house. Not a ton, mind you, but enough to enjoy with a few meals here and there. Moved away when my dad got transferred. Folks moved back to the same house when he retired. Though I have checked that same woods a couple of times since then, have not caught nary a sight of a single morel. After all this time, I probably don't even have the "eye" to spot them anymore. *sigh* Do miss them but way too expensive to buy them.

 

[mass]

They don't call me MassMorels for nothin'!
They're out there buddy. The blacks and greys are just starting in your area..
We had a really late start to the season this year.

 

[Api]

All I've ever seen is Reishis in the south.. Maybe I need to look harder.

 

[utricularia]

Great pictures. I dont think I have ever seen a morel out in nature. I kinda want to try growing them.

 

[SubRosa]

I always smile when I see Morels! Can't stand 'em myself, but when I was a kid they were a great source of pocket money in that dead zone between fur trapping season and Snapping Turtle season. Haven't seen one in a loooong time. Thanks!

 

[utricularia]

I keep kicking the idea around of getting a spore syringe and trying to get some grain spawn going. I have a nice semi-shaded patch in my back yard that I think I might be able to inoculate but I am not sure how they would do here in CA. As I have read they take a couple of seasons to really colonize. I have read reports of one mycologist successfully growing them indoors and I have his procedure. My interest in the project is starting to come back again. I know they would sell like crazy at the farmers markets here. Seeing dollar signs.... which means more money for plants!!!

 

[mass]

wow utric.. didn't realize you had such a mycologist streak.
Best of luck with the venture. I know Michigan State Univ. here has been cultivating them for years. They don't get very big when grown this way, but it's better than nothing!

 

[divaskid]

Nice! I wish we had good mushroom hunting here.
I've tried inoculating a few colonies myself but without luck. We technically can't ship the spawn to Hawaii without spending hundreds on permits so I've tried to make my own. Still haven't given up though. I did get some shiitake mushrooms to sort of grow once.
Thanks for sharing!

 

[utricularia]

wow utric.. didn't realize you had such a mycologist streak.
Best of luck with the venture. I know Michigan State Univ. here has been cultivating them for years. They don't get very big when grown this way, but it's better than nothing!

well.... mycologist streak might be a bit of a glorification. Its a relatively new hobby for me and one I just play with here and there. I think its kind of fun. I would like to try growing straw mushrooms (Volvariella volvacea) at some point but I was advised to work up to that. I know liquid cultures can not get too cold and thus do not last a super long time (and most mycology suppliers do not seem to carry it).

I would like to learn more about mycology but there are only so many hours in the day and my CPs were here first.

 

[utricularia]

Nice! I wish we had good mushroom hunting here.
I've tried inoculating a few colonies myself but without luck. We technically can't ship the spawn to Hawaii without spending hundreds on permits so I've tried to make my own. Still haven't given up though. I did get some shiitake mushrooms to sort of grow once.
Thanks for sharing!

Do you know why it did not work out?

 

[Gigantea]

The only wild ones that I have seen grow here are stinkhorns, various woody varieties, death cap amanitas and other poisonous ones, and the ones that grow out in the cow fields... But let's not discuss those.

I do love mushrooms though. Baby bellas, button, oyster... Never tried a morel though.

 

[divaskid]

Do you know why it did not work out?

I'm guessing its because the mushrooms available here have very little to no spores unless you can find them in the wild. I don't trust my mushroom picking skills enough to do it, so I'm stuck with the store bought ones. So when I make the spore slurry there just isn't enough to get established I think. I'm sure there is probably other possibilities as well, like my lack of experience, but I think this might be the main reason.

 

[mass]

few more from the other day. Most pics didn't turn out because it was pouring rain and the skeeters were HORRIBLE. But here's the ones that did turn out..













the wife being a goofball..