Treasure hunting

The forests are blooming right now like crazy! every time I go into an ethereal woodland, or even peak into little green strips between houses and roads I see them. Bright reds, purples and yellows, glowing whites, violets, shy gray and browns. Not flowers of course, it is far to late in the year for many of those, but the mushrooms!

I figured today I would share some of my shroomy photography. Mushrooms make lovely subjects for photography, but identification can be very challenging. I will share with you the names of those I am sure of, and for those I am not, I welcome your input. :)

Witch's Butter (Tremella mesenterica) - apparently edible, although I have no interest in trying it.

Fat jacks (Suillus ssp.) - edible but usually maggoty.

Unknown species.

Some type of Polypore, also known as Conks. many of these species have medicinal uses, although they are usually too woody to just eat.

Unknown.

Another Polypore, perhaps a young Red-belted Conk (Fomitopsis pinicola)

 Unknown, growing with that orientation on dead wood.

 Unknown, at first I thought perhaps a Blewit due to the colour, but Blewits don't have a veil (the cottony stuff covering the gills). in real life this mushroom almost glowed violet.

 A Milkcap species, perhaps Lactarius kauffmanii.

Unknown species with violet gills. These poor mushrooms barely had a chance, their veils haven't even opened yet and they were already full of maggots.

Artist's Conk (Ganoderma applanatum). You can see how this fungi gets it's name, the lightest scratch leaves a dark brown stain.

Ramaria species, also known as a Coral mushroom. This genus is extremely hard to tell apart, some species are edible, and some mildly poisonous. unless you have a lot of spare time and a microscope I wouldn't recommend sampling these.

Sulfur tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare). a beautiful poisonous species, growing in clusters on deadwood. The almost neon yellow gills give this species away.

Unknown species on dead wood

Mycena aurantiidisca, these caps seem to almost glow.

Some of the craziest lichen I have seen, surrounded by broad-leafed star flower (Trientalis latifolia)

 Unknown species with a very similar pattern to beef...at first I thought the Beefsteak Fungus (Fistulina hepatica) because of the patterning on the inside, but that species is tougher, redder and has a sponge layer instead of gills.

 More beautiful Ramaria

Everyone's second favorite wild mushroom, the Chanterelle! (Cantharellus cibarius). we all know the most favorite is the pine mushroom (Tricholoma magnivelare)

 Here's one of watch out for! The Scaly Chanterelle (Gomphus floccosus)! This species is in the same family as your normal Chanterelles but it is poisonous. While it won't kill you it will certainly make you sorry you crossed it's path. Look for the typical funnel shape and scaly cap to ID it. I find it is usually darker orange on top and almost white yellow underneath. A normal Chanterelle is uniformly coloured.

This is a terrible picture, but I wanted to share these mushrooms. these are Black Elfin Saddles (Helvella lacunosa). this mushroom is poisonous raw, but edible cooked. I have only eaten this species once, boiled and then sauteed, to make sure it was cooked thoroughly. 

 Tricholomopsis decora. beautiful but poisonous species. grows on dead wood.

 One of the weirdest species out there, The Bleeding Hydnellum (Hydnellum peckii). easy to ID, but not edible.

I found some non-mushroomy friends too, I think this is a Red-legged Frog. He was very well behaved for the photograph. Although a native species that I would not recommend eating, if you were in a survival situation he might be pretty good cooked over a fire...

 This totally stumped me, strange bluey purple balls, easy to squish, growing on a dead log.

 Here's something to watch out for! an Amanita! This family contains some of the most poisonous mushrooms around, they could kill you. They also smell great, look beautiful and apparently taste delicious. To avoid these look for pale gills, white spores, a universal veil which becomes a volva at the base of the stem and usually a ring on the stem. When trying to ID a species of mushroom it is very important to dig down to the bottom of the mushroom to check for a volva. If one is present you probably have an Amanita and you should handle with care.

On that dark note, see you all next time!

- Katy

Fun with Rosehips

Alright so today I have something delicious to share!

 For those of you with a little experience in wild foods you probably know that rose hips are edible and extremely good for you. For those of you that don't, welcome to the know. All rose hips are edible; those little bright red berries in the forest, the huge juicy round things on ornamental 'wild' roses, and those beautiful oval orbs you prune off your prized roses each autumn.
I've heard people say that one has the same amount of vitamin C as a entire orange and will keep you from getting scurvy if you find yourself living out in the woods in the winter (they are usually best after a hard frost).
The problem is that they have such a small amount of flesh, and most rose hips are quite bitter and pithy. Last year when flipping through one of my wildfood books I stumbled upon a recipe for rose hip syrup. I am always trying to find the most delicious and healthiest sweeter so I gave it a try.
It turned out to be, hands down, one of the best wild food creations I have tried. I think it gives maple syrup a run for its money.
So today I'll share with you my recipe, if you call it a recipe. I'm more of a 'add a little of this and a little of that' kind of cook then the 'stick to the books and measure it out' type, but here we go.

 Alright, here are my very dirty, but delicious, massive rose hips. The bigger and sweeter the better, but you can make it work with any type.

 So I gave them a clean, pulled off the bits of stem and spent flowers, but I didn't bother removing the seeds. I then add just enough water to cover them, be sure to push down the hips to check the water level as they tend to float. Then turn the stove up enough to send them into a good simmer and go relax with a book. I usually leave them for 30 min  to 1 hr, depending how fast they cook up.

 When the rose hips are soft and just starting to come apart, strain them. Be sure to keep the juice that strains out, that's the most important part! For now just set the juice aside. If they have been cooking long enough the juice should be an semi opaque orangey liquid.
Put the rose hips back in the pot, with the same amount of water as last time and simmer again at the same temperature. This time cook them until they completely come apart into a mush, usually 1 to 2 hours.

 Again strain the mush, and press it to extract any extra liquid. I usually compost the seeds and mush after this step, although I plan on figuring out a good use for it. In the mean time it makes mean compost.

 After that you are left with the juice from the two extractions, combine these and set to simmer on the stove. Simmer until desired consistency, adding honey (I use unpasteurized wildflower honey, but I don't think it matters much) until desired sweetness. I know those are very vague instructions, but that is how I make it. I think the original recipe called from equal amounts white sugar to rose juice but I would estimate I only add 1/2 to 2/3 honey to rose hip juice. I usually boil it down until it is the consistency of maple syrup and I am satisfied with the taste.

 It can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks (could be longer, I'll have to experiment) or frozen for a year. I have never tried canning it, but I'd imagine that would probably work.

While crepes are the go to companion with this syrup here is a different use for it: rose hip syrup drizzled on baguette with cottage cheese:

Bon Appetit!

- Katy