Wednesday 2 November 2016

Fungi












Autumn has been phenomenal this year hasn't it? Or maybe it's just me. I don't remember the trees being anywhere near as wonderful last year. This time around the colours are glorious. Down at ground level fungi are popping up everywhere despite the lack of rain.

The first and last pictures are mushrooms in the carrot patch. The second and fourth pictures were taken from a canoe when I was paddling around with the littlest boy. He was absolutely furious with me for stopping to take fungus pictures. The others were taken on our walk the other day. I'd love to know what they all are, I really must start learning a few. My toadstool knowledge is almost non-existent.

The farm up the road has bags of "Field Mushrooms" for sale. I haven't been brave enough to try any, although I'm sure they know what they're doing. Do you ever eat wild mushrooms?

I remember the programme I watched about the gardens at Buckingham Palace a while back. Apparently there are more different types of fungi there than anywhere else nearby. Something to do with leaving dead wood around I think. There was a mycologist studying it all, and I seem to remember reading somewhere that two new species had been found there. It's not quite Buckingham Palace garden here, but I have a pile of dead wood and a few mushrooms so I'm well on the way. Anything sprouting in your back yard?

24 comments:

  1. I've never eaten mushrooms!☺ Happy Wednesday ♥

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  2. We have had heaps appeared in our garden. You've beaten me to it, I'm just about to do a blog post on it! Xx

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  3. I have picked and eaten field mushrooms from the field behind our house before but only because I was confident what they were. I wouldn't dare try some of the more unusual looking ones.

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  4. It sure has. Good post and interesting pictures. It's a fascinating subject about which I know next to nothing. I occasionally get some fungi on the plot. Flighty xx

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  5. I have eaten wild mushrooms they are beautiful tasting giving much richer taste than shop bought. I did buy them from a farm that specialised in mushrooms so there was no risk. Great photos.

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  6. Hey CJ,
    Olly and I went for a walk in the woods last week, and saw so many different types of fungi. I took loads of pics for id purposes. I was driving up the a30 on Sunday, and couldn't believe the array of colours from the trees and bushes on the motorway verges. Simply stunning.
    Leanne x

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  7. I've not noticed many yet, but I haven't really been looking. We eat field mushrooms from ma's field. The leaves are just stunning this year aren't they? The colours, oh my! The flattish 'shroom second from bottom pic is turkey tail :o) xx

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  8. I used to eat field mushrooms, they grew abundantly in one of the fields of our family farm where I grew up. They are yummy, mushrooms on toast for breakfast a taste I shall never forget.

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    1. Gloucestershire is looking fabby right now. We've not had too much wind to blow those leaves off.

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  9. Fascinating photos - all the different shapes and colours and all so beautiful. Autumn does seem to have been especially glorious this year.

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  10. If I remember right, by Bonfire Night last year, most of the leaves had dropped, I remember walking to work feeling very disappointed that the trees were bare so early...

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  11. What great fungi photos and such a variety. We have friends who are quite confident mushroom foragers and so I have tried several different sorts, but have never been confident enough to pick and eat wild ones myself.

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  12. Memory is strange as I seem to recall people saying the same about the trees for the last few years. The colour has definitely lasted longer this year maybe due to lack of wind.
    My knowledge of fungi is probably on a par with yours and there is no wayI would dare eat any.

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  13. They seem to grow anywhere it is habitually damp, especially woodland. I only found out the identity of the turkey tail when I posted a picture of it, clueless really!

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  14. Wow, such beautiful photos! I can feel the damp and cool air :) We don't really have autumn over here. It seems to go from warm and sunny to cold and rainy pretty quickly. No mushrooms as far as I can see...

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  15. We've seen a lot of mushrooms lately on our walks too and I just know the basics. We have seen some awesome specimens of agaric and amanita mushrooms - the typical toadstools that are some of the most poisonous! When we visit Maine, they have several small mushroom growers that sell at farmer's markets and I always pick some up. Buying mushrooms in the grocery store just seems wrong. I say be brave, go get a bag of those local foraged mushrooms, and enjoy some mushroom bisque!

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  16. I miss seeing mushrooms since I moved to the desert but I do get them occasionally in a part of my backyard that stays shaded most of the day. It happens during the summer monsoon season, when we have rain more often than other times of the year. I love the kind that grow on the trees. You got some really nice photos of these mushrooms, really enjoyed looking at the different types.

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  17. Have to agree that the autumnal colours have been simply breathtaking. Been spotting fungi on the dog walks here. I do find them fascinating to look at (those fairy rings!) but, much to a mister's annoyance, can't abide mushrooms in the kitchen.

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  18. it's good to know i'm not alone in compulsively taking photos of fungi. i think i must have a vast photographic collection by now...and no, i don't really know what most of them are.

    there are two giant puff-balls on one of the routes we take when walking the Emma-dog. last year i picked one, because apparently they're supposed to be a delicacy. none of us cared much for them. at all. so this year, they're staying put.

    there are some jolly looking ones on the manure pile at work just now...i'll try and remember to snap a photo for you. ;)

    xoxo

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  19. oh wow! what an amazing variety! I still get a childish delight when I see fungi sprout up, especially in suburban locations. I saw one recently pushing thru an asphalt pavement - amazing.

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  20. I used to have a boyfriend who liked to pick mushrooms, chanterelles and porcini. The were wonderful. Sam brought home a handful of chanterelles from an outing near Glasgow. They must have been the best chanterelles I ever ate. I wouldn't be comfortable with any other because I don't know my way around mushrooms. Autumn has been glorious here, too. x

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  21. wow, those are amazing. we have teeny tiny mushrooms growing in our lawn. x

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  22. Those fungi are fascinating. Our Autumn has been hot, still the mid to upper 80's here. I need some cooler temps.

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  23. Oh CJ, you should've seen the mushrooms on our grass before we cut it on Sunday - loads of them! And actually slightly embarrassing because I suspect it's a sign of our neglectful attitude to gardening more than a sign of the wonder of autumn... But I agree, this autumn has been incredible. I can't remember when we last had such vibrant leaf colour, and of course the mild and dry October just made it all even more enjoyable. x

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