Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Meadow Mushrooms

Well we finally found a meadow mushroom. Funny that we never found one before. We think it is Agaricus campestris, I've been searching for this thing since well before I became a fugiphile. Found in a baseball field in the grass growing in a group kind of like a fairy ring.

Pink gills in the button tell us this is not the mildy poisonous
Agaricus californicus

Cap was paler when we first picked it



The quickly forming spore print is dark brown.  The veil is very thin and and the anulus is almost absent.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Mushroom Season

We found our first chanterelles two weeks ago. We went hunting again this week and only found a few but lots of buttons are coming up. I've not actually been out hunting.. I have a scout now.

I'm going to Trout Lake to do some mushroom and lichen hunting in October. I hope to get lots of good pictures, maybe even some micro photographs.

I have an ankle brace that was recommended by a mountain climber. It feels like a good brace and I hope to test it out soon. It feels solid and it does not hurt to wear it around the house. Of course it's going to hurt like hell on the trail, but my mountian climbing friend says he grew enough callus to make it quit hurting after a month or so.

I have not hiked since March, so it will be interesting to see what kind of condition I am in. My knee still hurts, but I'm going to go back to ignoring it since a doc could not dx it. Getting old is not for wimps!

I never ate the Matutake soup I made last year and I still have most of my canned chanterelles left, so I won't be canning shrooms this year. In case you're interested my cannned, pickled and oiled chanterelles taste great! 45 minutes at 11 pounds pressure is how I did it.

I put up 17 pints of no pectin added black berry jam this year (open water bath for ten mintues) and now most of my cans are full. Matustake soup for Thanksgiving even if we don't find any this year!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Duckabush and Jupiter Burning

Recent pictures from Bremerton show the flames, this means the fire is now crowning in the trees.  There is some speculation that the fire has jumped over Jupiter Ridge and is heading down to the Dosewallips.  If so it might stop there because that area has recently burned and there is not much fuel left.

Smoke from the Duckabush Fire

Smokey Moonrise over the Duckabush

Ugly distorted panorama of smoke pouring out of the Duckabush Valley


Duckabush Smoke as seen from Port Orchard photo by Jack McCarn
This fire has affected our air quality
Where is is..

In this photo by Jack McCarn you can see the flames