A Fun Fungi Adventure Hike!

We are so lucky to have so many resources available to us here where we live when it comes to life-learning environments. Today there was a foraging fungi hike hosted at Kemp Natural Resources Station with Cora Mollen and Anne Small of Northstate Mycological Club. It was free for anyone interested and you were to bring your own basket and a knife if interested in bringing home any specimens found. I knew we had to go!

We were tickled to discover that some friends were planning on going as well and it worked out perfectly to go together since Zoey had just spent the night at this friend's house the night before (for a back to school party...so, if they look tired, it's because they are!). 

It was a bit of a rainy, soggy and damp day which is actually pretty perfect weather for mushroom hunting!

I really wish that I had thought to bring something to record with, we saw so many specimens and I couldn't recall everything once I was back at the car after hiking and chatting for over two hours. 

It was so neat to have such a range in ages all partaking in this activity. This was our small group...there were two groups of about - 10-12 people and we split up in the woods to see what we could find and then we all met back at the pavilion and shared our finds and talked about what things were, characteristics of different specimens, etc.

I was excited to find the one pictured below which is called, Hygrocybe Conica or the Witch's Hat mushroom! Very fun!

And someone else found what they call Witch's Butter...

These are our finds that we ended up bringing back home.

I honestly cannot think of a better way to spend some free time! Out in the woods, learning, having fun with friends! Life doesn't get much better! 

Laetiporus Sulphureus...or...Chicken of the Woods!

We were out running errands the other day when all of a sudden, while driving, I said, "Chicken of the Woods!" and Zoey, looking out the car window for a chicken, starts yelling "Where...where?"...so very funny! For those that may not know, Chicken of the Woods is another name for a meaty type of edible mushroom Laetiporus Sulphureus found in North American hardwood forests. This type of fungus actually causes a brown heart rot in the wood of standing and fallen oaks and other hardwoods. Being a heart rot fungus, the mushrooms appear above ground (often high on the tree)--or in a position that would have been above ground before the trunk fell. 

I backed up the car and we hopped out and went into the woods going after this bright orange mushroom bloom that I had spied. I had never found it on my own before so it was a fun discovery.

It's a pretty nice size too! Completely edible and yummy as well. Will mark this spot for future foraging adventures.