Where’s the bloody mushrooms? usually at this time of the year i have a freezer full of ceps ready for bonfire night mushroom soup but apart from a small haul in mid August after hurricane Bertha came through, that got eaten on the day, there’s been absolutely nothing around here, well except puffballs, hundreds of the damn things.

I expect they’ll explode the moment it stops raining.

Last year seemed to be a bumper crop, certainly the most variety I’ve ever seen and millions of them everywhere. 😛

I’m not brave enough to eat any mind, I look but don’t touch.

Currently on the hunt for puffballs! Been told they are unmistakable, no similar ones that are poisonous, and taste really good. Haven’t seen any yet though. Where have you seem yours Bazz – what conditions?

Anna B – i’m in the south east and they are literally every where, i usually see plenty of them but certainly many more this year than in previous years, at the moment they mostly seem to have turned yellow and popped their spores, and whilst they are edible generally i wouldn’t bother, there’s usually much better on offer.

OK Thanks, am in S Wilts. Am looking for puffballs as I wouldn’t be able to ID anything else! 🙂 Saw some sort of mushrooms in the woods when I was collecting sweet chestnut at the weekend. I was told cow fields good for puffball. Sliced, fried in egg…. if I can find any!

There are several types of puffball – are you sure they’re all edible?

http://www.eppingforestguardian.co.uk/news/11527469.Illegal_mushroom_foraging__on_industrial_scale_/

Very poor at the moment. Found some ceps in early September but I think the warm dry weather put a stop to them. Only type I’m picking at the moment is hedgehog fungus (pied de mouton).

there was an article on Farming Today about the ‘industrial’ harvesting of mushrooms from SSSI’s and woodland generally. Pay people a pittance to harvest everything they can find and then use someone who knows what they’re doing to select the edible and saleable ones – throw 80% of them away.

As above – we had the driest September since records began round here – as long as it stays warm I think the recent rain will bring them out now.

If you are unsure go on an organised hunt. Its like anything, the more you do it the better you get, just never take risks if unsure and if you do always leave some of what you have eaten to accompany you to the hospital.

Puffballs are ok, but not that moreish if im being honest, not a patch on even a field mushroom.

Hopefully they will come out soon before a frost comes, just need some nice dry days so they dont get ruined!

There are several types of puffball – are you sure they’re all edible?

See Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffball

“While most puffballs are not poisonous, some often look similar to young agarics, especially the deadly Amanitas, such as the death cap or destroying angel mushrooms. It is for this reason that all puffballs gathered in mushroom hunting should be cut in half lengthwise. Young puffballs in the edible stage, before maturation of the gleba, have undifferentiated white flesh within; whereas the gills of immature Amanita mushrooms can be seen if they are closely examined”

I used to really enjoy picking and eating wild puffballs until one day I foolishly included a puffball that had gone past the edible stage (the flesh was no longer white). I have never been so sick in my entire life, rivers of it coming out of both ends at once along with a raging fever. Even when I thought I’d got over it and went back to work, it suddenly attacked me and I nearly passed out in the loo whilst throwing up. For several years afterwards I only had to look at a mushroom and I felt queasy (I’d avoid them in the supermarket).

So, BE CAREFUL OUT THERE 8)

It’s been poor in Perthshire too. The warm dry September did for most of them.
After a nasty near miss with a yellow stainer, I only pick chanterelles and ceps now.

Sh*tloads here in Sweden chanterelle madness I tell you

Natrix thank you. My desire to pick puffballs has been remarkably short lived!

Just got back from a walk round one of our local patches. Found 5 ceps and there was a lot more other stuff about as well. Hopefully there will be a bit more to pick in the next few weeks.

Any good books out there you’d reccommend – I was thinking about the River Cottage mushroom guide?

Mushrooms and Other Fungi of Great Britain and Europe (A Pan original) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0330264419/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_Ewaqub0BGWBNR

The river cottage book is ok, but this is better. You should really try and cross reference a few though.

The recent rains seem to be having the desired effect, manage to gather a few over the last couple of days, shaggy inkcaps, ceps, field mushrooms and a variety of other bolettes, bring on the cooler weather.

had some huge (bigger then your head) puffballs in one of the fields we rent back in September. Also saw quite a few other big mushrooms (not edible) and some definitely poisonous red with white spots and some little clusters up on the mendips.

Have just started seeing more popping up in the orchard now.

About 9:45 in

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04l3850

I found my first “penny bun” cépe (Boleta) yesterday an ate it last night. Bliss. Such a perfect eating fungus.

We had a fairly good Parasol “season” a month ago, but it was brief and stopped as soon as the weather dried up after a week of evening showers.

The common hasnt been grazed much this year as the herd has been sold so my personal fairy ring of champignons hasnt been able to fruit underneath all the heavy grass. Next year I will go and mow the patch as I miss them

Been pretty rubbish here too – Berkshire/Surrey border. Too warm in September and now too wet. Hopefully some more normal autumn weather will give them a chance. If we skip that and head straight to frosts then I’ll be waiting for next year.

There’s been a rise in mushroom poisonings http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-29725015 so take care 8)

Saw this beaut’up the hill the other day:

[/URL]

Parasols seem to be good in Suffolk at the moment – my dad said he’d had loads a few weeks ago, then stopped finding any (possibly because he’d eaten them all…) but I then found another site at the weekend and got 3 good ones for him, leaving quite a few older ones. Also found several field mushrooms in his paddock, but he hadn’t been looking for mushrooms that close to home, so hadn’t noticed them!