Mushroom foraging

Oowe, thanks. I thought they needed darkness! Maybe that was to sprout. I’ll have a read and give them some afternoon sun.

Update

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Amazing - I've got some oysters growing with a kit too, not sure it's going to work as the package with the spores sat unrefrigerated for ages without being opened.

We'll see... currently just got a bag of slightly mouldy looking straw.

Not quite as exciting as the mushrooms you used to be allowed to grow but still quite fun.

Take the proficiency of fungi at problem-solving. Fungi are used to searching out food by exploring complex three-dimensional environments such as soil, so maybe it’s no surprise that fungal mycelium solves maze puzzles so accurately. It is also very good at finding the most economical route between points of interest. The mycologist Lynne Boddy once made a scale model of Britain out of soil, placing blocks of fungus-colonised wood at the points of the major cities; the blocks were sized proportionately to the places they represented. Mycelial networks quickly grew between the blocks: the web they created reproduced the pattern of the UK’s motorways (‘You could see the M5, M4, M1, M6’). Other researchers have set slime mould loose on tiny scale-models of Tokyo with food placed at the major hubs (in a single day they reproduced the form of the subway system) and on maps of Ikea (they found the exit, more efficiently than the scientists who set the task). Slime moulds are so good at this kind of puzzle that researchers are now using them to plan urban transport networks and fire-escape routes for large buildings.

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v43/n10/francis-gooding/from-its-myriad-tips

When should I harvest?

Thanks for that LRB link.

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Best thread on LFGSS right now.

At the rate they're growing, it can't hurt to try some now?

Yeah, I might tomorrow morning. I’m wondering if I cut some off, the other might grow more quickly? No idea what I’m doing.

Most mushrooms are best eaten young. I'd work anti-clockwise round that picture above.

Thank you. I need strong direction right now. Will report back, if I survive.

Because they start to go a bit woody? Will a few days make much difference? @snoops - you're our only hope for this feedback.

Because they start to go a bit woody? Will a few days make much difference?

Yeah, woodiness, but I'm more talking from a foraging perspective. And no, I can't imagine a few days will make any difference to those oysters but they're starting to look ready.

Agree - I'd say you don't want to let them get much/any bigger than the largest in this pic before they start to get a bit woody, looks like a great haul!

The best time to harvest is just before the caps fully unfurl, after that point the flavour starts to degrade and the extra gains in weight is just extra water. That mini grow looks wicked!

Shameless plug but I have a mini mushroom lab at home and so if anyone is keen on some forum-produced mushroom spawn I'm happy to help out!

I'd love to hear more about this and could def be up for some spawn...

Basically I've been working as a courier for the last couple of years and am far too bored of it so decided the natural career progression was to start a little urban mushroom farm with my partner. Have spent the last year or so teaching ourselves aseptic lab work and building everything required to start producing some decent quantities of various mushroom species.

We've been cloning as many different native gourmet species as possible to try and mostly grow local strains. We have a few different oyster species and could grow some extra spawn if people are keen on giving this a go :)

Looks like they’re really happy with conditions you’ve provided! Are they still living under the stairs or did you move them?

Moved them into a room with indirect sunlight.

Lunch sorted, but they’ve spored all over the dining table.

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I survived. Fried them up with some butter and sage. Mushrooms tasted delicious without a whiff of coffee. I did leave it a tad late on harvesting as the larger ones were a bit woody in the stems.

Next time I will have fewer holes in the tub to focus the energy into four blooms. It doesn’t look like the underdeveloped mushrooms are going to grow on, so I think it’s a single flush thing.

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Mouthwatering!

Next time

You'd better make that soon, or what else are people going to follow on here? :)

I'm told this is most likely a "Cavalier". Fungi friend was very excited as new to him around here (he now has it).

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This is growing at my allotment, it’s much brighter orange in person, anyone know what it is?

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Lucky! It's chicken of the woods, a good edible if you agree with this ID yourself.

Some people react so try a little bit first if you plan to eat it.

Is it growing on yew? If so make sure you don't eat any bits of tree.

Nice one thanks, I wouldn’t eat it but good to know what it likely is.

Can anyone help with the mushrooms in the attached picture?

I'm about 95% certain that these are oysters and perfectly safe to eat, but I figured it's best to be safe when it comes to wild mushrooms and I'm far from even being close to an expert on this.

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