Cody

Cody was a good dog. Kathy was on a fire run early one morning, and coming back was stopped by a pedestrian offering up a bundle and saying: "Please sister, give this dog some love." He was only 2 weeks old. He had a good life as an ambassador to the east Oakland fire stations, and hanging out with the goats and horses in Brentwood. He survived a horse kick to the head ( sans one eye ) and run-ins with rattle snakes. Good dog, Cody. Say hi to Pequita, Booger, Sandy, Rosey, Mijo, and George.. oh and Three and Mr Kitty too.

Cody, 3/27/2010

Winter Haul

I suppose spring can wait as long as I get consolation like this! It is an early year for some of these mushrooms.

Shown here are chanterelles (Cantharellus formosus), belly button hedgehogs (Hydnum umbilicatum), yellow foot chanterelles (Craterellus tubaeformis), pigs ears (Gomphus clavatus), black trumpets (Craterellus cornucopioides), and white matsutake (Tricholoma magnivelare). I found the matsutake right where I predicted, near the sugar sticks.

Hydnum umbilicatum detail. Notice the 'teeth' instead of gills or pores

Craterellus cornucopioides 

Waiting for Springtime

I've been thinking of spring lately. Tell me that you are too, and when spring comes around I will take you to some of the best east bay flower spots around.

Gray mule's ear, Wyethia helenioides

Woodland star, Lithophragma parviflorum

Tidy tips, Layia platyglossa

I don't know what this is yet! UFO.

Amanita lanei

The coccora, Amanita lanei, is an edible mushroom. But you better be sure that it is a coccora and not another of the Amanitas! The toxic Amanitas are the deadliest mushrooms and can look a lot like the coccora.

Amanita lanei 

On the same outing found about 10 pounds of golden chanterelles. I am pretty sure these are C. californicus because they were found exactly where last year I found dinner plate size chanterelles, which the C. californicus does in age.

Cantherellus californicus 

Boletus edulis

When it rains it pours. This is about half the haul of King Boletes from the last foray. The largest one is as big as my head. Often they are riddled with maggots, but all of these were exceptionally clean. I dried all the big ones, and made cream of king bolete soup with a small one.

Boletus edulis, 11/15/10

Found hidden in the grass under bishop pine on the Medocino coast.

What the rain brings

Three kinds of Chanterelle in one outing, and a mystery solved.

My personal favorite edible mushroom is the Golden Chanterelle. I was very happy to see these, it will probably be another good season for them. I still cannot get handle on the differences between some of the species. These could be C. cibarius, C. formosus, or the newly described C. californicus. I am going to call these C. cibarius, but there were a couple of small slender ones that I think are C. formosus. They smell like apricots and have a nice nutty flavor when sauted.

Cantharellus cibarius 10/31/10

The first White Chanterelles that I have found that are in good enough shape to eat. They have all the attributes of the Golden ones without the apricot odor or nuttiness. 

Cantharellus subalbidus 10/31/10

And the mystery solved is the Scaley Chanterelle. These were young fruitings before they flare out. The mystery UFO is the nascent form of the mushroom. I originally thought it was some sort of club mushroom, it is really easy to be wrong about young fruitings. Unfortunately it is not edible.

Gomphus floccosus 10/31/10

Laetiporus sulphureus

The first rains have arrived, let the mushroom season begin!

Chicken of the Woods, Laetiporus sulphureus ( bawk! bawk! ) comes out soon before the first rain of the season. It grows out in orange fans, this one about a foot and half across, weighing 3 or 4 pounds. It is amazing how large it gets with such little water.

Laetiporus sulphureus, 10/17/10

The bottom is a velvety yellow.

Laetiporus sulphureus, 10/17/10

Cooked, it has the texture of cooked chicken meat and a mild flavor.

UPDATE: I have been informed that this mushroom should not be eaten if old, or if it was found on Eucalyptus stumps. When young it is tender and the underside has a clear liquid on the surface.