It’s ridiculous but it’s been such a busy summer that I hadn’t found time for foraging mushrooms in the forest this year until last Saturday 12th October. We took advantage of our helper Aleksandra Domańska from Sweden / Poland to harvest the ridiculous amounts of winter chanterelles / traktkantarell Craterellus tubaeformis in the forest at the moment. The first we picked were frozen but it became warmer as the day progressed. We returned to our car pool vehicle after several hours with 24kg of fungi, mostly winter chanterelles but also with a good number chantarelles / kantarell. two types of hedgehog fungi / piggsopp, one sheep polypore / sauesopp (Albatrellus ovinus), one cep / steinsopp and a few yellowfoot / gul trompetsopp (Craterellus lutescens). Some of the pictures in the forest were taken by Cathrine Kramer from The Center of Genomic Gastronomy who has been filming my autumn activities for a couple of days.
Some of the winter chanterelles drying on the living room floor after cleaning!
Some of the winter chanterelles drying on the living room floor after cleaning!
Some of the winter chanterelles drying after cleaning!
Chantarelles / kantarell
Hedgehog fungi / piggsopp
Cep / steinsopp
Winter kantarell / traktkantarell
One giant winter chantarelle with multiple caps
The winter chantarelle with multiple caps (last picture)
Winter kantarell / traktkantarell
Chantarelles / kantarell
Prime winter kantarell / traktkantarell habitat in damp mossy spruce (gran) woodland
We met this alien in hunter proof gear and satellite dish!
My daughter asked if we’d like to come and join her and her friend in Napolitana (the village pizza restaurant). We were actually just about to eat pizza with new zealand spinach (NZ spinat), broad beans (bondebønner), Johannes shallots (Sankthans-sjalott), patience dock (hagesyre), sea kale (strandkål) and steinsopp (cep / porcini) topping with Hartington Silver thyme (timian) in the tomato sauce with chili….on a sourdough pizza made with 100% wholegrain barley (bygg), svedjerug (Svedje rye), spelt and emmer wheat.
We ate at home!
Rumex patientia (patience dock; hagesyre), New Zealand spinach (Tetragonia), broad beans, Johannes shallots and young sea kale shoots
New Zealand spinach (Tetragonia)
Attractive young purple leaves on one of my sea kale plants
I can’t remember the last time we had a porcini (cep, penny bun) or steinsopp in Norwegian year here, well over 10 years I think!! There are huge amounts for the pickings…and they were all in good condition with almost no insect larvae nor the parasitic fungi (snyltesopp) which makes them inedible.
There were also large amounts of saffron milk caps (matriske) again unusually for the time of year completely free of insect larvae!
Perhaps the warm dry weather was good for the fungi but not the flies!
I had to stop as I was afraid the load would be too much for the bike brakes on the very steep descent home!
Strangely, the most common edible fungi (chantarelle and hedgehog fungus/ kantarell og piggsopp) were almost totally absent!
Now, the job to dry them and return to the woods a couple more times to dry enough for the next porcini year!
Eikeskrubb (Leccinum quercinum / Orange oak bolete) which also grows on aspen :
The haul!
Furumatriske (Lactarius deliciosus), saffron milk cap
Eikeskrubb (Leccinum quercinum / Orange oak bolete) which also grows on aspen!
Eikeskrubb (Leccinum quercinum / Orange oak bolete) which also grows on aspen!
I passed over the brunskrubb also in huge quantities
Tempting :)
Home in the distance…a steep descent awaits with fully laden bike!
I had to take it very carefully down here…past Thomas Thomassen
..and a few others, mostly inedible
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden
