Morels 2019

Its been a super busy start to the spring, but we managed to get out for a good family morel hunt. We’ve been going to this spot for years now because it is so close, but its always a challenge to find them because they change locations every year and there never is a huge flush of them anywhere. The big change I notice every season now is how much faster the kids have gotten and how good they are at finding them. They can go off on there own and find them themselves. Its really neat! And the best part is that they like to fry them up with me and eat them - which is certainly a main reason to do it (among others!)

Our little guy Declan was still backpacking it and loving life. Ewwing and owwing in my ear the whole time. He loves the outdoors just like the rest of them and will be following in their footsteps in no time soon.

Sunday Funday Hike

Sunday Funday! Family Hike day in Ohiopyle area while Spencer’s sister Meg was in town from Brooklyn. We ended up taking along route than planned and the kids were absolute troopers to be pushed outside their hiking comfort zone. But, because of the Dad detour, we ended up finding a pretty awesome Bear’s Tooth mushroom, which is a close cousin to the Lion’s Mane.

Speaking of bears, we also came to a bridge that went across a mountain stream that had some recent bear tracks on the rock algae in 3-4 inches of water. It looked like a couple smaller cubs made the tracks and you could see where their pads where sliding on the slippy rocks (yes, slippy).

It was a fun and rewarding hike and pretty warm by the time we left. Awesome day to be in the mountains.

Mother's Day Hike

Spencer's only Mother's Day request was a hike with the family and somehow of my famous homemade pizza.  So, we went to a local spot to try and find any last remaining morels, ramps, and nettles.  We tried Declan out in the hiking backpack and he LOVED his new viewpoint on the world. 

We found a few old morels that weren't worth picking, but still fun to find and revisit for next year.  The ramps were sparse and older too, but would be great for pizza night (on my half :). And the other added bonus was this backpack was big enough to fill with enough nettles as I wanted.   We found a really cool box turtle on our trip just chilling in wet patch of the woods.  And we got a few gobblers to play along to some louder than normal aggressive cutting.  There are some benefits to no hunting on Sundays in PA.  We had a great hike, but no bear tracks this year!

I baked the nettles in some coconut oil later that evening and baked up a killer pizza for the evening dinner.  Great day to celebrate our #1 team MVP.

Sunday morning @ Morel Creek

There is no better quality family time than a Sunday hike with the family.  We went to our favorite Morel Creek spot and did a little hike for our favorite springtime mushroom.  I have no idea what the real name of this stream is, but its been a honey hole introduced by a friend years ago and we have dubbed it Morel Creek.  

I think we were just on the front end of the morel season as we found a dozen or so singles, but the 'flushes' of yellows that this spot is known for where not up yet.  But, I will be out of town on some business travel and you got to make hay while the sun is shining.  Plus, the kids were in full blown Easter egg hunt training, so this always translates well to the woods.  

Spence is now 12 weeks pregnant with baby #4 and is already showing really quickly.  I feel like it was yesterday when we were at this same spot with the twins when they were just a few months old.  We ended the morning with a stream side lunch and then it was nap time for the kids on the way home.  Time to go fry up some morels for dinner!

Ramp-o-mania 2017

One could argue there is no better foraging event than spring-time ramps.  And if you know what you're doing and where you're going, it more like production digging than actually foraging.  I've found them in small patches before, but one of my best buddies called me and said he found the mother load.  I take no credit for this one....but I can follow directions very well.  And he was right.  A shovel and couple bags was all that was needed.  

To simply call it a cross between a onion and garlic would do this spring delectable a disservice.  But, it would get you in the right direction.  For 3 weeks I eat them fresh in salads, on sandwiches, fried with venison, steamed / sauteed as breakfast side, deep fried, or just straight raw.   For breakfast you saute the entire ramp (leaf and all) and you pair these with sunny-side-up dippy eggs.     Trust me, Its a match made in heaven.

With the surplus I had this year, I ended up pickling them.  That was a production in itself.  i will post details in the recipe section.  In short, if you happen to be in the fortunate position to have more fresh ramps than you know what to do with, this is a great (and fun) option.  Be forewarned though, this takes some serious time and work to clean and prepare them. But that is all part of the fun.

A couple weeks after this, my sister-in-law sent me a picture from Brooklyn, NY where they were selling 4-6 ramps in $5 bundles at a local farm market.  I'm pretty sure this hillside has about a million dollars in ramps!  Maybe next year I can start a ramp side business.

Puffballs Mushrooms

I was making my way to my treestand this evening and found a half dozen giant puffballs all around my tree.  I climbed my tree and sat out the last couple hours of light.  The deer were on their feet and I watched a couple small bucks chasing does all over the hill side.  Fun action, but no big boys yet. On my way out I grabbed one of the medium sized puffballs (yes, some were bigger).

I knew puffballs were edible, but I mean, just look at it.  Does it look edible?  It took a bunch more research to convince myself to actually eat one. The key when eating a puffball is it HAS TO BE PURE WHITE.  If it starts to turn yellow at all (entering the stage when it turns into that big dead "puffball" we have all intentionally stepped on in the woods) then it is past its prime and not edible.   This one was pure white and in perfect condition, so I cut it into about 3/4" steaks and pan fried it in butter until golden brown on both sides.  

The results???  Delicious!!  It was like a little piece of fried dough.  It was mild in flavor and just a fun little snack.  I bet puffballs would actually be pretty good with a little maple syrup on them for breakfast too and be a nice paleo replacement for pancakes.

SW Virginia Shrooming

I took Hunter on a like fall forage around the mountains of Hot Springs, VA, primarily so he'd finally take a nap, but also so I could do a little mushroom hunting.  We had a great hike and he was drooling out of the baby bjorn in no time flat.  

We found some older mushrooms, but still fun to find nonetheless.  We found some Chicken of the Woods, Maitake, (Hen of the Woods, and my first ever Cauliflower mushroom.  I've never found one of these and had to do some research to even find out what it was.  Unfortunately, it was a bit old and I opted not to eat it.  

Note: I intentionally picked some Jack O Lantern mushrooms so I could take them back to the house and examine them further.  I found them on the tree with the maitake and I circled them red in the last picture.  Don't eat those.  You might die.    

*As always, I am not a mushroom expert, so please do not use this blog as a source of knowledge.  Do not consume wild mushrooms unless you are 100% sure of their identification.

Wild Virginia Wineberries

We took the family down to Hot Springs, Virginia and I was able to spend a precious few hours casting into the Jackson River.  

As I was walking the banks, I came across this magnificent berry bush covered in glowing red berries.  Raspberries, I thought!  But as I got a little closer, I knew these were not raspberries.  I picked them anyway, but waited on stuffing my face.  When i got back to the cottage, I did a little research and quickly identified them as Japanese Wineberries, They are considered an invasive species, but man are they delicious.  They are related to the raspberry, but have a distinctive sweet / tart flavor.  I honestly have never heard of them around Pennsylvania, but I will definitely be looking out for then in Virginia.

Morel mushroom hunting with the twins

We took the kids on an afternoon hike to look for some morels.  We went to a place we'd never found any before, but it was close and needed some fresh air.  We were delighted to find some morels and let the twins pick their own (last year, they were in baby bjorns).  They were certainly interested and loved how excited we were!  

Thanksgiving Oyster Mushrooms

We visited the family in Lynchburg, VA for Thanksgiving and in the morning I took Cooper on a scouting walk for some deer in the city limits.  We ended up finding these good looking oyster mushrooms on this old dead log. 

These were the first oysters I found and just to be sure, I took a spore print.  A spore print is simply placing the mushrooms (cap side up) on any surface to allow you to see the expected color of the spore and covering them (with a pot, bowl, etc) to create a controlled environment.  In this case, oysters have a pearly to white spore print and this was confirmed on the purple construction paper in the morning.

Spring Shrooming

I went out for a little spring morel hunt in some new spots near the new house, and though I didn't find any morels, I did find some Dryad Saddle mushrooms and some nice sized wild onions.  I went back to the old dependable honey hole to find the morels up in the crick bottom and under the old dead elms.  May 10th and still finding morels.!  Crazy.

Turkey Tail Mushrooms - Proven Cancer Killing Fungi

I continue to go further down the rabbit hole of learning about the mushrooms and their amazing health benefits.  This spring I came across some turkey tail mushrooms. 

Turkey Tail mushrooms are well-researched and one of the most revered medicinal fungi all over the world, but particularly in Japan and China. It is a herbal mushroom that has an tremendous amount of health benefits.   

The most interesting health findings are the Turkey Tail mushrooms have been proven by an NIH study to cure cancer — especially breast cancer.

Turkey Tail mushrooms offer a long list of medicinal properties and health benefits, but they are most prized as a natural source of the anti-cancer polysaccharide PSK.  PSK is said to fight cancer and halt tumors by inhibiting the growth of cancer cells and “stimulating a host mediated response.” PSK also promotes the body’s own “Natural Killer Cells” to strengthen and kick start the immune system.

PSK is frequently combined with chemotherapy to increase cancer survival rates.  Here are a couple links with more info:

http://undergroundhealthreporter.com/turkey-tail-mushroom/#axzz30tymrnU9

Here is what Dr. Andrew Weil has to say about turkey tail.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400904/Turkey-Tail-Mushrooms-for-Cancer-Treatment.html

Here are some of the pictures of the turkey tail mushrooms I found - I see where it gets its name!

Lion's Mane mushroom

My Aunt found a strange looking mushroom in our neighborhood about a week ago while strolling the twins.  I went to inspect it and thought I recognized it from some pictures I'd seen on mushroom sites.  It was about 25 feet up a tree in a neighbors front yard, but we got permission to cut it down. 

It was, by far, the coolest looking mushroom I had ever seen.  It had tentacles, was shaggy like a lions mane and looked like it was from another planet.  With further inspection and research I was 100% sure this was Lion's Mane (it is an unmistakable mushroom.)  In my research I found a ton of information on the recent scientific studies on the health benefits that seemed endless. 

The primary benefit I read was the ability to regenerate nerves by stimulating the body's Nerve Growth Factor.  Studies have shown Lion's Mane to improve cognitive focus, memory and slow the effects of dementia. There was also a lot of history this being used in Japanese and Chinese cultures as treatment for some of the world's most difficult diseases for centuries. At one time, Chinese tradition only allowed Lion's Mane to be eaten by Emperors. They used Lion's Mane to help relieve issues involving the digestive tract such as duodenal ulcers and stomach ulcers. The mushrooms were also given to those with cancers of the esophagus, the duodenum, and of the stomach.

All that sounded great, but I was really just hoping this improved my memory and I would stop loosing iPhones, keys, etc. 

So the million dollar question...how did it taste?  I sautéed some in salted butter until they were slightly browned...  and it tasted exactly like lobster.  It

 was unbelievably delicious!

I woke up today, so I didn't poyson myself by eeting the wrong mooshroom (which was a grayt way to start the dae.) I also phelt weigh smurter then I did yestertoday.  This stuff is greight!