Probably Last Forage Of The Year - 22nd December 2011

It's time to get the holly and mistletoe for Christmas. First up to the woods for holly. As anticipated, there are plenty of berries this year. It's been very mild, so I assume the birds have other food sources still and haven't eaten all the berries. Anyhow, I got a few sprigs.

Next down to my local fields for the mistletoe. On the way I passed the patch of Field Blewits that always arrive late in the year. This time in an almost perfect fairy circle! So, I stepped inside and made a wish :) It struck me that they would be good in some sort of stuffing. So that's a plan for next year. Just need to find a recipe that has mushrooms in it and substitute the blue limbs.

Loads of mistletoe as usual, so it didn't take long to gather a few sprigs.

Back home to distribute my goodies to the family.

Fields at Swindon Village 25th November 2011

A short walk across the fields at Swindon Village. I want some wild plums to make plum gin with and there may be some fungi about. This is what confronted me when I reached the footpath!

I couldn't see any cattle, so I carried on along the footpath, making a note of escape routes! Halfway along the second field I found these.

Like so many of the fungi I find, I'm not 100% sure of what it is. On my first scan through the Roger Phillips book, it looks like Lepiota Hystrix (no common name) and not edible.

I spotted the cows with the bull in the field parallel. The path crosses into that field almost opposite the bull! I carried on as there is an alternative crossing further on and it was a good job I did as I found these in the corner of the field.

Parasol Mushrooms. I thought these were edible, so I picked one to take home. When I got home, I identified it as Shaggy Parasol which can cause stomach upsets. Damn! Thought I was going to have a good supper.

I carried on to where the wild plum trees grow. The farmer has ploughed up two fields which are usually left as grass and had planted a cereal crop. These fields were always left to grass. Even when I lived there in the 60's. When I got to the plums trees ... disaster! I'm too late and there are no plums or even leaves on the tree. I should have known it might be too late. I'm supposed to be a forager after all. I'm still learning :)     I remembered my alternative supply that I found earlier this year and as it wasn't far away, I walked over to it. Brilliant, plums and leaves still on the trees. Maybe it's a bit more sheltered here. I picked enough to make my plum gin.

Back To My Favourite Woods

I wanted to go back to check the Chanterelles. My cold has gone now, so I should be able to smell properly and see if they have the apricot smell. Well, they didn't smell of apricots, so I am 99% sure they are False Chanterelles. Shame, I thought I had found the "mother load". They look too orange in colour and too smooth around the edges. In my experience, real Chanterelles (at least the ones I have found) are more of a yellow colour and are more rough or ragged around the edges.

There were plenty of other fungi growing though. More than I have ever seen in these woods. Masses of these which looks like a type of Clitocybe. More ID needed.

I photographed these because they looked pretty, growing on an old tree.

The following are two type of Clitocybe I think.

The holly berries are really abundant this year.

I think these berries are Nightshade. I don't know if they stay on the branch if you bring them indoors. Would look good for Christmas. Maybe I'll try them out.

My next trip is to try and find Hedgehog mushrooms. I saw them being picked on River Cottage this week and I know a wood where they grow. So fingers crossed!

A walk around my local fields. 6th November 2011

I had seen some blackberries last week so I went back to my local fields to gather some. I didn't know they lasted until November. Maybe it's the mild weather we have been having. I picked enough for my apple and blackberry crumble. That will be the last for this year I expect. A strange man walking his dog told me that if you pick them after Halloween, they have the devil in them! You meet all sorts :)

The other reason for this trip is to check out how the Blue Limbs (Blue Legs or Field Blewit) are doing. Last year I had some on the 3rd November. Well, they have come up. So I gathered a few for my tea. They come up in quite a large ring here, but have only come up on one side so far. A great late season mushroom and one of the best eating. You can see the distinctive blue/purple coloured stem where it gets it's name from on the 2nd photo.

I checked the mistletoe and it already has berries! I wonder when they first appear. At least in October. Must check earlier next year.That was it. Mission accomplished.

A walk around my favourite woods - 4th November 2011

I went for a walk to my favourite woods. I haven't been for a few weeks. I thought there may be some fungi as we have had some rain recently. I'm still hoping to find some Chanterelles but I think it is getting too late. As I walked up the path between pine plantations I thought, " Chanterelles grow in Scotland in pine woods". So I diverted into a small clearing amongst the pines and there were patches off moss and Wood Sorrel growing. Looks just right for Chanterelles I thought and then there they were!

I couldn't believe my luck. I picked a few and then looked for other similar spots. I found another two places with moss and Wood Sorrell and again there were Chanterelles. Unfortunately, when I got home and checked the Roger Phillips book, some were definitely False Chanterelle. Some did look like the edible variety, but I wasn't sure. They smell faintly of apricots, but I have a cold and can't smell, so I'll get some more later and try again. There were some other fungi. One variety was quite prolific. I'll try to identify it later.

A type of Puffball. It doesn't have a common name.

I think this is Common Funnel Cap.

I'll try to identify these later.

I walked on to where I know there are some Jews Ear fungi (or Wood Ears for the Politically Correct). Yes, they were there. These are edible but I found them tasteless and chewy. Still, protein if you need it! When it's dry they shrivel up, but you can still pick them and put them in water and they will re-constitute.

These are pretty.

I noticed that many of the holly bushes that don't normally have berries on have berries already this year. For those who believe that when there is a big crop of berries, we will have a bad winter, look out! But, last year there weren't as many holly berries here and we did have a bad winter. So it's cobblers!

Forest of Dean Chestnuts - 23rd October 2011

Now we're into October, it's time to get some wild chestnuts. The best place I know is the Forest of Dean. I don't know any chestnut trees nearer Cheltenham. I seem to remember there were some at Stanway when I was a kid. I need to investigate.

Anyway, I went to my usual place in the Forest of Dean. Last year the crop was very poor, but a couple or three years ago it was massive! You could have picked sacks full. There is a reasonable crop this year, so I picked enough for myself and family.

You can usually hear the stags roaring as it's rutting time in October. I have never seen one in the forest but have heard them a couple of times. I walked down the path into the forest and heard a stag straight away. I was determined to see him, so I followed the path. But the sound was getting quieter. The only way to see him was to dive into the forest off the path. I walked into the trees towards the sound and it got louder and louder. Then I saw him. He was very dark, almost black for a Fallow stag. I found out afterwards that they are sometimes black. When he started to walk towards me I thought it was time to bale out! I walked backwards looking for trees to climb up just in case :) The following video has this roaring on it, but it is a bit quiet. Turn your volume up to 11 maximum :)

 I went off to another spot to see if I could find any Chanterelles. Nothing at all and hardly any fungi. Just  too dry I think. Just some large puffballs

There are signs of the wild boar everywhere. From where they root up the turf with their snouts, to the odd mud wallow and footprints.

I also came across a tree stump where squirrels had been extracting seeds from pine cones. I took some cones home in the hope of free pine nuts, but they are the wrong type. I was thinking of free wild pesto :) You could make it with beech nuts if you had the patience to shell them.

Forest of Dean 9th September 2011

I'm visiting my friends in Wales this weekend, so I stopped off at The Forest of Dean for a fungi hunt. Just a few metres from the car I found this tiny Chanterelle.

This was a great start, as I have found most of my Chanterelles in this area. Unfortunately, that was the only one I found! I carried on and found this Shaggy Ink Cap (edible). These are common and sometimes grow on my lawn at home.

As usual, there was plenty of evidence of wild boars around the car park verges.

You can see where the boar has "rooted" along with his nose in the turf. Although they are culling the boar, I see plenty of fresh evidence of their presence. I carried on and saw this pretty fungi growing from an old tree stump. I didn't find this in my first pass through the Roger Phillips book. Will check again.

I could hear a buzzard calling, so I stopped to watch it. After a few minutes there were four flying around. Maybe a pair and their offspring. One landed on a tree along way off, but I got this shot using 28x zoom!

Not many fungi around yet. Still too dry perhaps, but I came across this nice bracket fungus on a dead tree stump. Possibly a Many Zoned Polypore.

The most common fungi around this day was this puffball. Possibly a Common Earth-ball.

On the way back to the car I saw this small orange fungi. Again, not found in first trawl through Roger Phillips book. I'll have  another look.

Even with the Roger Phillips book, fungi is difficult to identify! 40,000+ varieties in the UK!

A quick trip to get some nuts

Went to my favourite wood where I had seen a nice crop of hazelnuts earlier. Thought I would get a few before the squirrels had them all. Well, the squirrels have definitely been removing the nuts as there weren't as many on the tree as last time. So I picked a few to try before they had them all. They aren't fully ripe yet, so I'm going to keep a few to see if they ripen at home. You can eat them now though and they have a nice crunchy kernel.

It won't be long before the chestnuts are ready, so that will be a visit to the Forest of Dean in October.