Fruit of the Forest

The fall rains aren't all bad - they bring out all kinds of good stuff in the woods!

After the first rain in Oct, the Shaggy Mane mushrooms have begun showing themselves.

Here is an old one after just a couple days, and a new one. They turn inky fast!



The small ones are the best - and snap right off.








This time of year we all start keeping small paper lunchbags in our pockets for gathering.

A great treat easy to find around suburbs and bark dust.






The shaggy manes only wetted our appetite - lets get out and find the GOOD stuff!

Chantrelles are da' bomb!

Its fun to be out picking, too.




The crew hit the open woods and had a blast.

We found the area had been picked over recently, but there were still plenty for all.

Here is a great couple examples of chantrelles - the white ones are less common and ever better than the yellows.



The best ones hiding out under logs and ferns.

A pretty good load for a fun few hours in the day.

The kids were good sports to try them, but they'd rather just pick them.

All the better!

We have lots of plans for the 50lbs we brought home, so stay tuned.

Of course the first go right into the butter and garlic.

Awesome!

Besides mushrooms, we had pumpkin bread and pumkin cinnamon roles.

Wow - even though its getting colder and darker out, it is still important to keep in shape with all this good food underfoot.

Chantrelles are full of good stuff for you, and taste fantastic. They are an easy one to find and are quite easily to recognize and ID safely.

A real sweet-spot for us here in the wetter part of the Pacific NorthWest!