We’ve had to wait for mushrooms this year, almost longer than my patience could tolerate, but the welcome rains of two weeks ago were enough to coax most of the regulars out, albeit in fewer quantities than we found last year . . . except for today’s find, which appeared in numbers I’ve never seen before in one place: fresh, beautiful clusters of Hydnellum peckii in a ring around a couple of medium-size Douglas fir. When they’re fresh and oozy like this, it’s easy to see why they’re called Strawberries and Cream. (My hands were stained red for hours after picking them!)
I love how these and other toothed fungi engulf whatever’s in their way. This one had not only eaten a couple of sticks, but it was doing its best to devour a branch in its path.
In the same forest were a good number of Hydnellum aurantiacum, which is more common in these parts. (You can see the teeth in this image.) I can expect some lovely greens out of both Hydnellum dyepots.
As of now, I’m setting aside half of my mushroom treasures for other reasons; stay tuned to find out!
SHROOMWORKS 
So glad to here the great news about the Symposium coming to the Coast. Good work bringing the world here. I hope we can have another date this fall to roam a bit further around here. I had such fun last time and learned so much. I¹ll do some preparatory scouting on the crown land on the other side of our creek. Feel free to give me a call if you want to come and harvest anything anytime. Wishing you all the best, Sara Jane
From: SHROOMWORKS Reply-To: SHROOMWORKS Date: Friday, October 3, 2014 at 7:17 PM To: Sara Jane Apple Subject: [New post] Mushroom season 2014: bring it on!
WordPress.com Shroomworks posted: ” We’ve had to wait for mushrooms this year, almost longer than my patience could tolerate, but the welcome rains of two weeks ago were enough to coax most of the regulars out, albeit in fewer quantities than we found last year . . . except for today’s fi”
Thanks, Sara Jane, and apologies for taking so long to reply. The season still has a few weeks to go, barring any sudden freeze, so perhaps we should set a date soon.
Hi Anne,
Let us know if you get green from the pecki , as I have only gotten a rich brown .
Hubby just came back with another dozen or so from the same patch, so as soon as collecting season is over, that will be one of my first dyepots. I met someone the other day who knows you; perhaps a relative of Tom from Tom’s Sign’s in Pender Harbour?