Today I took a day off of any duties and works and I went for a walk in the forest, with my camera. And right at the edge of the forest, I got distracted.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
I had planned a long picture-taking walk, about five-six kilometers. I had drink and snacks packed, an audiobook prepared, and just in case I find some mushrooms, I had two cloth shopping bags in my backpack. I thought maybe I find enough for a dinner.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
Boletes are growing in huge numbers. I did not even get to the best places and I filled both shopping bags before venturing so much as twenty-thirty meters into the forest. They weighed about five kilos each, here you can see them after I took a hefty portion off the top to give to my neighbor, who likes them, but, like my parents, is too old to go collecting herself.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
My tiny kitchen counter was covered in mushrooms. It took me about six hours to clean all these and cut them. Most were cut to slices to dry, but some were too soft and spongy (and there were some blushers in there too) and had to be cooked right away. And even though there was a lot of waste, I still filled the whole vegetable dryer and a table with drying, and my biggest pot with cooking. There are good ten-twenty meals in the pot, so after it all cools down, they will be divided and packed into small portions and frozen.
I must apologize, I did not make any pretty pictures for you today. But I am really tired, despite my walk being only about one-fifth of the length I planned.
In Latvia we just had a month long dry period with no mushrooms. During the last week we finally got some rain, and I went to the forest with my hopes up only to find nothing edible. At least today I saw a few boletes at the farmers’ market, so I’ll have to check the forest again in a few days.
Meanwhile, I recently planted some boteles in my boyfriend’s backyard, he has loads of birch and oak trees growing there, so boletes might like it there. Hopefully, if they successfully form mycorrhiza with the tree roots, a few years from now, I won’t even have to go to the forest for mushrooms. After all, Amanita virosa already grows in my boyfriend’s yard, so I’m hoping that maybe I could get something more edible than this toxic horror.
Wow, that’s a lot of boletes.
Bolete in boyfriend’s backyard can be translated into a double entendre in Finnish.
Be still my heart… how absolutely fabulously wonderful! We’ve been in drought all year so all my trips have been in vain -- no mushrooms. Or, I find maybe one old dried-up specimen of something not super interesting in the eating department. This is just an incredible foray you went on! Wow!!
@Andreas Avester: I hope your plan works, that would be so nice to have them popping up right in the yard like that.
But you did!
There is beauty in a mushroom. As well as a pregnancy of taste. I envy you, I generally get my mushrooms at the store. But then I make a mushroom sauce for risotto using butter, coconut milk, and tarragon (with a touch of thyme) which my wife adores.
Nom Nom Nom
I know there are some good mushroom spots here. I just v don’t know where and I also don’t have time. But what v would I give für a nice serving of grandma’s mushrooms.
Yum yum yum, I’m most envious!
How fabulous. Wonderful food for winter and a lovely photo.
What a great bounty! Where I live, there is … nothing. Everything is absolutly dry and no mushroom in sight.