Thanksgiving Oyster Mushrooms

We had 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.

Turkey Tail

Found some great new turkey tail mushrooms.  Tea time!

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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!

 

 

Mushroom Growing Experiment

When I was twelve, I worked for an older couple maintaining their property that happended to grow shiitake muchrooms.   Shawn and I would rotate his logs a couple times a year and he would get some amazing fresh mushrooms that were just rediculously delicious. If you think you've eaten fresh wild mushrooms from Giant Eagle,....well, sorry, but you haven't.

So I finally got my act together.and decided to invest in my own stash.  I got a couple buddies to chip in and we bought thousands of plugs from www.fungiperfecti.com.   Oysters, Shiitake, Maiitake, and Reishi's (for tea.) 

Mushroom plug spores

Jeremey and I decided to plug a trial log one evening in his garage.  I cant say we had everything laid out exactly how we needed it, but with a few beers and a garage full of everything you can imagine, we just 'improvised.'

Logs plugged with shroom spores

We needed to melt the wax chips to seal the log.  It was raining like hell, so we opted to find a way to melt the wax in his garage then 'give in' and retreat to the house.

You could say this worked 'quickly'

Then we didnt have a paint brush....so Einstein found us a (clean) cement brush..  We did the whole log in MINUTES!  You cant argue with that efficiency!

 

 

 

 

Before wax

After....maybe a little overkill??



 

Who knows how this log will fruit....hope to get the others done soon and then just let mother nature run its course.