Toadstools, fungus and mushrooms

[Saxum]

 

I live in Northern Virginia which usually does not get directly by tropical storms but go between dry and wet periods over summer.  

My wife, an urban raised Hong Kong woman, loves growing & planting and to keep our water bill down we save rain water even having a large heavy duty tub at end of drain spout, an old chest freezer, at least 10 35 gallon storage bins and dozens of other storage containers a gallon or more.   We collect a lot of water.  Two months ago we emptied almost all of our stored water and was using hose to water her critical plants.

 

Right now all of our storage is close to top and I have been seeing a much greater variety of toadstools, fungus and mushrooms than I have seen before.  We try to recycle so when we had some trees professionally trimmed we told them to dump the chopped wood rather than hauling it away using it to fill holes and cover flower beds like mulch.  This might account for some of the increase in toadstools, fungus and mushrooms we are seeing but the increase is not just in our yard but in grass areas between sidewalk and roads all around us as well.  The increase is not just in number but in variety seeing varieties I have never seen before and I used to do a lot of woods walking. I wish I had more knowledge of wild toadstools, fungus and mushrooms to know which were good to eat for I used to eat a lot of wild plants.

 

Are others seeing a proliferation in quantity and variety of toadstools, fungus and mushrooms?

[Wacka]

Our yard was a one time part of a small  orchard. we actually had a barn on our 85x200 property  and  two apple,  a pear, and a plum tree on it when we moved there in 1961. The trees died from rot  a few years later and my dad cut them down with the stumps left below the soil. For at least 10 years we would get numerous mushrooms sprouting up where the trees had been. I would not eat any wild mushrooms as the death caps can mimic  perfectly edible ones.

Of course the only experience with fungi besides eating mushrooms from the supermarket is getting a PhD in Molecular Bio studying DNA replication in brewer's yeast. Grew lots of 2 liter flasks of them.😀

 

 

 

[4merper4mer]

On 9/27/2024 at 8:44 AM, Saxum said:

 

I live in Northern Virginia which usually does not get directly by tropical storms but go between dry and wet periods over summer.  

My wife, an urban raised Hong Kong woman, loves growing & planting and to keep our water bill down we save rain water even having a large heavy duty tub at end of drain spout, an old chest freezer, at least 10 35 gallon storage bins and dozens of other storage containers a gallon or more.   We collect a lot of water.  Two months ago we emptied almost all of our stored water and was using hose to water her critical plants.

 

Right now all of our storage is close to top and I have been seeing a much greater variety of toadstools, fungus and mushrooms than I have seen before.  We try to recycle so when we had some trees professionally trimmed we told them to dump the chopped wood rather than hauling it away using it to fill holes and cover flower beds like mulch.  This might account for some of the increase in toadstools, fungus and mushrooms we are seeing but the increase is not just in our yard but in grass areas between sidewalk and roads all around us as well.  The increase is not just in number but in variety seeing varieties I have never seen before and I used to do a lot of woods walking. I wish I had more knowledge of wild toadstools, fungus and mushrooms to know which were good to eat for I used to eat a lot of wild plants.

 

Are others seeing a proliferation in quantity and variety of toadstools, fungus and mushrooms?

Unless you witness the act it is very hard to tell the difference between toad crap and frog crap.  Why blame only toads?

[sherpa]

We really enjoy mushrooms so i purchase plugs for shitake, oyster and lion's mane mushrooms.

I drill holes in 6-8" white oak limbs and implant the spore plugs. The limbs must be disease free and the spores not placed for a couple weeks after cutting because the tree has a natural defense against them until that time elapses.

Takes a bit of time, but  with proper care and storage location, they produce and are much better than store bought.

[That's No Moon]

Most of the mushrooms you get in the Eastern part of the country are grown within 10 miles of my house. I don't need to go find more.

[sherpa]

13 hours ago, That's No Moon said:

Most of the mushrooms you get in the Eastern part of the country are grown within 10 miles of my house. I don't need to go find more.

 

Central PA?

[That's No Moon]

1 hour ago, sherpa said:

 

Central PA?

SW Chester County

[sherpa]

27 minutes ago, That's No Moon said:

SW Chester County

 

Yep. I guessed.

A guy I used to fly with built those huge mushroom production facilities in that area.

Very big capital investment, over a million each, but really interesting and cool.

[Mr Info]

I typically see a good proliferation in the mushroom kits and spores that I purchase.

[Captain_Quint]

On 10/4/2024 at 8:15 PM, That's No Moon said:

Most of the mushrooms you get in the Eastern part of the country are grown within 10 miles of my house. I don't need to go find more.

Kennett Square? I've seen the mushroom tunnels there. Pretty cool looking.