Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Shroooom!

It is cold and rainy and no frost, so we are getting a wonderful harvest of oyster mushrooms.  We are not experts on mushrooms and know these are safe to eat because we planted them this past year!


As you can see we harvested some already in the photo above.  I had once read that there was little nutritional value in mushrooms but according to one website their nutritional value is as follows: "The good: This food is low in Saturated Fat and Sodium, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of  Dietary Fiber, Protein, Vitamin C, Folate, Iron, Zinc and Manganese, and a very good source of Vitamin D, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper and Selenium."  Since we cook ours with butter, garlic and salt and pepper, we probably negate a lot of the healthy significance of this fungus.  Another website claims that mushrooms have  complex carbohydrates that strengthen the immune system.  I can use more of that!

They have high water content and I think that is why I see squirrels eating them once in a while.  Our little harvest does get impacted by mice harvests.  The photo below is a wild mushroom, that looks like our cultivated, but could very well be inedible.  I ain't trying it.  You can see where squirrels have nibbled.


Other fungus in our woods is just pretty and exotic looking.  Some growths look like rubber ribboned ruffles (say that fast three times) and others like scallop shells that have fossilized.




There are so many different forms, colors and patterns that sometimes I return home all muddy kneed from trying to get a close-up shot of something I haven't seen.

12 comments:

  1. shrooms have such cool structures....and love them sauteed as well...yum....have never harvested our own though

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  2. You have some very colorful fungus there. I'm with you. I would be on the safe side and not at them. Dad knew what was good but it didn't stay with me.

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  3. My damp woods are full of your
    mushrooms.
    Love mushrooms
    but would be afraid to eat
    what is growing in my woods
    so abundently...

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  4. More beautiful photos. Where did you get the starts for your mushrooms. I never thought about growing my own, I have an abundance of self starters from the fall but would be afraid to eat them.

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  5. Celia, my hubby bought the plugs from some place that sells them. There are kits available on the Internet. We had to drill holes in wood logs...that wereless than a year old...inserts the plugs...and then soak them in garbage cans full of water for days. Then we stacked them in the shade and waited. Some kits can be done indoors and just requie wood chips.

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  6. They sure are pretty too!
    I wish I enjoyed mushrooms, but I just can't take the texture. Blech.

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  7. Mushrooms are yummy! and they look so beautiful too!

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  8. Gorgeous! Fungi fascinate me. These are tremendous. I especially liked the ones immediately after the rubber ribboned ruffles! Thanks for this.

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  9. Just love those green scallops. Great shots.

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  10. These are so awesome. I found some growing in my yard, but they're too obscene to post! lol

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  11. You sure found some beauties. The colours and textures are wonderful. I love that you grow and harvest your own.

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  12. An amazing selections of mushroom/ toadstools. Worth the dirty knees I reckon Tabor? - Dave

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Glad to hear from you once again. I really like these visits. Come sit on this log and tell me what you are thinking.