We went out to SAFF today. We walked down the North Trail to the waterway and followed it all the way to the South Trail.
Down in the waterway at bottom of SAFF. We were happy to find a way across and connect the two trails. We are standing in a spot where we saw deer and other tracks. Animal tracks along the waterway where they stop to drink and cross.
We heard the woodpecker laughing and talking while we were at the bottom along the waterway and he visited us in the clearing at the top. We could also hear a hawk calling while we walked through the woods. We saw large spiders in funnel webs at the bases of trees. Many spider webs across the trees. We saw butterflies. They were black with blue. Iridescent.
We found Russulas and boletes. We found a polypore that had teeth on the bottom.
Teeth on the bottom of the polypore mushroom found along the waterway. A red capped Russula A boletusBolete at bottom of property along waterway.
We used a dolly to move the cedars we culled today to use to build the bathroom and compost toilet. It was effective.
We got out to the farm Sunday afternoon and as we pulled in we saw mushrooms around the gate and driveway. We were excited to investigate these boletes that popped up quickly and without rain.
Bolete unknown species Beside driveway, there were about 15-20 of these in various levels of maturity. Unidentified boletus.
We took a walk and saw the same kind of toad near to where we saw the last (so now we have Toad Way). It could very well be the exact same toad for all we know.
Young fowler’s toad
We found a new marker down there and wish we knew what they all mean. We dropped a pin on Google maps so we know where this one is.
Another marker
It was a dry week in Dillwyn last week. We walked to the North end of the creek and down the waterway to the spring. It continues to dribble water. We saw most of the cinnabar pins were gone probably because of the dry weather conditions. We heard the pileated woodpecker singing and cackling in the forest. It was very hot and humid with hardly a breeze. We walked back up the hill and noted many funnel webs. Most at the bases of trees. In some, we could see large spiders! They were everywhere!!!
A grass spider’s funnel web.
We walked down the South trail just to Chanterelle Trail and followed that to where we’d stopped our last trail making. We’d cleared a good bit, about halfway to the North trail maybe. We were happy to see how much we’d gotten done last time. We saw a lot more of the large spiders in the funnel webs. We only saw two chanterelles this time along Chanterelle Trail. None on the South Trail but we did not make it down to the south side of the waterway this time.
We eyed our availability of cedars along the walk. We heard cedar is great to use as it’s insect and rot resistant. (We love the idea of insects staying out of the area!) We are going to fell some of these cedars to make our bathroom structure. They are crowding others and will need to be culled anyway so it’s a win-win to have a good use for them. They are pretty trees so we will miss them. We will have plenty left. We’ve gotten most of the tools collected and we have a plan drawn. Our next step is to get the trees cut and get them to our bathroom build site. We still need to work out a good plan to move these logs up to the top of the hill. We also have a better idea of where we will want the structure to be so we hope to get started as soon as possible.
We are learning and growing along with SAFF. For the first several months, we thought our loblolly pines were long leaf pines. ☺️ Luckily, we were gently guided to their true identity. We were also gifted a helpful booklet called Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States by the US Department of Agriculture-Forest Service. It was clear we did indeed have loblolly pines! We admire these trees for their beauty and hope to nurture and serve them as long as we can.
This is only the beginning of our list of trees. We will add more as we identify them.
Loblolly pine, Pinus taeda, needles are in clusters of three. Loblolly seeds are eaten by wild turkeys, squirrels and some songbirds. (From Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States booklet page 16). From Page 17 of Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States bookletBlack Cherry, Prunus serotina, deciduous leaves 2-6 inches long one half to three quarter inch wide. White flowers. Cherries are dark red and turn black when they ripen. They are food for wild animals and birds. (Page 88 of Important Forest Trees of the Eastern US booklet). We’ve seen deer eating them on the farm cam. They are prone to caterpillar nests as evidenced by the gypsy moth nest seen here. We have an abundance of these native trees. They provide nectar and pollen for insects and food for mammals. They support 456 species. Seeds are toxic and fruit is edible.Page 89 of Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United StatesPaulownia. Nonnative. We have a few of these up top in the clearing on SAFF. It has been effectively procreating. The trees are known for fast growing and used for lumber. It is listed as invasive in Virginia so we will discourage it from spreading and are thinking of having the large paulownias milled to build a structure on the farm, and pulling out babies when the ground is soft and wet.Yellow Poplar, Liriodendron tulipifera, far and above the most common tree on SAFF. It thrives on the farm. Deer love eating the seedlings. We have plenty for them! Seeds are used by squirrels in early fall and mid winter (page 58 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States). Many of our poplars are very small, undeveloped, and, too -crowded trees. We have begun to use these stick-like trunks to build berms to direct and slow water down on the slope. Page 59 of Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States Virginia pine, Pinus virginiana, a small tree, 30 to 40 feet. The seeds are eaten by wild turkeys, squirrels and some songbirds. (Page 20 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States)Page 21 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States. Eastern redcedar, Juniperus virginiana, is seen on SAFF. Spread throughout the farm. Lumber used for moth and insect repellents. Resistant to decay and rot. We will find many uses for this. Eastern red cedar makes an excellent specimen and does well in a grouping or as a screen or windbreak. It provides cover, habitat, and food for wildlife. This tree is also resistant to damage by deer. It is sometimes grown for Christmas trees. Page 29 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States.Blackjack oak, Quercus marilandica, A small sized tree (20 to 30 feet tall) generally with poor form and a bristle at the end of each leaf lobe. It typically has a short trunk with a round crown made up of twisted limbs. It provides cover and habitat and its acorns are an important food for mammals and birds. American Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis, multicolored and mottled bark. American sycamore is recommended for planting on all types of strip-mined land, and it is useful in rehabilitation of various sites with saturated soils. It is often a natural early colonizer of disturbed sites such as old fields, spoil banks, streambanks degraded by channelization, and waterway disposal sites. Native Americans used sycamores for a variety of medicinal purposes. https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/cs_ploc.pdfPage 57 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States Shortleaf pine, Pinus echinata, Seeds are eaten by wild turkeys, squirrels and some songbirds. (Page 14 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States). A medium to large tree with a straight, well pruned trunk, able to reach over 100 feet tall; typically has a small, open, pyramidal crown. https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=101Shortleaf pine https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=101White oak, Quercus alba, is a deciduous tree with leaves 5-9 inches long and 7-9 rounded lobes. This is Virginia’s oaks support 534 species making them highly valued and a keystone species. They are long lived, slow growing with a deep tap root. Intolerant of flooding. Although called a white oak, it is very unusual to find an individual specimen with white bark; the usual colour is a light grey. The name comes from the colour of the finished wood. The acorns are much less bitter than the acorns of red oaks, but are small relative to most oaks. They can be eaten by humans but, if bitter, may need to have the tannins leached. They are also a valuable wildlife food, notably for turkeys, wood ducks, pheasants, grackles, jays, nuthatches, thrushes, woodpeckers, rabbits, squirrels, and deer. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_albaPage 103 of booklet Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States American Beech, Fagus grandifolia, Edible nuts are triangular in prickly husks that remain on tree into winter. These nuts are excellent food for many wild birds and animals Page 91 of Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States Tree of Heaven, Ailanthus, a nonnative, is also unfortunately on SAFF. So far, we have seen it up top in clearings and in the forest. At least 3 clusters of it noted so far. We have a plan to rid the farm of this invasive plant. Ailanthus produces an overly abundant amount of seeds, crowds out native species with its dense thickets and secretes a chemical into the soil that is toxic to surrounding plants. Hand pulling young seedlings is effective when the soil is moist and the entire root system is removed. https://extension.psu.edu/tree-of-heaven#:~:text=When%20cutting%20tree%2Dof%2Dheaven,entire%20root%20system%20is%20removed.
This species is easily confused with some of our native trees that have compound leaves and numerous leaflets, such as staghorn sumac, black walnut, and hickory. The leaflet edges of these native trees all have teeth, called serrations, while those of tree-of-heaven are relatively smooth. The foul odor produced by the crushed foliage and broken twigs is also unique to tree-of-heaven.
Flowering dogwood, Cronus florida, has beautiful white flowers in spring. Dogwood berries are winter food for deer, wild turkeys, gray squirrels and many species of songbirds. (Page 28 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States.Page 29 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States Red Maple, Acer rubrum, the buds and samaras are a primary food source for gray squirrels in late winter and early spring. Sprouts are a favorite deer food. (Page 32 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States. Page 33 of Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States American Beech found at bottom of slope along waterway.
American beech trees are one of our most magnificent native trees, beautiful in every season, especially winter. They are also one of the most easily recognized of our eastern deciduous trees, with their silvery gray bark that appears cast from “molten pewter”. The massive trunks appear smooth to the eye but are slightly rough to touch and sometimes likened to elephant hide. American Beeches are slow growing but reach heights of 60 – 80’ and are known to grow as tall as 120’. This tree has massive smooth trunks with fluted bases that give way to a tracery of fine silvery branches accented with rich brown narrow pointed buds. Oval leaves alternate down the fine branches and are lined with small regular teeth along the margins and distinctive parallel veins on either side of the mid-rib. The lustrous leaves are almost translucent when held up to the sun, casting a dappled light under the trees. The leaves emerge a glowing chartreuse in spring, and light up the woodlands once again in fall when they turn a rich copper which glows against the silvery gray trunks. In winter, some of the leaves curl and fade to a light parchment color and hang on the branches, especially on younger trees and on lower branches of older trees, creating a lovely contrast with the gray trunks and surrounding forest.
In spring, their small yellow-green flowers are rarely noticed but give rise to distinctive three-sided nuts held in a ½” long prickly capsule. Beechnuts have been reported as the primary food source for more than 30 species of wildlife including: squirrels, flying squirrels, chipmunks, deer, foxes, and black bears as well as many birds such as wild turkey, grouse, ducks, blue jays, grosbeaks, woodpeckers, including red headed woodpecker, and nuthatches. Many of these animals cache the seeds helping to disperse them widely. In bygone times, the abundant nuts were readily eaten by pigs who could roam free under the beech trees. The nuts were also a favorite food of the now extinct passenger pigeon who descended to feast on them in such great numbers their weight caused massive branches to break off! The thin smooth bark was also once used for writing paper, and the unfortunate habit continues today with folks still loving to carving their initials into the smooth bark, potentially harming these long lived trees. The bark and leaves have been used historically to dye fabric and a poultice of boiled leaves has been used to treat burns, frostbite, and poison ivy and a tea made from the bark has been used to treat various respiratory ailments.
Sugar Hackberry found at top along edge near several large black cherries.
We found this Sugar Hackberry while we were clearing out around large pines on top at edge of clearing. It was covered in leaf cutter bees that had cut out little notches in the leaves to use for their young.
The notches cut from the leaves by the leaf cutter bees.
Uses Conservation: Sugarberry is used in native landscaping and habitat restorations, and windbreaks. Ethnobotanic: Sugarberry was used by a variety of Native American tribes. The Houma used a concentrate made from the bark to treat sore throats and a decoction made from the bark and ground up shells to treat venereal disease. The Comanche would beat the fruits of sugarberry to a pulp. The pulp was then mixed with animal fat, rolled into balls, and roasted in the fire for food. The Acoma, Navajo, and Tewa all consumed the berries for food. The Navajo boiled the leaves and branches to make dark brown and red dye for wool.
Wildlife: Many species of songbirds including mockingbirds and robins eat the fruit and use the tree for nesting habitat. It is a larval and nectar host for two butterflies: hackberry emperor (Asterocampa celtis) and American snout (Libytheana carineta). White-tailed deer browse the leaves and fruit. Other Uses: Sugarberry is used for furniture, athletic goods, firewood, and plywood. It has limited use for flooring, creating, and for wood posts. It is used as an ornamental and as a street tree in residential areas in the lower South
A big thank you to Judy for beginning this list after a walk around SAFF. She found and identified these plants and we hope to keep adding to this list as we continue to identify others.
Wild yam vine
Common names of Dioscorea villosa include wild yam, Atlantic yam, common wild yam, wild yam-root, yellow yam, colic root, and rheumatism root.
Deer Tongue -Day flower commelina communis
In early homesteads, deer tongue leaves were placed in bureaus to impart a pleasant smell to clothing or hung in bundles in rooms to freshen the air. Deertongue also has medicinal properties; Native Americans and the earliest settlers made a tea that was believed to be an all-purpose cure and tonic.
New York Fern provides ground cover for shady woodland gardens and shelter for toads.Sensitive Fern, chain fern, the young fiddleheads are eaten as vegetables. However it is poisonous to cattle. Requires moist, shady environments.Cinnamon Fern The young unexpanded fronds are eaten as a nibble or cooked in soups. The taste is said to resemble asparagus. The young shoots are seen as a “spring tonic” to cleanse the body with fresh green food after a long winter eating mainly stored foods.Galium – Bedstraw somewhat clinging Striped wintergreen, insect pollinated and tolerant of acidic soil. Lives in oak-pine woods. “The Creek Indians called it ‘pipsisikweu’ – which means ‘breaks into small pieces’ – after the supposed ability to break down gallstones and kidney stones. … Native Americans used its leaf tea to treat rheumatism and stomach problems, and crushed leaves were applied as a poultice to sores and wounds.”Solomons seal Solomon’s seal is an herb. It is sometimes used to make medicine. Solomon’s seal is used for lung disorders, swelling (inflammation), and skin conditions such as bruises, boils, and hemorrhoids. But there is no good scientific evidence to support any use.Spotted knapweed, this is invasive from Europe and will need to be pulled when seen at minimum. No reseeding! The flowers are edible. The plant has medicinal properties. Red or black chokeberry, edible but astringent taste.
The high-antioxidant fruit is used in baking and to make jams, jellies, syrup, tea, juice and wine. Fruit can persist into winter and serves as a food source for birds and other wildlife.
Wild pink. This charming wildflower is native to dry forests, barrens, and outcrops throughout Virginia where it tolerates a range of soils. Its rose-pink flowers, which somewhat resemble those of phlox, bring bright color to the spring garden, and it remains evergreen in winter.Showy trefoil
Several Desmodium species release organic compounds, aerially and into the soil, which make them useful for agriculture: Allelopathiccompounds are used there via push-pull technology. Tick-trefoils in agriculture can also be used as living mulch and as green manure, as they improve soil fertility via nitrogen fixation.
Crane fly orchid, perennial terrestrial woodland orchid growing in moist soil. Potato like edible corms.
Tipularia discolor grows a single leaf in September that disappears in the spring. The leaf top is green, often with dark purple spots. The leaf underside is a striking purple color. The flower blooms in mid-July to late August. The roots are a connected series of edible corms. This orchid is pollinated by Autographa precationis, Ctenoplusia oxygramma, Cucullia convexipennis, Protoboarmia porcelaria and Pseudaletia unipuncta. The moths visit the flowers and insert their proboscis into the nectar tube, if there is little nectar left the moth will force its proboscis in deeper and increasing the chance of their compound eye coming into contact with the viscidium and removing pollinaria. The stigma is not exposed until the anther cap falls off, which might serve as a barrier to self-pollination. https://goorchids.northamericanorchidcenter.org/species/tipularia/discolor/
Mountain laurel
The Cherokee use the plant as an analgesic, placing an infusion of leaves on scratches made over location of the pain. They also rub the bristly edges of ten to twelve leaves over the skin for rheumatism, crush the leaves to rub brier scratches, use an infusion as a wash “to get rid of pests”, use a compound as a liniment, rub leaf ooze into the scratched skin of ball players to prevent cramps, and use a leaf salve for healing. They also use the wood for carving. Mountain laurel is poisonous to several animals, including horses, goats, cattle, deer, monkeys, and humans, due to grayanotoxin and arbutin
Young eastern box turtle on north trail after rains.
We went out to SAFF yesterday for mowing and checking on those cinnabar chanterelle pins. We harvested a few and followed the waterway from bottom left of property and moved past the midway point. We found cinnabar and golden chanterelles all along the way. Also, other types of mushrooms and we saw a toad and a box turtle right along the north trail. No sighting of our pileated woodpecker friend. Most of the mature cinnabar chanterelles were along the deep sides of the waterway with moss and ferns. Many that we could reach still hadn’t matured. There were so many down in the creek bed along the sides we couldn’t reach! We’ll need a plan to harvest these next year. We brainstormed a few ideas that all seemed to be ridiculous. We will find a way down there!
We have made it a little more than halfway to our south trail via the waterway. We were on the other side of creek. Next time we work on paths at bottom of property, we want to trail blaze along the slope side and continue to take out over abundant trees that have only inches to grow instead of the 10 feet necessary for them to flourish.
Chanterelles harvested yesterday along waterway.
Unknown fungi
A young toad found hopping along the North Trail.
We got the mowing finished just in time for an alert for a tornado watch in Dillwyn. We drove home. Staunton had a tornado warning with hail. We hope to go back out in the next few days. Our plan is to go on Friday after the thunderstorm Thursday.
We are planning our initial structures and crops. We hope to use the resources we can find to help shape the farm to become more of a food forest than it already is. Currently, we have blueberries, deer tongue (flowers young leaves and stems) and wild yams (great eyes, Judy) edible mushrooms, cranefly orchids edible corms, several edible fiddlehead ferns, and black cherries. We also hope to find pawpaws.
Scarlet elf cups
Unknown Amanita. Possibly amanita gemmata. Not a beginner mushroom. So far, anything that looks as though it’s an Amanita, we don’t even touch usually. There are 600 species of agarics (Gilled mushrooms) which includes some of the most deadly. This species is responsible for 95% of mushroom deaths. (If we are in doubt, we throw it out: Or better yet, don’t even pick it. )
The waterway floor with rocks and sticks and roots. Mosses and plants along the banks. Mountain laurel along the waterway.Potentially Hypomyces chrysospermus or Tylopilus or H. Melanocarpus. More information is needed. Finally! We thought we found a bolete that could potentially be a king bolete, bolete edulis, porcini. Found along driveway up on top of farm near pines. We have been searching all summer. However, it appears as though it could be a bolete with a fungus. Hypomyces chrysospermus, the bolete eater! A parasite turned the bolete white. Not at all a king bolete. Narrowing down identification still. We continue our search for porcinis and are glad for our chanterelles. We will not eat these!Tipularia discolor, the corm is potato-like and edible. Cranefly orchid is found all along the banks of the waterway and in the forest at SAFF.
Eastern box turtle 3/4 of the way down the north trail after rains. We thought it was a baby. A young toad. Fowler toad or American toad. Found at bottom of north trail after rains. Farm cam deer sighting. We think they were eating black cherries. August 9, 2023 Farm cam Any ideas on what this is? Appears to be a cat tail? A possum? The camera is about 10 feet up in a tree. It could even be a spider leg or mouse tail that looks big because of the camera and angles. This week we’ve seen deer eating black cherries daily from the farm cam.A fox? 🦊 What insect is this?
Chris and I excited to be at our newly christened Saint Andrews Forest Farm late spring 2023
On April 13th 2023, Chris wanted to go to Buckingham County to look at a property with forest covering most of the 13 + acres. We drove to Afton, over Route 29 and into Buckingham County going deeper and further into beautiful and old woods. Magical seeming forests with giant trees arching over the roadways creating a canopy of green. Little moss covered hamlets of yesteryear with giant boulders covered in greenness and ferns sitting in a creek bed. Gorgeous vineyards and farms. We also saw forests recently violently cleared by loggers. Jagged and torn and pillaged. The roadways beaten and abused by giant trucks full of timber. We saw what looked as though the forests had regrown a year or two after being cut, and also stands that appeared to be five to 10 years on. We began to see ages and stages of development. It was an incredible journey for us because of its unique beauty as well as other circumstances. We both really needed to be in the woods again. We had been away too long. When we arrived and saw the pines and poplars, we both immediately fell in love with our forest.
Chris walking down the driveway in the shade of the black cherry tree.
Our guess was that it had been cleared about 20 years ago. Water had made paths through the woods. Right away, we began to find interesting mushrooms with our exploration mostly limited to the top of the hillside and the edges of the clearing.
Orange waxy cap: The first mushroom we found at St Andrews Forest Farm on May 19. We narrowed this down to a hygrocybe species maybe conica group. (Thank you Reddit mycologists. ) We found it in the clearing near a tulip poplar and black cherry tree. We became hooked on determining the types of fungus we had growing on the farm. We could not wait to get into the woods and down by the waterways to explore the interesting features down there.
As summer came, we began to realize we had a sizable tick population to deal with and thought we would be kept from our explorations of the woods until winter. Glad that was not the case. As it stands, there are still several areas that are infested with nymph ticks as evidenced by when we walk into that area we immediately see between two and twelve on our shoes and socks.
Right now, we are aware that the ticks appear to like moisture. The drier it is, the safer we are. We always wear our permethrin coated shoes and socks. We wear light colors so we can see them more easily. We watch out for each other’s backs. We want to stay safe. Chris has had several bites this summer. He has removed the ticks immediately and cleaned the area well. So far, no symptoms or side effects. When we camp, we will coat our tent and appropriate supplies with permethrin.
The other note I have about ticks is that it is tall grasses and weeds that they are able to attach to our socks and shoes and then climb up to find skin. Stay out of tall weeds and grasses. If you must walk in, look at the tippy tops and you will see the ticks with their legs out. I’d only do this with a mower or weed whacker in front of me. Anyway, they do not fall from trees. They do not fly. They are opportunistic. (However, they can fling themselves out onto you using static electricity. Look it up. Here https://www.science.org/content/article/watch-ticks-fly-through-air-power-static-electricity or on YouTube). This was all helpful for me to learn in order to determine best practices to avoid them.
Keeping our clearings mowed and weed whacking our paths has been extraordinarily effective. It has become easier now that we have the truck and tractor. Lastly, I’ll add that ticks dislike hot and dry. The clothes dryer kills them after 10-15 minutes. This was also helpful for us to know.
Honda Ridgeline and ancient Husqvarna with a v-twin engine – they don’t make these like this anymore. Lots of steel! Our gate to keep out the neighborhood dogs (and any other riff raff or unwanted mushroom bandits. )Unknown Russula species
One of the best things so far has been looking forward to rain out in Buckingham County. We get very excited and wait as long as we can afterwards to go and see what new mushrooms we can find. We have been surprised and delighted every time with new finds. Mushrooms love moisture. So far SAFF has been moist! We’ve been astonished by the diversity of life and can’t wait to see more.
Cyathus striatum, splash cups, commonly called the fluted bird’s nest mushroom, found along the water way in back left corner of farm. It is saprobic, a decomposer growing on dead branches. The inside of cup appears white. Notice the cup with dark eggs which get hit with water and release spores. Ridges along the cup. Light brown or cream colored.
We went back and explored the bottom left corner of the farm and found another property marker. The earth is exposed and red back there, and has recently been washed through by a cleansing rain. In some parts it is easy to see the water moved with force and power. 48 hours after the last rain, we saw pools of water in places as well as found a deep pool with water dripping into it from an underground source.
The pool with water dripping into it from underground.
We found mushrooms and plants growing all along the edges of the waterway. In this area, mountain laurel grows. Ferns and mosses were also present. Tiny mushroom pins that need another rain to grow and mature were everywhere when we stopped and looked around carefully, we saw multiple fruiting bodies.
Numerous cinnabar red chanterelle pins awaiting more moisture to mature. Blue ground cedar and unidentified moss along waterway Multiple unknown brown polypore mushrooms at base of tree along waterway’s edge.
We made our way towards the midline of property along the waterway and stopped when it deepened significantly. We didn’t notice any animal tracks or scat along our way. Yesterday, we saw a rabbit along what we are calling Chanterelle Trail. It was gray and hopped away from us quickly as we were making noise culling numerous tulip poplar and other small, undeveloped trees. We heard the woodpecker off in the distance today but it didn’t come and interact with us directly like yesterday.
Then, we culled more trees as well as trail blazed midway down the hill and made about a third of the way to the north trail. It was dense with sunlight starved trees. We began laying the trees along the outer edges of the trail to build up a berm to help with water flow and soil retention on the slope.
We will add to this list as we find more mushrooms. Always assume they aren’t edible. We have more data to collect to determine many identities. If we ever do! We are beginner mushroom foragers, we’re not planning on eating anything we’re not 100% sure about.
Red capped, blue staining boletes found near the road under the realtor’s sign growing directly from the red clay. These slowly turned blue when bruised, sliced and cut. We composted them as their identity was indeterminable to us at this time. They were suspiciously untouched by insects and animals which leans us toward either bitter taste or poisonous. Another red capped, blue staining bolete. It turned blue quickly. Found along driveway. It was also in great condition for a bolete lending us to be dubious of its edibility.
Entoloma murrayi inedible. We found multiple large patches of these in spring and early summer. Our hat has a little flop in it for every single mushroom fruit. The pics for entoloma murrayi did not show this flop. Could be a different species? Lactarius indigo – the indigo or blue milk cap mushroom, an edible member of the Russula family. Goes great with the big flavors of a whole wheat veggie pizza. Because there is nothing else that looks like it, it’s considered a great beginner’s mushroom. Indigo milk cap from the ground level. All foraged mushrooms need to be thoroughly cooked.These grow on the ground in mycorrhizal relationships with trees. When sliced, the gills ooze blue latex.Another red capped bolete. Red pores and did not stain when bruised. Possibly bolete frostii. Old Man of the Woods, strobilomyces strobilaceous, found on multiple sites of Saint Andrews Food Forest, singularly and in groups. It is also a bolete and is edible. We’ve not tried it yet. It is mycorrhizal in both deciduous and coniferous forests. We have heard it tastes similar to a button mushroom and will turn other foods cooked along with it gray. Since nothing else looks like it, it a good beginning mushroom foraging find.Golden Chanterelles are a choice edible. They were the most delicious mushrooms we’ve ever had. Full of nutrients. We cooked them in a dry skillet on med high for 20 minutes then added olive oil and garlic with salt and pepper and sautéed about 6 more minutes while deglazing the pan with a little wine. They had a silky mouth feel. They are a great beginner mushroom as they have no poisonous lookalikes.Cinnabar chanterelles found pinning all along the sides of the creek bed growing near mosses. The red color stands out. Another choice edible and a great beginner’s mushroom. Presumed Amanita Vaginata considered inedible to beginners as there are multiple poisonous lookalikes.
Phylloporus rodoxanthus, the gilled bolete, top above and bottom below. Considered edible but we’ve not tried it. We are only eating what we are confident is safe and accurately identified. Bolete identification is complicated although there are no deadly boletes, some can make your gastrointestinal system feel terrible. We will take our time to get to know these mushrooms.
Bright yellow gills. Found alongside the creek bed. Splash cups, cyathus striatus, or fluted bird’s nest. The white inside of most of the cups are spores. Note the black eggs inside the one. Water droplets will hit the egg and the the spores will drop when wet. Growing along the back left bottom of property on a dead stick next to road in back bottom of property.Hypomyces chrysospermus, bolete eater fungus turns bolete white, tan or golden yellow. Poisonous. Sarcoscypha dudleyi scarlet elf cup, found along the back bottom waterway on a fallen limb.
Cinnabar chanterelles found yesterday in our mixed pine and hardwood forest.
We were able to find the back left property line as well as a large waterway with ferns and mushrooms growing everywhere. It was beautiful and smelled earthy and moist down there. We are going back today to collect the mushrooms and make a trail connecting the two we’ve made down to the creek. We found black trumpet mushrooms on our oldest trail. They were leathery and old, so inedible, but at least we know where to find them now. We were serenaded by a pileated woodpecker.
Pileated woodpecker making a fuss. Old leathery black trumpet mushrooms. A choice edible when freshly mature. As yet unidentified mushroom (maybe amanita vaginata). It emerged from a volva. Found along the waterway near road behind property.
Since it had rained the whole day before, we were able to see the movement of the water from the debris.
We culled some hundreds of tiny thin tulip poplars from multiple sites this week as part of our continuing forest clean up. We extended our trails and tested 3 different locations for pH levels which were all 6.6. Slightly acidic. It looks fertile down by the creek.
Saint Andrew’s Forest Farm 