Category: Phenology Journal

Categories
Assorted Bob Feral Bends Forest Farm Leaf Litter MycoBob Phenology Journal

Chanterelle season is here

After a dismal drought last year it looks as if the chanterelles are back. We’ve had warm weather and plenty of rain. I’m seeing them pinning everywhere and suspect I’ll have more than I know what to do with soon.
Lobster mushrooms are one of my favorite edibles. It’s been a good year for them so far. They start as a russula or lactarius mushroom that gets parasitized by the Hypomyces lactifluorum fungus.
I spotted this bull box turtle munching the stem of a mangled russula about 20 feet off the trail recently. There were parts of the mushroom strewn everywhere.
A Trash Hound at rest tends to remain at rest, unless …
Categories
Assorted Bob Feral Bends Forest Farm Leaf Litter MycoBob Phenology Journal

Notes from a walk in the woods

Found this mangled russula on a beech stump that I inoculated with chestnut mushroom spores after it was cut down to create totem style logs for growing lions mane. We girdled the stump and inoculated it about a year ago. So far, no mushrooms, but a few of the stumps I inoculated with lions mane did fruit this spring, producing tiny lions manes. Not ready to harvest, but a good sign the mycelium is taking over. And the stumps make great tables for the squirrels.
This arion slug has been enjoying the rain.
In my hunt for black trumpets, I’m finding tons of deceivers. They’re apparently edible, though I’ve never tried them. The name is a reference to the wide range of shapes and forms this mushroom takes.
A frog tadpole from our pond, which has become an amphibian hot tub. Toads and frogs have filled it with eggs and tadpoles, and on rainy events it’s a riot of frog and toad calls.
Categories
Assorted Bob Feral Bends Forest Farm Innisfree Leaf Litter Phenology Journal

Tiny Toads

Things are getting biblical around our pond. The frogs and toads were delighted to find a permanent water source for breeding, so it’s swirling with tadpoles. And now the tadpoles are emerging in large numbers, starting with the toads, who were the first to host an orgy at the pond this spring.