No Foray Sunday

Well we came and we hunted but the lack of rain worked against us and you could walk parts of the woods for a long time and see no signs of fungal life. Despite the dry weather, we did manage to turn up around 32 different varieties of mushrooms, including a small mess of common and yellow chanterelles.

There was not a bolete to be found. Even the little ones I had left behind last weekend to grow had shriveled up in the lack of rain. There has been a lot of rain to the north and to the south but not on the state park. It even did so today as rain clouds passed to the north and developed right over us but only let out a few sprinkles before raining down to the east.

So due to the lack of rain there will be no hunt tomorrow. We will postpone the hunt for now. There were lots of little chanterelle buttons, so as soon as the water starts they should be ready to pick. Hopefully it will be soon.

For those who enjoyed the foray and or those who missed it and want to see what one is like. There is another one planned for Oct. 8 & 9 to hopefully hunt out some hens and maybe some fall chanterelles or trumpets. So mark your calendars now, the location will be out at the Cedar Creek District of Mark Twain National Forest.

Foray Update - This Weekend (June 25-26)

Just a reminder of the Mid-MO mushroom foray this weekend. The rain hasn't been as plentiful as I would like (though that is probably a good thing for those along the Big Muddy) there are still mushrooms to be found in the woods. Reports of chanterelles, boletes, chicken of the woods, and numerous non-edibles have been coming in all week.

For those who plan to attend, here are few things you may want to consider bringing along.

1. Water and plenty of it (three is none at the camp but you can get it in other parts of the park)
2. Food for lunch and snacks
3. Sunscreen
4. Bug spray (the ticks and skeeters are both pretty bad this year)
5. Rain gear or umbrella, unless you don't mind getting wet. (There's a good chance of showers sometime tomorrow and Sunday)
6. A basket or bags for collecting mushrooms.
7. A roll of aluminum foil. If you are collecting both edible and non-edibles then you don't want to get what could possibly be a poisonous mushroom (or even a piece of one) mixed in with your chanterelles. You can make little bags with the foil and keep everything separate in your bag/basket.

I will be checking my email tonight if you have any last minute questions or need more information. Hope to see you this weekend.

Foray Weekend - June 25 & 26 - Hope to See You There

If you have ever wanted to go out and learn about some of the others with the help of some seasoned mushroom hunters, or you have ever just wanted to to know what the heck that mushroom is then this weekend is for you.

In the hopes of generating enough mushroom interest to form a local chapter of the MO Mycological Society, I am organizing a few forays this year around Columbia.

The first will be Saturday June 25 and Sunday June 26, beginning at 9 a.m. at Rock Bridge State Park Plan to meet at the Special Use Camp in the Gans Creek Nature Area of Rock Bridge. Click here for a map of the park. the camp is listed with a "C" on the map just north of 163 near the western edge of the park map. Mycologista found a better map which actually has the camp listed. You turn north onto Raylea Lane off of 163 to get to the campsite and meeting place.

Camping is available on Friday (24th) and Saturday night for those out of the area at a rate of $2 per person per night. Cheap but primitive, only pit toilets are available. Message me for more information if you intend to camp. We will carpool to the trails from the camp (some can just forage along the trails running out of camp), then return to identify and share what we find. If you can stay for dinner please bring some food to share. I will see if I can get some BBQ going and I am sure we can find a few fungi to fix up for those hunting the "others" for the first time to try.

With all the moisture, there should be plenty of stuff around and there is lots of ground to cover in Rock Bridge. Last year at that time the early chanterelles were out, as well as chickens, and some tasty edible boletes. Early scouting last Saturday found a handful of chnats and a whole lot of buttons, so there should be some chants and we may even find a few other edibles.

Regardless, there will be a lot of the non-edibles out there and if you want to learn more about identification of all mushrooms, this is the place to be. You can go out and pick any fungus and bring it back for more experienced mushroomers to identify.

Email me if you have any questions or need additional information.