Mushroom on

Woods, angels, oysters.

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

We made salmonberry jam for the first time last week and it’s delicious. Wanting another couple of jars, I decided to pick some berries along the salmon stream running through the woods near my house. The picking was good – I filled a Nalgene with fresh berries in short order. Along the way I kept an eye out for mushrooms and found some gems.

angel wings

oyster

As for the jam, the berries magically disappeared while I sat on a bench in the front-yard – I guess I need to pick some more!

Rocks on a rock on the Rock.

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

After returning from my trip my daughter and I decided a day of geocaching was in order. We went to the Grand Forest to look for a couple of new caches.

My daughter loves geocaching, it’s a treasure hunt where she gets to look for real-life treasure (“geo-trash” or “geo-junk” or “geo-crap” to my wife). We didn’t find the first cache (we were definitely in the right spot!) but we did, fortunately, find the second. She is now the proud owner of a new red “gem” for which we left a marble.

Ingalls Creek.

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I spent Saturday and Sunday with a couple of friends escaping the rain and cold in Puget Sound by traveling over the Cascades to the Eastern slopes for an overnight backpack to Ingalls Creek. We had originally planned a trip to Spider Meadows but some concern about snow caused a change in plans.

We arrived Saturday around noon to find the “creek” was raging white water (turned out to be a perfect foil to one my camping buddy’s snoring). We hiked about five miles along rather easy trails, setup camp and attempted some fishing, but seeing no rising fish gave up rather quickly. We went back to camp, had a fantastic campfire, dinner and enjoyed some well earned bourbon.

Questionable.

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Stropharia ambigua

An immature Questionable Stropharia, Stropharia ambigua, growing in the backyard. Some say it’s edible, others say it tastes like old leaves, interesting.

Ramaria.

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Ramaria, growing on fir debris

Ramaria, another new genus (for me) I found growing under a Douglas-fir.

Invaders.

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

new mushrooms growing on a fallen tree

A neighbor had a tree fall and within days a new colony of mushrooms had invaded.

Earthstar.

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

earthstar mushroom, aka Geastrum saccatum

I’ve been reading Winter World by Bernd Heinrich and I’ve been encouraged to look more closely at my woods. So this weekend I took a path I don’t usually take and surprise! I’ve seen an earthstar before but this one is in better condition.

Muscaria.

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly Amanita

Amanita muscaria, one of the most recognizable and widely encountered in popular culture, especially children’s books – it’s constantly appearing in my daughter’s. I always associate this mushroom with the Smurfs. This is odd, of course, because it’s hallucinogenic – perhaps that explains the Smurfs.

Elvin.

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

fluted black elvin saddle

Meet my new favorite mushroom: Helvella lacunosa, or the Fluted Black Elvin Saddle. Today was a bumper day for mushrooms – my daughter and I photographed at least five or six new species for the season.

Purpleish.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

purpleish mushroom

Another mushroom from the trip to the Arboretum, I can’t identify it though.

Harefoot.

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

harefoot mushroom

On Sunday we collected leaves and mushroom photos at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle – I took a lot of photos, including this one of some Coprinopsis lagopus (Harefoot mushroom).

Parasol.

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Macrolepiota rachodes

Easily the most prolific of the edible mushrooms in our yard, Macrolepiota rachodes or the shaggy parasol.

Prince.

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Agaricus augustus, the Prince

I’m pretty sure this is Agaricus augustus – another classic found in the yard.

Shaggy.

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Coprinus comatus or shaggy mane

Coprinus comatus, the shaggy ink cap, lawyer’s wig, or shaggy mane, lasts barely a day.

Dunno.

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

mushroom growing on a downed tree in my yard

Red, yard work, mushrooms.

Sun, 17 May 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I open the window shade, lean over to my daughter and ask if she can see the mountain, “I can Daddy!” It’s the first flight she might remember and it’s just fantastic to see her enthusiasm for “flying taller than Daddy.”

shasta and engine

I don’t actually enjoy flying, I’d rather take a train, but since I need to fly on occasion I’m making the best of it. Virgin America’s engines are an awesome red – really striking against the blues and whites in the sky.

Snowdown, saws, show.

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I haven’t been at the computer or behind the camera recently because I’ve spent the last two weekends clearing the mess left behind from the storm of the century – we had some serious snowdown.

I borrowed a chain saw from a friend yesterday but I’m so in love with my Bahco hand saw (and afraid of most gasoline-powered tools) I ended up felling and bucking the trees by hand – it’s more work but certainly more rewarding and carbon free. Some trees I pushed back to standing so if the ground dries out they stand a chance otherwise I’ll continue to add to the wood pile.

Pink, yellow, white.

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

A peaceful lazy day with no agenda and, amazingly, some free-time allowed one of my favorite photographic indulgences: walking my yard hunting for mushrooms. I find the varieties of mushrooms simply amazing and love to lay stomach-to-the-ground taking their photo.

pink mushroom

They really are pink – found growing under some cedars.

lace-like

I like the lace around the cap.

Mushrooms, Bloedel, fungar.

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0000

We enjoyed our last trip to the Bloedel Reserve enough to become members and membership has its privileges – an annual mushroom walk.

wide view of the meadow

I love the meadow.

First, our guide, Andy, was outstanding – extraordinarily knowledgeable with fantastic stories of growing up on BI, hunting for mushrooms and fungar: knowing where to look for mushrooms.

Spiders, mushrooms, Harvest Fair, fall.

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0000

A face-full of spider webs as I hunt for a carpet of mushrooms confirms fall’s arrival.

forest floor of mushrooms

This banded spider, weaving away on a rhododendron, was kind enough to pose for photos.

banded garden spider

running away

On Saturday I volunteered with the TWL in preparation for the Harvest Fair. Bart and I moved about five truck loads of brush from one side of the farm to another – Bart on the tractor, I loading with the pitchfork. In the process we unearthed at least half-a-dozen mice, a baby frog and a newt – the eyes of a newt must have been the influence for Gollum’s. I really found the eyes mesmerizing – it’s no wonder so many magic potions call for their inclusion, they are other-wordly.

Mushrooms, mushrooms, mushrooms.

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0000

While clearing the undergrowth in a small section of the woods on my property a very brightly yellow colored mushroom stem caught my eye. I didn’t recall having seen this mushroom before so I went inside, grabbed the camera and took some photos (sorry about the flash).

Since one mushroom in my yard usually means many more are hiding I started poking around the usual spots and uncovered some more including one with a very bright white cap which was visually striking against the dark, decaying wood. It’s either my first Black-eyed Parasol (Lepiota atrodisca) or a Leucocoprinus brebissonii – please don’t trust my identifications.

July, July!

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000

there is a road that meets the road

that goes to my house

and how the green grows there

– Decemberists

strawberry

Our nation’s independence celebration appears to harken the arrival of strawberries and raspberries and this year was no exception. The first couple of tayberries are also showing color and the blueberries’ luxuriant green should be giving way to deep blue shortly. We love this time of year.