Black Trumpet Mushroom

Black Trumpet Mushroom

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Early Edible Variety in Summer 2015


Black Trumpet, Chanterelle, Lobster, Hedgehog. 7.19.15 Upstate New York.
A motley crew of edible mushrooms all found in the same area on the same day. 

What a year we're having and it's only mid-July. Chanterelles first appeared over a month ago, since then I've found so many that I've started leaving many behind - I've already given away a bunch and my fridge can only hold so much. 

Trumpet have been a different story...My cousin found 5 lbs of these July 4th weekend before I even put them on my radar - I usually consider black trumpets more of a late July/August mushroom. But like several others mushrooms they've been fruiting early and often this year, not that I was finding many. That changed today as I managed to forage well over a pound of them. Sweet!

Lobster mushrooms are more interesting to describe than to eat in my opinion. They're created when a parasitic spores infect certain mushrooms (most likely a milk-cap as there were many nearby) and turns them into the firm red mushroom you see. Very cool. However I find the flavor to be pretty meh, also they spoil quickly and are hard to clean. I still collect them though, they're just too cool looking to pass up. 

Lastly there is a personal favorite of mine, the underappreciated hedgehog. Like the trumpet I considered the hedgehog a late season bloomer. I have a post about them dated Sept. 24th two years ago.