# Summertime Edibles - 2017



## tundraking

So lets talk about Minnesota summer edibles! I've got some good spots for chants, lobsters, hedgehogs. I know they have different starting times depending on how far south or north you are in the state, rain, temp, all that stuff. What's the earliest you have found any of these in Minnesota?

Now, this is just when I actually got out to start looking for these or found while looking for something else. Most of my foraging is within the first 100 miles north of the Twin Cities.
First finds in 2016 according to my photos:
Chickens - 5/15
Crown-Tips - 6/15
Chants, Lobsters - 7/23
Hedgehogs - 8/4


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## tundraking

Calling buckthronman, Calling Bucky!! 

I think you're kind of in my general area, I'm in Elk River. How early have you experienced finds? When do those black trumpets start callin for ya??


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## jg010682

Found this one last Saturday and waiting on another to get big enough to pick it


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## tundraking

Heading up to Ely, MN area for a week over the 4th. Anybody know what shrooms might be growing up there right now??


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## cocowheats

oysters are out. havent found any chicken but havent been out much


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## buckthornman

Tundrakin I'm north of you yet just had baby thorn on July 2nd!!! Life is beautiful! Haven't been out much.I'm guessing trumpets are up around here. Found some nice chickens yesterday in a sweet old lady's yard. Thank you sweet lady! Bless you.. weren't as orange as fall chickens kinda pale on underside,not the yellow? Any who have a great summer hunt everybody! Bucky!!!!!!


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## tundraking

Congrats on lil thorn!! 

I took my 3 year old out around the campground forest and nearby national forest around Ely and the chants are just starting to pop! Only found a half dozen buttons, but they are coming! 
We're gonna hit up my hot spot tomorrow morning and see how its going.


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## Shroomtrooper 1

congratulations bucky, they grow up fast, cant believe my son is 19.


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## tundraking

Hit up some of my spots yesterday, nothing going yet. Found a couple old chickens, otherwise nill. I'll give it a week and check back.


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## tickcollector

Lots of chant buttons up now. Picked a hand full for appetizer last week. Also picked a pound of corals that went in a butter, cream, asiago, parmesan sauce over noodles. Super good! Last year July 7th was my first chant find, so about a week early this year. Lobsters were up about 2 weeks after that in my spots, same with black trumpets. Porcini were shortly after that. Hope to get on them soon. Good luck all!


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## tundraking

tickcollector, what area of the state are you in? I'm just north of the cities. That coral pasta sounds great! I didn't get out looking for them this year, but one of my favs is to make an oriental mushroom soup... so good.


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## Boiled Owl Eye

Can't seem to find anything right now these days. What kind should we all be looking for to pick about right now, anyways??


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## tundraking

Chicken of the woods are out there and are fairly common, but become more prominent towards fall. 
Chanterelles should be coming up most places any day now or already coming up. I found a handful of buttons way north by Ely last last, but checked my spots by Elk River and they hadn't come up yet. 
Lobsters should start coming up any day.
I've never found black trumpets, but supposedly they should be starting too.

We're right on the front edge of good summer shroomin!


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## tundraking

Ok, here's an update... I went back out to check a spot and things are really poppin now! Lots of oysters, button chants, a buggie chicken, and a couple lobsters. I kept a good chunk of oysters, a couple dozen larger button chants, and the two lobsters I spotted. Not bad for a quick lunch break shroom run!


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## buckthornman

Keep on raking buckthornman!!! I say it like captain caaavvveee maaaan!!! Bucky


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## jg010682

Are these oyster mushrooms ? Pretty sure they are but havent ate any before they smelled like black licorice but not sure if there is any other mushrooms that look like them that could be poisonous


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## tundraking

jg, they sure look like oysters to me. I suppose they could smell somewhat like licorice, but I always think they smell like shell fish. They have that kind of dingy greyish white tint on top.


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## jg010682

Are there any other mushrooms that look like them that i need to watch out for? I think im going to go pick them tonight and do a spore print


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## tundraking

Nothing dangerous that I'm aware of. Just a couple small similar ones that are unpalatable. I've found them young before looking exactly like what you have there. The underside shot is a dead give away.
They grow fast, so if you wait a couple days they should be much bigger.


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## jg010682

Ok thanks i think i will pick some and try them found some more today but they were pretty soggy feeling


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## tundraking

jg, oysters can feel pretty wet, they are definitely have a unique texture, they're not spungie, kinda more like a big wet noodle, especially if its been raining, but they fry up nice. Bugs love them, but I just cut out the really bad wormie sections and wash them with the spray nozzle. Tip: cook/fry them first, then add in salt, spices towards the end. They absorb flavors really fast. 

bucky,
Caption Caveman! I forgot all about him. He's a stud!


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## jg010682

Found these yesterday wasnt sure what to do with them so i am dehydrating them and waiting for a spor print pretty sure they are chantrelles though


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## tickcollector

jg, Chants don't do so well dehydrating and re-hydrating. Better off sweating/sauteing them with some butter and then freezing for later. Just my 2 cents.


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## Beatnik88

Agree with tick, chants do not rehydrate well at all. Those are definitely golden chants by the way.


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## jg010682

To late im already dehydrating them but the next ones i find i will just fry and vacume seal thanks for the input though hopefully tomorrow morning i can find more


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## fungus_muncher

I use dry cibarius as a season in some dishes. Powdered and sprinkled in with Alfredo they are great. Other than that I haven't found much use for them. They might work well in soup.


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## jg010682

Me and my son found some tonight so we fried them up and they are verry good thanks for helping me out with them i will have to get some of them oysters and try them


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## jack

fungus_muncher said:


> I use dry cibarius as a season in some dishes. Powdered and sprinkled in with Alfredo they are great. Other than that I haven't found much use for them. They might work well in soup.


Try using fresh or dried Chanterelles or Trumpets soaked for a few days to a week in Vodka. I've been doing it for a few years now. Also, because of the sugars, try soaking Candy Caps in Whiskey. I use McMasters Canadian Whiskey.


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## sb

I tried Black Trumpets/Black Chanterelles in Bourbon and found it enjoyable.

My (3 year) experience with Chanterelle infused Vodka is that, so far, *I like the taste better when I use dried Chanterelles to infuse Vodka *and so far, I like the small yellow chanterelles better for Vodka than the larger Chanterelles.


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## jg010682

Do you cook with the mushrooms after soaking them or what do you do with them?


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## jack

jg010682 said:


> Do you cook with the mushrooms after soaking them or what do you do with them?


I don't use them, I just throw them away. Maybe SB has a recipe for them.


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## sb

Never tried cooking them after a vodka soak. Just put them into the compost.

They appear & feel leathery and look unappealing afterward. This is in regard to using the *dried* Chanterelles for the infusion.


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## fungus_muncher

Damn that sounds pretty interesting. I've heard of people using black trumpets in white wine but never thought about these other combinations. I'll have to give a few of them a shot and see how we like them.


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## sb

Having pickeled chanterelles before, I sometimes have enjoyed putting a small pickled Chant into a Chanterelle infused Vodka drink.

I mostly just add water to dilute the chanterelle flavor intensity to taste when drinking Chanterelle infused Vodka, so the addition of a pickled Chant gives added flavor complexity to the drink and a nice tasty treasure to chomp at the end of the drink! (Well . . . if I can wait that long)


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## jg010682

Found these yesterday


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## tundraking

Nice find jg! I went out a couple days ago and found a fee more too. Also found my first jack-o-lantern mushrooms, cool to see.


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## jg010682

I have been seing alot of coral mushrooms also from what i have read some are esible and some not. Some are on the ground and some are on logs anyone know how to tell the difference between the edible and inedible ones because they all look pretty similar to me


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## tickcollector

Tundra, those kind of look like honey mushrooms... Obviously don't eat yet, but I'd look a little more into those. It's little early for honeys in my opinion, but they just don't have the look of all the jacks I've found over the years. Give them some time, jacks can get quit large and are really bright orange. Or wait until dark and see if they glow under black/uv light. You can download a blacklight app to your phone if you have a smartphone.


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## tickcollector

Jg, only pick the freshest corals or tooth fungus. Don't bother with old soggy ones or if they have a lot of dirt or wood debris, they are a pain to clean. Almost all will be from decaying logs or standing dead timber. One of my favorites is bear's head tooth and/or comb tooth (hericium...). So much like a morel it's amazing! I'd focus on crown tip corals to start off. Pretty easy to ID and very tasty in butter, cream and cheese sauces. Get an ID book, good luck.


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## jg010682

Got an id book they just all look the same to me


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## Beatnik88

jg, crown-tipped coral only grows on dead wood. Any coral growing in dirt instead will be another species of ramaria, some of which are poisonous.


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## tundraking

tickcollector, thanks for the 411! I've kept my eye open for honeys, but thats another one I haven't found yet. I'll do some research and let them grow.


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## tundraking

So... I went for a walk on lunch break to see about picking those honeys since its been a few days, and they were gone... Now, in the last couple years I haven't even seen a sign of another picker in this area, and those honeys were fairly hidden, and they were completely picked. Its interesting because there are a lot of chants and lobsters in the same area, but they don't get picked. At least not yet... So now I'll have to turn on my radar for honeys in the future.


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## tickcollector

That's too bad you couldn't get another look at them to get a positive ID. I was really curious to know too. I usually don't find them in my spots until the end of August/early-september.


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## jg010682

Found these yesterday


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## tundraking

jg, Nice find! Where abouts in the state do you live?


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## mustachio

We made a chanterelle hunting video. Just for laughs and good times but it's been a really bad season, this is the latest it's ever been before finding a few pounds of solid chanterelles and the chicken has been practically nonexistent. Anyway here's the video if you're interested:


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## jack

Looks like the majority of your Chanterelles are Cantharellus phasmatis, the Ghost chanterelle. Named so because of the white stem & underside. The other ones are most likely C. flavus because of the fruity smell.


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## Barnacle

mustachio said:


> We made a chanterelle hunting video. Just for laughs and good times but it's been a really bad season, this is the latest it's ever been before finding a few pounds of solid chanterelles and the chicken has been practically nonexistent. Anyway here's the video if you're interested:


I love it! You guys are funny.

Jack keep that knowledge coming, great stuff.


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## mustachio

Barnacle said:


> I love it! You guys are funny.
> 
> Jack keep that knowledge coming, great stuff.


Thanks! We try. Not that hard, though, because I get hurt every time I try too hard.



jack said:


> Looks like the majority of your Chanterelles are Cantharellus phasmatis, the Ghost chanterelle. Named so because of the white stem & underside. The other ones are most likely C. flavus because of the fruity smell.


This is fantastic information, I've been curious about this forever. I need to do some research so I can pretend I went to mycology school.


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## jg010682

I live in sauk rapids. I've only been finding them in one location i have found some in others but not that many just a few here and there


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## jg010682

Any idea what kind of shroom this is couldnt get a good pick of the underside looks like old man of the woods to me


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## jg010682

Here is the under side


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## tundraking

I've never found one of those, but it looks like an old man of the woods to me!


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## misskay

jg010682 said:


> Here is the under side


Old man for sure


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## trumzee

mustachio said:


> We made a chanterelle hunting video. Just for laughs and good times but it's been a really bad season, this is the latest it's ever been before finding a few pounds of solid chanterelles and the chicken has been practically nonexistent. Anyway here's the video if you're interested:


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## trumzee

Mustachio - Like the video! Loads of chants for the both of you. Went to a St Park so. of Northfield but no chants. Lots of other shrooms. Identified a bunch of ginseng but do know the rules bout dat. What type of tree do chants prefer? Its a great week to harvest shrooms. (weather wise) Thanks for any help in areas to target.

Did the big skeeter bite Miss Blonde on the cheek bone? ha, ha


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## tundraking

Got out last weekend with my daughter and my dog. Found some lobsters, hedgehogs, and a few chants. The slugs were goin to town on the lobsters. I was only able to take a quarter of what I found. 

Side Note: 
Be careful out there for ground wasps/bees and such. We had just started foraging when my 13 1/2 year old springer stepped on a nest and it exploded with bees. Before I knew it, he was covered and being succumbed by them. He couldn't even run. Had to haul my daughter 50 yards away, ran back and started wiping them off with a spare mesh bag I carry. Of course I'm getting bit at this point, but I kept at it. Pulled him 5-10 feet, wipe, pull, wipe, and so on until we could get away from them. He had to have taken 40-50 bites in the short time this took, so I was expecting him to go into major shock or something, but he ended up ok. We got back to the truck, fed him a bunch of water and food, we regrouped, had a grill out lunch, and went back to foraging!
Needless to say, I'll be carrying some benadryl with me from now on.


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## Barnacle

Great advice! After learning about permethrin from others on this site, I happened to be looking at a bottle of powdered ground bee killer that I had used in my yard last year and noticed that the only active ingredient was permethrin. So i wonder if it might help you in case of another bee incounter. ??


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## tundraking

Thats interesting. They move with intent when they're in attack mode, so I'm guessing they'll have stung you and will be on there way to dying before the permethrin does its thing...


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## Barnacle

Agreed. NOT something we should test. 


tundraking said:


> Thats interesting. They move with intent when they're in attack mode, so I'm guessing they'll have stung you and will be on there way to dying before the permethrin does its thing...


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## jack

That almost sounds like African Bees, seeming how you had to run about 50 yards. That's a definite bummer !


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## tundraking

I think I still have one in my pack, so I'll have to see if I can identify it...


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## tundraking

So I found one in my bag. Its a yellow jacket, and looking at the size of it, there had to be way more of them than I originally thought, because they're pretty small and it was a cloud of them and my dog was nearly half covered. 
Just glad it turned out ok. 
Back to the woods I go!


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## jg010682

First hen of the year!!!!


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## Barnacle

tundraking said:


> So I found one in my bag. Its a yellow jacket, and looking at the size of it, there had to be way more of them than I originally thought, because they're pretty small and it was a cloud of them and my dog was nearly half covered.
> Just glad it turned out ok.
> Back to the woods I go!


Hey, I just saw this post again and remembered that I wanted to mention to you about this new (to me) bug repellent I found. It's not for the bees but just general nuisance bugs. I bring my boys (3 & 5) out with me often and have been using "Mighty No Bitey" bug spray on us. It seems great so far. It's a bunch of essential oil type stuff, might be all organic as well. Smells minty/ lemonyish. No residue or lingering smell yet seems effective for multiple hours. 8oz for $10-12. Also they make a version specifically for dogs, (not cats and dogs) just dogs. They call it "Ruff on Bugs".


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## tundraking

jg, good to see a hen! 

Barnacle, Love the bug dope names! I'll have to look around for those and try them out.
I've been busy the last couple weeks, found a real nice chicken last weekend at a campground I was staying in, otherwise just finished up all the lobsters I had from a couple weeks ago.


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## Barnacle

tundraking said:


> jg, good to see a hen!
> 
> Barnacle, Love the bug dope names! I'll have to look around for those and try them out.
> I've been busy the last couple weeks, found a real nice chicken last weekend at a campground I was staying in, otherwise just finished up all the lobsters I had from a couple weeks ago.


Cool, I got it on Sierra trading post for $8 with a promo but otherwise it's $10 but Home Depot has it online possibly in store but for $12/13


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## tommyjosh

Last years haul in one weekend


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