# NY 2020 Non-Morel Edible Mushrooms



## Morel Insanity (Mar 11, 2020)

Hoping some of you here are interested in talking about other edible mushrooms! We found 2 lbs of chicken today, our first harvest [as far as we know] from an eastern hemlock. We believe it's Laetiporus huroniensis, and have just done our test taste. 

Other mushrooms we like to forage are pheasant-backs, chanterelles, black trumpets, hens, honey mushrooms, hericium species, and chaga. So far, we've stayed away from boletes and some others because we don't have enough knowledge of them to be comfortable trying. We often find coral mushrooms, but can't quite figure them out!

Thought I'd include a couple pics of our dinner prep from the night before last: pheasant-backs, some already cooked in the bowl, plus the remaining cooking in butter in the skillet. Husband added a couple of eggs and some soy chunks reconstituted in broth. He also made a cheese sauce to top it all off, which included carmelized onions, garlic, and fresh rosemary and thyme from our garden. I was too hungry to get a pic of our plates, but it was yummy.



















I'd love to hear and see what you all come across, as well as what you do to identify/prepare, etc.


----------



## Morel Insanity (Mar 11, 2020)

Here's a pic of some of our chicken haul from yesterday, obviously prior to cleaning. Our test serving had a wonderful meaty texture, and tasted a bit lemon-y to me. Looking forward to cooking it up in some barbecue sauce!


----------



## geogymn (Apr 17, 2013)

Morel Insanity said:


> Here's a pic of some of our chicken haul from yesterday, obviously prior to cleaning. Our test serving had a wonderful meaty texture, and tasted a bit lemon-y to me. Looking forward to cooking it up in some barbecue sauce!
> 
> View attachment 35396


 How did he chickens roost? I hope well. Some people have an allergic reaction to Chickens especially coming off Hemlock.


----------



## Ryan gebo (May 16, 2020)

Beautiful chicken on some oak roots 
Cincinnatus


----------



## Leah Hackett (Apr 26, 2020)

I’ve been hunting for chickens but so far only oysters! No complaints, they are still delicious!


----------



## greenie80 (Apr 20, 2020)

Amazing finds everyone! Beautiful mushrooms! We really want to find some chickens and hens and oysters. We never found morels but kept looking and found some Reishi and Corals! Soooo excited! They were delicious. We fried some which were so tasty. I also made Reishi broth and then made beef stew with the broth. Yummmm!


----------



## FrothyBoots (Apr 29, 2019)

I found 1 edible morel. Two old ones. 

Burned myself out looking early in the season again. Got fed up with it. We found some oysters and ate them. Rain would come but never for long enough or I had work 

I'm excited to see Ganoderma Tsugae growing, I'll have to take a look for it. What country are you in greenie80?


----------



## greenie80 (Apr 20, 2020)

FrothyBoots said:


> I found 1 edible morel. Two old ones.
> 
> Burned myself out looking early in the season again. Got fed up with it. We found some oysters and ate them. Rain would come but never for long enough or I had work
> 
> I'm excited to see Ganoderma Tsugae growing, I'll have to take a look for it. What country are you in greenie80?


Putnam County-found on a down Eastern Hemlock


----------



## Ryan gebo (May 16, 2020)

Young reishi


----------



## Morel Insanity (Mar 11, 2020)

Really glad to see you guys, and your finds!



geogymn said:


> How did he chickens roost? I hope well. Some people have an allergic reaction to Chickens especially coming off Hemlock.


Thanks for asking - we're actually finally cooking them up tonight for a full meal. I was worried it would be too late, but they still look beautiful after storing them in the fridge between two moist paper towels with a loose foil covering. It's been a busy family week, with birthday dinners, so this is our first chance to eat them! Fingers crossed, but the initial taste produced no adverse reactions at all. I've read that some people can only find them on hemlock... will definitely let you know how it turns out!



greenie80 said:


> Amazing finds everyone! Beautiful mushrooms! We really want to find some chickens and hens and oysters. We never found morels but kept looking and found some Reishi and Corals! Soooo excited! They were delicious. We fried some which were so tasty. I also made Reishi broth and then made beef stew with the broth. Yummmm!


We found several baby reishis when we got the chickens, but weren't sure what exactly to do with them. They still look happy, so maybe we'll try a broth and fry up a couple. I'm very curious about corals, in terms of edibility - do you consider them all safe in NY and/or do you have any tips for determining which are safe to eat? We find a lot in the fall, kind of yellower/golder than the ones you've shown in your pics. I've seen conflicting info about them, so am quite interested in what anyone here thinks.

Be safe, everyone, and happy hunting!!


----------



## greenie80 (Apr 20, 2020)

Morel Insanity said:


> Really glad to see you guys, and your finds!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## Morel Insanity (Mar 11, 2020)

Update - we are alive after consuming much cotw from eastern hemlock! My wonderful personal chef husband cooked them all up for about 1/2 hour, then added BBQ sauce for another 10 mins in the pan. [I know, I'm no photographer!]











First night, we put it on hot dog rolls, then on ramen with veggies for the second night because we're super fancy like that. I've also been picking at it from our container in the fridge, including making 2 cold sandwiches with a few lettuce varieties we grew from seed. Thinking we may finish the rest off tonight by adding a peanut butter sauce and putting it over spiral pasta. Like a sorta spicy BBQ peanut sauce thing? Surprised it's fed us as much as it has!

@greenie80 Sounds very yummy, and I really appreciate your response! I'll definitely be looking more closely at corals this year, to try determining which are safe. For some reason, they've been confounding me as far as IDs go. I feel like we got honey mushrooms down quite well last year, so it will be good to have a new variety to tackle. Of course, we always do extra verification before eating anything we're not 100 percent certain of, just in case!


----------



## geogymn (Apr 17, 2013)

Morel Insanity said:


> Update - we are alive after consuming much cotw from eastern hemlock! My wonderful personal chef husband cooked them all up for about 1/2 hour, then added BBQ sauce for another 10 mins in the pan. [I know, I'm no photographer!]
> 
> View attachment 35480
> 
> ...


Sounds great! Thanks for the report.


----------



## Ryan gebo (May 16, 2020)

I’m really not a mushroom hunter for money but does anyone buy reishi? Or Chaga? I dont find truckloads but I will find more than my family will need...


----------



## Ryan gebo (May 16, 2020)




----------



## Swampy16 (Apr 9, 2020)

I read not to eat any chicken from evergreens. I found a beauty in a park a few weeks back with my city wife and she was very hesitant. So we started reading right there on the iPhone and I read that and went back to the tree and it was a white pine so I tossed it.


----------



## Ryan gebo (May 16, 2020)

Swampy16 said:


> I read not to eat any chicken from evergreens. I found a beauty in a park a few weeks back with my city wife and she was very hesitant. So we started reading right there on the iPhone and I read that and went back to the tree and it was a white pine so I tossed it.


I’m sure it was an auto correct issue or something, but see if your country wife would try it!


----------



## Swampy16 (Apr 9, 2020)

Auto correct?


----------



## Morel Insanity (Mar 11, 2020)

Well, I was going to post some honey and hen pics from last year, but my hard drive died. On a new computer now, so will have to build my image collection again. If only I'd backed up my drive as everyone around me [including myself] told me to!

@Ryan gebo That's a beautiful chaga! Wish I could help as far as ideas for offloading some, as well as reishis, but I just don't know. I think my husband dries our chagas for use throughout the year, but we didn't even manage to consume all of our last reishi haul.

@Swampy16 I had gathered a few sources for you in regards to the Laetiporus huroniensis we collected from hemlock, but in the computer change, I've lost my bookmarks. Obviously, never try something you're uncomfortable with, but it seems the percentage of allergies hovers around 10% of people who eat cotw. Many people eat them with no problems, and it's always recommended to try a small well-cooked sample so you can test for numbness of the lips or mouth, or any gastric distress. We actually tend to do that no matter what positively ID'd mushroom we collect, and then give ourselves 2 days before we have a meal from them. Better safe than sorry!


----------



## geogymn (Apr 17, 2013)

COTW used to be my favorite edible mushroom til either I acquired an allergic reaction to it or I harvested some from a Hemlock. Before learning of the Hemlock specification I gave them another try with nasty results. That was several years ago. Til today I am not sure my reaction to consumption of COTW was due to Hemlock or allergy. Am too afraid to get back on that horse.


----------



## Morel Insanity (Mar 11, 2020)

Ugh, sounds like you either developed a general allergy to cotw, or [possibly more likely] you have an allergy to the eastern hemlock variety. Bummer regardless, but I certainly understand your unwillingness to try dealing with that nonsense again! How do you feel about chanterelles? I think my personal top three are morels, cotw, and chanties - in whatever order I feel on any given day. Honeys are probably next on the list.


----------



## Leah Hackett (Apr 26, 2020)

Lots of great finds today! Now that we finally got some rain, I can’t wait to see what else starts popping


----------



## geogymn (Apr 17, 2013)

Morel Insanity said:


> Ugh, sounds like you either developed a general allergy to cotw, or [possibly more likely] you have an allergy to the eastern hemlock variety. Bummer regardless, but I certainly understand your unwillingness to try dealing with that nonsense again! How do you feel about chanterelles? I think my personal top three are morels, cotw, and chanties - in whatever order I feel on any given day. Honeys are probably next on the list.


Big fan of Chants! Went looking for them yesterday but the ground is bone dry and found none.


----------



## geogymn (Apr 17, 2013)

Leah Hackett said:


> Lots of great finds today! Now that we finally got some rain, I can’t wait to see what else starts popping


Nice finds!


----------



## Ceder551 (Jul 17, 2017)

geogymn said:


> Big fan of Chants! Went looking for them yesterday but the ground is bone dry and found none.


i dont even start to look till middle of july. they take anout 14 days to grows to pickable size. il lt u know when im getting them . most years i pic hundreds of pounds


----------



## geogymn (Apr 17, 2013)

Ceder551 said:


> i dont even start to look till middle of july. they take anout 14 days to grows to pickable size. il lt u know when im getting them . most years i pic hundreds of pounds


Yeah! I needed to get into the woods and I thought that this heat might of pushed them along. Was a nice walk though.


----------



## Ryan gebo (May 16, 2020)

Sorry I’ll do better and take a picture in the woods it was 15 feet in the air though. A little dry on top but salvageable


----------



## Ryan gebo (May 16, 2020)

Like usual this year we need some rain. 
Anyone finding anything. I’m looking for chants but haven’t seen any.


----------



## Ryan gebo (May 16, 2020)

Coral fungi taste a lot like morels. Delicious.


----------



## Ceder551 (Jul 17, 2017)

7lbs today cny mohawk valley


----------



## Ceder551 (Jul 17, 2017)




----------



## Ryan gebo (May 16, 2020)

I found a nice spot







around Rochester.


----------



## Mr. Morel (May 6, 2018)

Ceder551 said:


> View attachment 36221
> View attachment 36221
> 7lbs today cny mohawk valley


There they are. I know the heat and rain would push them up. Cant wait to get out and grab some.


----------



## hoblershang (Apr 20, 2014)

I know this has nothing to do with mushrooms but been having a blast catching frogs. This was her 1st time grabbing them by hand. She caught well over 30. We got 149 that night yummy.


----------



## Morel Insanity (Mar 11, 2020)

Hey all!! So frustrated right now because I can't get pics to work on my new computer yet, and we got 10 golden chanterelles today! All the rain we've been getting has paid off, and I wish I could show you.  We collected them in Saratoga County, and last week, we found one sad little cinnabar chant in Washington County. Love chanties so much, and I'm really enjoying everyone's pics - some excellent finds!

@hoblershang Your daughter's smiles are absolutely wonderful to see, she's so proud! Congrats for the haul [though I'll just pretend all the froggies made it safely back to their homes]!  Just want to add that although I don't judge at all, I do appreciate seeing the live frogs.


----------



## Ryan gebo (May 16, 2020)

i think he let the frogs go.... after the delicious meal they made


----------



## Ceder551 (Jul 17, 2017)

all you ny chanterell hunters u should go know. this might be the best season ive ever seen . and if u know boletes they are out in crazy numbers. boletes are one mushroom im never sure about but i could have gotton a pickup truck full and all bug free. on sunday. all white poors and not bitter to taste. 25 lbs of chanterells in a hour. same place i picked 2 weeks ago.


----------



## hoblershang (Apr 20, 2014)

Got a few pink bottoms today. First good find I've had this summer.


----------



## geogymn (Apr 17, 2013)

Nice! Kudos!


----------



## hoblershang (Apr 20, 2014)

Some nice puffballs today. Got um with my daughter.


----------

