fascinatedbyfungi
Dr. Gordon Walker (FunGuy)
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Dr. Gordon Walker (FunGuy) 🍄 👑 🧬 PhD Scientist 🔬 👂🏻FBF Podcast 👀 Links 👇
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Replying to @🖤🎃🖤Teresa🖤🎃🖤 the best taps and crunches from the spring mushroom season in the mountains of California.
Let’s talk about “Gatekeeping” specifically with regards to the question of whether to “cut or pluck” a mushroom when harvesting it.
This is quite possibly the most contentious practice in the mushroom community. Usually on the side of people disparaging others for not cutting a mushroom off at the base with a knife compared to plucking/pulling it out by hand. There is a clear moral assumption here that somehow cleanly cutting off the mushroom is better for the environment/ future mushroom production. The problem is, the data does not support this idea.
In the only real long term study conducted on the effects of human foraging on the frequency of mushroom fruiting bodies, a group of Swiss researchers showed that over 27 years there was no real statistical difference between the harvesting methods of cut vs pluck. If anything they saw an increase in the number of fruiting bodies in areas with human foraging activity and concluded that cutting mushrooms may in fact leave the mycelium at risk for invasion by pests/disease. Look up the study by Egli et. al., 2006 Biological Conservation to learn more.
My best practices when it comes to mushroom picking is to usually pluck a mushroom, then trim the stem butts back onto the forest floor and cover them with duff. I do my best not to disturb the duff/mycelial matt and generally try to leave no trace whenever possible. Always leave behind young/old mushrooms and don’t get greedy.
.l
So PLEASE stop judging others for how they pick mushrooms and be cognizant of your own internal biases if you find yourself pick shaming others. If you want to have a discourse about this, come prepared with scientifically rigorous data, not unfounded feelings. Chances are you do more harm to the environment with single use plastics and your carbon footprint from meat consumption or travel than any mushroom hunters gathering food in the forest.
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#mushroomasmr #oddlysatisfying #taptaptap #crunchasmr #mycology #natureasmr #fascinatedbyfungi
Let’s talk about “Gatekeeping” specifically with regards to the question of whether to “cut or pluck” a mushroom when harvesting it.
This is quite possibly the most contentious practice in the mushroom community. Usually on the side of people disparaging others for not cutting a mushroom off at the base with a knife compared to plucking/pulling it out by hand. There is a clear moral assumption here that somehow cleanly cutting off the mushroom is better for the environment/ future mushroom production. The problem is, the data does not support this idea.
In the only real long term study conducted on the effects of human foraging on the frequency of mushroom fruiting bodies, a group of Swiss researchers showed that over 27 years there was no real statistical difference between the harvesting methods of cut vs pluck. If anything they saw an increase in the number of fruiting bodies in areas with human foraging activity and concluded that cutting mushrooms may in fact leave the mycelium at risk for invasion by pests/disease. Look up the study by Egli et. al., 2006 Biological Conservation to learn more.
My best practices when it comes to mushroom picking is to usually pluck a mushroom, then trim the stem butts back onto the forest floor and cover them with duff. I do my best not to disturb the duff/mycelial matt and generally try to leave no trace whenever possible. Always leave behind young/old mushrooms and don’t get greedy.
.l
So PLEASE stop judging others for how they pick mushrooms and be cognizant of your own internal biases if you find yourself pick shaming others. If you want to have a discourse about this, come prepared with scientifically rigorous data, not unfounded feelings. Chances are you do more harm to the environment with single use plastics and your carbon footprint from meat consumption or travel than any mushroom hunters gathering food in the forest.
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#mushroomasmr #oddlysatisfying #taptaptap #crunchasmr #mycology #natureasmr #fascinatedbyfungi
Behold the ever so brilliant Spring #ButterBolete #Butyriboletusprimiregius . These red capped beauties are often hard to find when young, fully covered, barely breaking the surface as mushroom humps (shrumps). They grow in association with Fir (Abies sp.) and fruit ~3-7K here in the mountains of California. They tend to like warm soil, preferring to fruit after the morels have passed and porcini (Boletus rex-veris) have kicked in. I especially love this species, not just as a tasty edible mushroom but also for its stunning bright yellow pores that stain incredibly blue and gorgeous apple red cap. Butters have incredible resonance, providing some of the best Bolete beats around. Then can be differentiated from the look alike Caloboletus rubripes that have a brown (often cracking) cap, red stem, bitter flameou flavor, and quickly blue staining flesh (butters stain slowly erratically blue). They can be hard to spot, but they really are some of my favorite mushrooms!
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#butyriboletus #fascinatedbyfungi #mushroomforaging #mushroomhunter
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#butyriboletus #fascinatedbyfungi #mushroomforaging #mushroomhunter
Are You Fascinated By Fungi? Here’s a compilation of slime molds, mushrooms, Mycoheterotrophic plants, and insects from the mountains if California. Check out my other posts to learn about edibility. Been really busy working on my book, sorry I haven’t been posting as much recently.
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#fascinatedbyfungi #foragingtiktok #california #californianature
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#fascinatedbyfungi #foragingtiktok #california #californianature
Morels (Morchella) are delicious edible mushrooms. Here in California they fruit in large numbers after wildfire. They can be tricky to find since they camouflage against the forest floor. It takes practice to be able to see them from far away, but sometimes you can follow contextual habitat clues to make it easier. It’s always a good idea to look around burnout stumps and sunken pits as these can creature the right microclimate for morels to fruit. Good luck hunting!
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#morel #morels #morelmushrooms #morchella #foraging #ascomycota
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#morel #morels #morelmushrooms #morchella #foraging #ascomycota
King Trumpet Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus eryngii) are big solid meaty mushrooms with a mild flavor. Usually I buy them at Asian grocery stores, but they can be easily grown at home using a mushroom kit. I got mine from NorthSpore, use c0de FASCINATEDBYFUNGI for 10 % off your order. This time lapse was filmed over ~5 days as they went from small pins to big chonky mushrooms. They do not have a strong flavor on their own, but take over the flavor of sauces and marinades well. I especially like using a knife to create a cross -hatch pattern on these, then searing them hard to develop delicious browning/umami. You can use this technique on cross sections of the thick stem to make vegan “scallops”. What a delicious mushroom, try growing your own at home!
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#kingtrumpet #oystermushroom #pleurotuseryngii #mushroomkit #growyourown #spreadthespore
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#kingtrumpet #oystermushroom #pleurotuseryngii #mushroomkit #growyourown #spreadthespore
Shrump hunting for spring kings (Boletus rex-veris) out in the Sierra Foothills. These are excellent at all mushrooms, with a meaty texture and sweet, nutty flavor. In the mountain habitat, it can be quite dry so these mushrooms, often fruit partially under ground or hidden underneath a layer of fallen debris, known as duff. You can spot them by looking for “shrumps” or mushroom humps that stick up from the forest floor. To identify them pay close attention to the texture of the stem, color of caps, and lack of staining on the pores. They do not have any poisonous look-alikes, so they are good mushrooms for beginners to hunt for.
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#kingbolete #boletusrexveris #porcini #mushroomasmr #fascinatedbyfungi
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#kingbolete #boletusrexveris #porcini #mushroomasmr #fascinatedbyfungi
Replying to @fascinatedbyfungi Morel mushrooms are incredibly versatile from a culinary standpoint. Classic preparation‘s include dredging and frying in butter or stuffing with meat or cheese. Probably my favorite application for dried morels is to make a cream sauce, using the liquid from rehydrating the mushrooms to add an incredible depth of savory flavor to your sauce. Here I am using shallots and leeks for their sweetness help enhance the earthiness of these morels. The recipe and method are fairly simple, but absolutely delicious. Off-camera I added a small spoonful of whole-grain mustard at the very end to help thicken and lift the sauce with a little bit of acidity and brightness. You can serve a Morel cream sauce like this alongside grilled meats, pasta, or over your favorite starches like rice, mashed potatoes, or polenta. This was so damn good with roasted lamb, hope you all are inspired to try out some new Morel dishes.
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#morel #morels #morelmushrooms #morchella #mushroomrecipe #morelrecipe
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#morel #morels #morelmushrooms #morchella #mushroomrecipe #morelrecipe
Morels (Morchella) are delicious edible mushrooms. Here in California they fruit in large numbers after wildfire. They can be tricky to find since they camouflage against the forest floor. It takes practice to be able to see them from far away, but sometimes you can follow contextual habitat clues to make it easier. It’s always a good idea to look around burnout stumps and sunken pits as these can creature the right microclimate for morels to fruit. Good luck hunting!
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#morel #morels #morelmushrooms #morchella #foraging #ascomycota
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#morel #morels #morelmushrooms #morchella #foraging #ascomycota
Shrimp hunting for spring kings (Boletus rex-veris) out in the Sierra Foothills. These are excellent at all mushrooms, with a meaty texture and sweet, nutty flavor. In the mountain habitat, it can be quite dry so these mushrooms, often fruit partially under ground or hidden underneath a layer of fallen debris, known as duff. You can spot them by looking for “shrumps” or mushroom humps that stick up from the forest floor. To identify them pay close attention to the texture of the stem, color of caps, and lack of staining on the pores. They do not have any poisonous look-alikes, so they are good mushrooms for beginners to hunt for.
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##kingbolete ##boletusrexveris ##californiamushrooms ##foraging ##fascinatedbyfungi
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##kingbolete ##boletusrexveris ##californiamushrooms ##foraging ##fascinatedbyfungi
This is Black Witches Butter (Exidia nigricans) a jelly fungus in Auriculariaceae (the same family as wood ear mushrooms). They are saprotrophic mushrooms that grow on decaying wood. The globular gelatinous fruiting bodies can persist for months as they dehydrate and rehydrate. There is a closely related species Exidia glandulosa can be differentiated with microscopy. These mushrooms are technically edible but have no real flavor. Gotta love the noises these jelly mushies.
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#jellyfungus #mushroomasmr #fungi #ushygushy #squishyasmr #asmrsquish #witchesbutter
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#jellyfungus #mushroomasmr #fungi #ushygushy #squishyasmr #asmrsquish #witchesbutter
Deer Vomit Slime (Fusarium merismoides) is a filamentous Ascomycete mold that is frequently seen growing on grape vine pruning wounds here in Napa, CA. This is likely the asexual haploid stage of this fungus, spreading its conidia spores early in the season. Later in the season it will produce more robst sexual spores that will allow this fungus to overwinter in the vineyard and grow again next spring. Pretty gnarly looking stuff! Thanks to my friend Greg for sharing this video with me.
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#slime #alienslime #fusarium #plantpathogen #napa #napavalley #napavineyards
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#slime #alienslime #fusarium #plantpathogen #napa #napavalley #napavineyards
Here’s how I made a morel mushroom saag paneer (Indian-style creamed spinach with fried cheese). I am not going to write up a recipe unless one of my Patreon subscribers requests it, but if you ask nicely I will download the live stream of me cooking this dish and upload it to my U-Toob channel. The spongy texture and subtle ethereal earthiness was such a tasty pairing with the crispy fried cheese and spiced spinach. It was so good alongside the sweet sour combo of indian pickle and chutney with the flakey parata bread. What a delicious dish! Hopefully you are inspired to try some different ways of cooking morels. Cheers.
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#mycophagy #mushroomrecipe #morel #morels #morchella #morelmushrooms #fascinatedbyfungi
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#mycophagy #mushroomrecipe #morel #morels #morchella #morelmushrooms #fascinatedbyfungi
Hope y’all are ready for some mushroom ASMR! Here I am tapping and tearing open some #Rhizopogon or “Pogies”. These small bouncy foamy balls of fungi are truffle-like hypogeous (occuring partially underground) that grow in association with conifer trees. Rhizopogon are a trufflized form of Suillus (Slipper Jack Boletes) that have been shown to be very important mycorrhizal partners for their host trees. Rhizopogon are especially common (and important for) with Pines and Douglas Fir. Lumber plantations are often inoculated with these mushrooms to ensure the successful growth of trees.
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They are a gasteroid mushroom meaning the develop their spores internally, inside of their foamy gleba (the internal spore bearing structure of the mushroom). Like other truffles, they rely on animals to dig them up and help spread their spores, they thrive on disturbance. Rhizopogon are remarkably resilient and will bounce off the ground if dropped, this is an effective way to ID them. I find the tearing of them apart very satisfying as their foamy texture produces a weirdly satisfying noise similar to floral foam - something very popular with the ASMR community. As usual, these are very common mushrooms, they are not threatened, there were huge patches of them growing in this area. Digging these up actually helps to spread the spores, so I am not hurting anything or wasting anything. If you are not kind in the comments, you will no longer see my content. Hope you enjoy this clip!
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#mushroomasmr #asmrmushrooms #asmrtapping #asmrslicing #fascinatedbyfungi #mushtok
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They are a gasteroid mushroom meaning the develop their spores internally, inside of their foamy gleba (the internal spore bearing structure of the mushroom). Like other truffles, they rely on animals to dig them up and help spread their spores, they thrive on disturbance. Rhizopogon are remarkably resilient and will bounce off the ground if dropped, this is an effective way to ID them. I find the tearing of them apart very satisfying as their foamy texture produces a weirdly satisfying noise similar to floral foam - something very popular with the ASMR community. As usual, these are very common mushrooms, they are not threatened, there were huge patches of them growing in this area. Digging these up actually helps to spread the spores, so I am not hurting anything or wasting anything. If you are not kind in the comments, you will no longer see my content. Hope you enjoy this clip!
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#mushroomasmr #asmrmushrooms #asmrtapping #asmrslicing #fascinatedbyfungi #mushtok
Replying to @fayyadh0_0 I am constantly asked by people what is biggest mushroom I have seen. While there are definitely larger mushrooms out there, these are some of the largest I have seen and recorded personally. Big shoutout to @QuickandDirtyGardens for spotting massive Cauliflower mushroom, that is still one of my all time favorite moments from mushroom hunting. Hope you enjoy this longer compilation, cheers!
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#mycology #bigmushroom #largemushroom #fungi #fungus #fascinatedbyfungi #mushroomidentification #mushroomhunter
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#mycology #bigmushroom #largemushroom #fungi #fungus #fascinatedbyfungi #mushroomidentification #mushroomhunter