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Lhun
Fungal Fixation



Registered: 01/07/10
Posts: 2,106
Loc: Other side of your screen...
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Yesterdays Mushroom hunt, Napa Valley California.
#15937768 - 03/12/12 01:22 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Managed to find the time for a mushroom hunt yesterday here in the North Bay. I didn't expect much seeing as how our weather has been super dry. The Chanterelle surprised me though! They stay so sheltered deep under leaf cover. Seems even this odd winter can't keep 'em down.
 
Also found a nice collection of Amanita constricta in a wet area. These are the first ones I have found all winter. Usually they are pretty darn common.
 
Even found a solitary Boletus truncatus. I cut it so I could watch the bluing reaction.

And the monster - California Chanterelle have an "indiscriminate growth cycle". So as long as habit is suitable they will continue to grow indefinitely. Gotta love the huge ones!
 Mmmmm Chanterelle burger anyone? 

All in all, a good hunt. I honestly expected to come home empty handed. You definitely wont hear any complaints from me this time around!

Hope you all enjoyed the pictures -
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Rewindicus
Silly Goose



Registered: 06/05/11
Posts: 5,491
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Re: Yesterdays Mushroom hunt, Napa Valley California. [Re: Lhun]
#15937834 - 03/12/12 01:39 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Ah man I miss hunting out in norcal! Lived in chico for 3 years, bidwell park was always a good hunting time with the dog!
-------------------- “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”- Dr. Seuss "Too much of a good thing, can be wonderful!" - Mae West "If you have nothing nice to say about anyone, come sit next to me." - Alice Roosevelt Longworth
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Ran-D



Registered: 12/19/10
Posts: 16,318
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Re: Yesterdays Mushroom hunt, Napa Valley California. [Re: Rewindicus]
#15937912 - 03/12/12 02:00 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Cool stuff man I'm super jealous.
I've wanted to hunt Napa and Chico for a while now...
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RiverDweller1



Registered: 03/05/12
Posts: 4,347
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Re: Yesterdays Mushroom hunt, Napa Valley California. [Re: Ran-D]
#15938149 - 03/12/12 03:05 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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awesome score! looks like ya had fun!
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mushme



Registered: 10/10/10
Posts: 243
Loc: Washington
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Re: Yesterdays Mushroom hunt, Napa Valley California. [Re: Lhun]
#15938439 - 03/12/12 04:19 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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nice haul! looks like a fun hunt
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suchen
Once and Future Noob



Registered: 06/28/11
Posts: 8,841
Loc: Shangri-la
Last seen: 3 years, 2 months
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Re: Yesterdays Mushroom hunt, Napa Valley California. [Re: mushme]
#15938884 - 03/12/12 05:57 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Wow, excellent haul! Those Cali chanterelles are STUPIDLY large
-------------------- Rod Tulloss said: The bulb is the bulb. The volva is the volva. They have a very long term realtionship, but they’re “just friends.”
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Lhun
Fungal Fixation



Registered: 01/07/10
Posts: 2,106
Loc: Other side of your screen...
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Re: Yesterdays Mushroom hunt, Napa Valley California. [Re: suchen]
#15940531 - 03/13/12 12:12 AM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Thanks for the comments folks! Yes I had much fun, and did much hiking. I covered many miles around the back hills in order to score that haul. Many I found were just too dry - they got broken up and reburied in new areas of course. One has to spread the love (spores).
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 26,691
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Re: Yesterdays Mushroom hunt, Napa Valley California. [Re: Lhun]
#15940922 - 03/13/12 03:26 AM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Man, every time I see chanterelle shots like yours, I get enormously jealous. Don't implement intensive farming and cattle-breeding on a large scale, or you'll destroy all the habitat...that's what happened around here, and nowadays you're lucky if you can find a couple of oz (maybe 1 or 2 lbs) of chanterelles per season...
How are those amanitas btw? What we do have around here is bucketloads of a. fulva, which is a close relative of what you have there. Are they any good?
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The Thinker

Registered: 09/01/10
Posts: 4,000
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Re: Yesterdays Mushroom hunt, Napa Valley California. [Re: koraks]
#15941423 - 03/13/12 09:29 AM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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nice stuff Lhun!
Quote:
koraks said: Don't implement intensive farming and cattle-breeding on a large scale
if you haven't read this article before, i bet you'd be interested http://www.ditext.com/diamond/mistake.html
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 26,691
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Re: Yesterdays Mushroom hunt, Napa Valley California. [Re: The Thinker]
#15941441 - 03/13/12 09:36 AM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Heh, cool article! Diamond recycled much of its contents in his book "Guns, Germs and Steel", but in that book, he doesn't take such an explicit standpoint in favor of hunter-gatherer societies. I'm not too sure if I agree with him either. It is a fact that the human population has exploded over the past couple of thousand (or even hundred) years. Still, there is no inherent right or wrong to that - even though it is a clear fact that intensive farming is a necessary enabler of that population growth.
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Lhun
Fungal Fixation



Registered: 01/07/10
Posts: 2,106
Loc: Other side of your screen...
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Re: Yesterdays Mushroom hunt, Napa Valley California. [Re: The Thinker]
#15941446 - 03/13/12 09:38 AM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
koraks said: Man, every time I see chanterelle shots like yours, I get enormously jealous. Don't implement intensive farming and cattle-breeding on a large scale, or you'll destroy all the habitat...that's what happened around here, and nowadays you're lucky if you can find a couple of oz (maybe 1 or 2 lbs) of chanterelles per season...
How are those amanitas btw? What we do have around here is bucketloads of a. fulva, which is a close relative of what you have there. Are they any good?
The spot I do most of my hunting is old oak forest. I hope they never fill it up with vineyards...
It's a large park, and the Chanterelle are already fairly sparse. I've been scouting the area for years, so I know where most of the patches hide. I can safely say that for every 200 old oak trees you search beneath, perhaps one will have a Chanterelle bed. I do my part though, and spread spores around everywhere. Maybe in a few years I can help saturate the area better.
As for the Amanita constricta, they taste great in my opinion. Kinda like a smokey gouda cheese. Very different than Chanterelle. The flavor lends itself well to rice dishes and steaks. If you have tried a Coccora (Amanita calyptrata) its similar to that. But without the fishy undertones.
Quote:
The Thinker said: if you haven't read this article before, i bet you'd be interested http://www.ditext.com/diamond/mistake.html
Interesting article! Thanks for sharing.
Edited by Lhun (03/19/12 09:33 AM)
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 26,691
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Re: Yesterdays Mushroom hunt, Napa Valley California. [Re: Lhun]
#15941497 - 03/13/12 09:59 AM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
Lhun said:
Quote:
koraks said: Man, every time I see chanterelle shots like yours, I get enormously jealous. Don't implement intensive farming and cattle-breeding on a large scale, or you'll destroy all the habitat...that's what happened around here, and nowadays you're lucky if you can find a couple of oz (maybe 1 or 2 lbs) of chanterelles per season...
How are those amanitas btw? What we do have around here is bucketloads of a. fulva, which is a close relative of what you have there. Are they any good?
The spot I do most of my hunting is a wilderness preserve. I hope they never fill it up with vineyards...
It's a large park, and the Chanterelle are already fairly sparse. I've been scouting the area for years, so I know where most of the patches hide. I can safely say that for every 200 old oak trees you search beneath, perhaps one will have a Chanterelle bed. I do my part though, and spread spores around everywhere. Maybe in a few years I can help saturate the area better.
I'm actually not too worried about California. But to give an impression of the scale at which intensive farming has an impact: the woods in the Schwarzwald region in Germany used to be littered with chanterelles, up to a few short decades ago. Currently, you won't find may, even in good spots and during the right time of the year. How come? The Schwarzwald ('black forest') is quite a sizeable region and most of it consists of woods, alternated here and there with meadows and some relatively sparse cattle farming. The cause of the lack of chanterelles (or so I am convinced) lies a couple of hundred miles to the west - in my own country. The prevailing winds here in this part of Europe blow from the West. My country is characterized by insanely intensive cattle farming; in particular cows and pigs. This industry creates a huge amount of what is essentially chemical fallout that is blown into mainland Europe. Right over the Black Forest. Since when has this taken place? Some 40 years; before that, farming was a lot less intensive around here. When did the chanterelles start disappearing? About 30 or 20 years ago. Go figure.
Quote:
As for the Amanita constricta, they taste great in my opinion. Kinda like a smokey gouda cheese. Very different than Chanterelle. The flavor lends itself well to rice dishes and steaks. If you have tried a Coccora (Amanita calyptrata) its similar to that. But without the fishy undertones.
That sounds great! I don't think a. calyptrata occurs here, but who knows. I might try some a. fulva this year!
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RiverDweller1



Registered: 03/05/12
Posts: 4,347
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Re: Yesterdays Mushroom hunt, Napa Valley California. [Re: The Thinker]
#15943046 - 03/13/12 05:26 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
The Thinker said: http://www.ditext.com/diamond/mistake.html
Thanks for the read
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falcon



Registered: 04/01/02
Posts: 8,020
Last seen: 47 minutes, 44 seconds
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Re: Yesterdays Mushroom hunt, Napa Valley California. [Re: RiverDweller1]
#15943277 - 03/13/12 06:27 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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yeah, good read
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