Of fungi and chestnuts

             Its hard to predict which years will bring lots of good Chestnuts and edible fungi. There has to be just the right combination of warmth and wet to make for good mushroom seasons and this year is being pretty good so far. The Sweet Chestnut trees are certainly producing lots of nuts, its the time now when a bit of wind leads to many dropping straight out of the trees but they are mostly of average size. We hope each Autumn to get enough decent sized nuts to peel and freeze for Christmas, as well as scoffing a good number, heated over a fire, straight away. When the nuts are small its a tedious job peeling them, and that looks like the case this year. The season is not over yet, however.

                     Fungi are springing up everywhere and a few of them are species the we recognise as edible. Someone once said "all fungi are edible but a few will kill you" and that has a certain element of truth to it. There are a small number of very deadly species growing in UK woods and its important to know which they are if you are thinking of foraging. Then there are many species that will make you ill, sometimes seriously but not usually fatally. There is an even bigger group that you could eat without coming to any harm but would not choose to do so as they have no flavour, and lastly, there is the small group of delicious species. Of these we are lucky to find a few in Crow Wood. Members of the Boletus family make for some of the most delicious fungi, famed as Porcini, and enjoyed fried in butter or dried and stored for later use. The king of all these is Boletus edulus, also known as Penny Buns or Ceps and a real treat to find. It is sadly not that common in our wood but a close cousin, Boletus badius, nearly as tasty, appears most years in good numbers.

                   Whether it is hazelnuts, sweet chestnuts or mushrooms, our resident Grey Squirrels offer us stiff competition in getting to them first. These little mammals are a real nuisance in any woodland. Not only do they eat our harvest of nuts but in Spring they take birds eggs and chicks, strip the bark off trees and in bad years they can be a major pest. What is really frustrating is that they do not appear to enjoy the fungi they find but just take a few bites and push them over, so they rot. Grrrrrrrrrr......

These tiny Amethyst Deceivers are very attractive and perfectly edible with a delicate flavour

Sweet Chestnuts that the squirrels did not find

Unknown species, not for eating

Another unknown species

Waiting and watching........

A very good find - a small but very tasty Penny Bun or Cep - and one the squirrels did not get to first!