Identifying Cottonwood Trees How to find black cottonwood for early-season mushroom hunting in the PNW Black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) is one of the most important trees for early-season mushroom hunting in Western Washington. While our region is dominated by conifers, cottonwoods grow along rivers, streams, and lake margins — and they’re among the first trees…
Before most edible spring mushrooms start flushing here in the Pacific Northwest we start to see stinging nettles. In fact, one of my most anticipated signs of spring are the nettles popping up in the green spaces around our home in NW Seattle. The deep emerald color of nettles are a herald of warmer times…
Trent recently posted about the safety of eating morels that are foraged in burn zones due to the use of fire retardants in the area. You can find the original post here. Here my key takeaways from the article. Firefighters have a much greater exposure to these chemicals than a typical forager. So far there…
Introduction Navigating the spectrum of mushroom edibility and toxicity presents a complex challenge. Even widely accepted edible mushrooms can cause adverse effects in some individuals, while certain mushrooms known for their toxicity, such as Gyromitra esculenta, have been eaten safely after specific preparation techniques. The determination of a mushroom’s safety for consumption varies from mushroom…
April 2023 was a month of the false morel known as Verpa. These are among the first of the mushrooms to show up in the spring. They begin fruiting with cottonwoods at low elevations and then move into the foothills as the season progresses. — Learn more about Verpa bohemica here — Apr 1-2 My…
A replay from 4 Apr 2023 seminar for the VanDusen Botanical Garden. Replays are viewable for all Intro and Full-level accounts
Morels and Related Mushrooms Learn more about Pacific Northwest morels here
Finding Morels in Washington Where, when, and how to hunt the Pacific Northwest’s most prized spring mushroom Morels are the mushroom that gets Pacific Northwest foragers out of winter hibernation. From landscape woodchips in March to high-elevation burn sites in July, morel season in Washington stretches across four months and multiple distinct habitats. This guide…
Someone recently asked about harvesting mushrooms near a quarry and wondered if I had any specific guidelines surrounding this. I asked a friend and soil scientist for his feelings on this. Here are some of the things he had to say about it What was quarried? Usually quarries are for stone or sand, so there…
I just finished the first version of a PNW Boletes illustration. These are organized into general groups by Genus which should help to simplify things. Beginners intersted in edible boletes should focus on the Boletus genus first since these are more common, tasty, and easier to identify. Aureoboletus mirabilis known commonly as the Admirable Bolete…
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