The 3 Foragers: Foraging for Wild, Natural, Organic Food

We usually head out to a warm and tropical location during the middle of a New England winter, so we did a little research into the fungi of one of our destinations, Maui. A good deal of the fungi on Hawaii are alien, introduced with vegetation and soil from other places, therefore, many of the mushrooms are familiar to us. Only an estimated 17% of fungi are considered native Hawaiian species. Fungi can be found almost all year in the subtropical environments, but the more abundant season is from July through January. Fallen palm leaves and casuarina needles, along with dead wood, coconut husks, lawns, and compost piles of mulch are all good places to look for fruiting mushrooms. We purchased Mushrooms of Hawaii by Don Hemmes and Dennis Desjardin to help us identify the mushrooms we found. On Maui, we visited the very wet area of Hana, and took the walk to Honolua Bay through a very wet forest gully.

Some of the most stunning finds were boring old polypores! These Microporus affinis are found on fallen branches in wet, often tropical areas. This fan-shaped bracket has a velvety, ridged cap with concentric zones of brown, red, yellow, blue, orange, and black and often have a zone of green algae. On the underside of the cap are very small white pores, best viewed with a hand lens. Distinctive characterisics for this species are the saucer-shaped depression in the cap near the stem, and the very short, lateral, black "foot". We successfully collected and dried several specimens, and they retained most of their color. A few of these were as large as my hand.

This is another, albeit less exciting, polypore showing the upper cap surface and the pores. We don't really know where to begin with its identity.

These two black blobs on dead wood are Ascomycota, and look very similar to species we have growing here in temperate Connecticut. The round one is a species of Daldinia; we didn't bring along any KOH to test for staining to try to narrow it down further (darn TSA and all those liquid/chemical regulations!). The finger shaped one is one of the many Xylaria.

This LBM is a sweet example of Gymnopus menehune. In Hawaiian mythology, the Menehune are said to be a people, sometimes described as dwarfs in size, who live in the deep forests and hidden valleys of the Hawaiian Islands, far from the eyes of normal humans. Their favorite food is the maiʻa (banana), and they also like fish. These gilled mushrooms are fairly common, and we came across many groupings of them in December.

It is easier to spot these bright polypore brackets in a forest than the duller brown ones. These were the very abundant Pycnoporus (Trametes) sanguineus, a tropical version of the Pycnoporus cinnabarinus we have in Connecticut. The pore surface is also bright cinnabar-red and the top surface of the caps is zoned in mixed shades of oranges and reds. Some folks collect these to dye textiles. From Wikipedia: Medicinal uses of P. sanguineus help relieve symptoms of the following diseases: arthritis, gout, styptic, sore throats, ulcers, tooth aches, fevers, and hemorrhages. P. sanguineus also displays numerous anti-bacterial properties against E. coli, K. pneumoniae, P. aeroginosa, S. typhi, and S. aureus by inhibiting specific metabolic pathways. Currently, P. sanguineus if being used in medicine for the absorption of certain heavy metals contained within the blood stream.

Here are a trio of jelly fungi. Even in Connecticut they pop out after it rains, and it certainly has been a rainy year here on Maui. We didn't identify he top, amber jelly. The second, white jelly is Tremella fuciformis. It is widespread, especially in the tropics, where it can be found on the dead branches of broadleaf trees. This fungus is commercially cultivated and is one of the most popular fungi in the cuisine and medicine of China. Tremella fuciformis is commonly known as snow fungus. The third, orange jelly is likely Dacryopinax spathularia, another edible, yet small fungi specimen. We found it twice, once growing from a wooden rail, and again growing from the side of a wooden house!

This is a colony of small, crumbly fungi is Coprinellus disseminatus. They don't deliquesce like other members of the inky mushroom group, they just get darker and crumble up. One log section can hold thousands, in different stages of growth from pins, to babies, beautiful white caps, and older, darkening caps. Gillian calls them "ghost mushrooms" because they look like white versions of the ghosts from Pac-man.

We usually head out to a warm and tropical location during the middle of a New England winter, so we did a little research into the fungi of one of our destinations, Maui. A good deal of the fungi on Hawaii are alien, introduced with vegetation and soil from other places, therefore, many of the mushrooms are familiar to us. Only an estimated 17% of fungi are considered native Hawaiian species. Fungi can be found almost all year in the subtropical environments, but the more abundant season is from July through January. Fallen palm leaves and casuarina needles, along with dead wood, coconut husks, lawns, and compost piles of mulch are all good places to look for fruiting mushrooms. We purchased Mushrooms of Hawaii by Don Hemmes and Dennis Desjardin to help us identify the mushrooms we found. On Maui, we had to rent a Jeep to ascend to Polipoli Springs State Recreation Area.

Once a dense forest of Koa, mamane, and ʻohiʻa lehua the Polipoli Spring State Recreation Area is composed of 10 acres of the Kula Forest Reserve. When the park was established many of the native trees were removed. However, in the 1930s the the area was reforested with pines, eucalyptus, tropical ash, cypress, China-fir, and redwood. Due to the elevation (6,200 feet), Polipoli Spring State Recreation Area can actually get pretty cold (temperatures can reach freezing at night). When we headed up at 9 am, there was frost on the grasses and trees, and the mud puddles were crusted with ice. The Jeep was for the clearance and 4 wheel-drive needed to get through some of the holes in the dirt road, and some of the switchbacks at elevation without anything but sheer mountain out the window were a bit terrifying for me, but Robert was laid back about it all, and even had fun driving. We walked a 5-mile loop around a few trails, passing through dense stands of eucalyptus, thimbleberry thickets, assorted conifers planted in rows, into low-hanging clouds that would white out the trail, and by hills heavily blanketed in moss.

Before we got to the parking lot at the top of Polipoli, we passed a couple of familiar fungi on the drive up. First was a Laetiporus gilbertsonii, a relative of our eastern choice edible Laetiporus sulphureus, growing on eucalyptus. Even though it exuded juice when cut, it was as hard as wood. Due to its condition and suspicion in causing upset stomachs because of substrate, we didn't collect it for consumption. Then we passed some Hypholoma fasiculare growing roadside in some wood chips, another we recognize from our cooler, wet autumn season in Connecticut.

Starting out on the grassy portion of the trail, we ran into this butterscotch-colored beauty, possibly one of the Gymnopilus species? Here you can also see the just-melted dew covering the grass.

This is another one we recognize from home, Tricholomopsis rutilans, common name plums and custard. It is usually found growing attached to underground conifer roots, even though it appears to originate in grass.

Plenty of down dead wood up at Polipoli to support saprobic fungi. The cooler temperatures at elevation provided us with some familiar fungi we find in temperate Connecticut, like these two crusts, Phlebia tremellosa and Stereum hirsutum.

This puffball appeared similar to one of our pigskin puffballs, except for the extensive pseudo-stem. Our Mushrooms of Hawaii book IDs this as Scleroderma verrucosum due to the pink staining when the peridium is cut.

This brightly colored and small (most specimens were about 1 cm wide) polypore is the highly photogenic Favolaschia calocera. First observed in Madagascar, it has recently spread around the world and mycologists fear that it may be displacing native fungi species as it spreads through the paleotropics. Once Robert first noticed it on decayed twigs and fern stalks and we knew what to look for, we all suddenly spotted it often.

Chroogomphus sp. is a fungi we found a few years ago when making our first attempt to ascend to Polipoli (in a regular rental car, we never made it past the first 200' on the dirt road before bottoming out and turning around). Known to be associated with conifers in winter in California, this was likely introduced with the planted conifers. This may be C. vinicolor or C. rutilans, we didn't collect a specimen and scope the spores (hey, vacation!).

There are not too many Boletes in Hawaii, beyond a few Suillus and the elusive coconut-associated bolete, Pulveroboletus (Buchwaldoboletus) xylophilus. This Suilluspungens was a big surprise, as it isn't listed in the Mushrooms of Hawaii book, but it IS listed in the Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast, another book we own. This mushroom is normally associated with Monterey Pines, and was likely imported by accident with the conifer plantings done in the 1930's as well.

And as we were heading out of Polipoli in the late afternoon, Gillian asked a question from the back seat of the Jeep as we were driving along the dirt road that was cut into the grassy embankment, "Hey, isn't that a morel?". Haha, very funny, you can't fool us. BUT IT WAS. The weather at Polipoli mimics our southern New England weather in May very well: cold nights, warm days, and plenty of rain, so it makes sense. Morchella are reported in Hawaii, but fruiting in a scattered manner and difficult to see because of the dense undergrowth.

Planted conifers in Polipoli

Another year, another cold winter, and another Yule Log cake. This is a vanilla bisquit filled with a dark chocolate whipped ganache, frosted with coffee-flavored Italian buttercream. I made the traditional meringue mushrooms, and jazzed them up this year, with my attempt at five different species: Trametes versicolor, Amanita muscaria, Cortinarius iodes, Agaicus campestris, and Cantharellus cibarius. I ended up using colored candy melts for the colors and details, and the pine needle base was green candy covered All Bran cereal.

The 3 Foragers have several educational presentations and walks coming up this spring in the Connecticut and Rhode Island area. We are available for seasonal edible plant programs, fungi ID classes, invasive plant talks, and guided walks throughout the year. We work with libraries, nature centers, summer camps, land trusts, and garden clubs to educate the public about conservation and responsible harvest of wild foods. Please check back to find classes as we add to this growing list of classes and walks. Contact us at kraczewski@comcast.net.

March Mushroom Madness Presentation, March 26, 9:00 AM-11: 30 AM, Sessions Woods WMA, 341 Milford St, Burlington CT 06013. (860) 675-8130

Come out for a talk and slideshow entitled "Foraging the Fantastic, Delicious, Deadly, and Glowing Mushrooms of Connecticut" given by The 3 Foragers featuring Connecticut fungi. You'll have an opportunity to meet members of the Connecticut Valley Mycological Society as well as learn about club membership. There will be coffee and snacks served beginning at 9 am when the doors open. The program will begin at approximately 10 am. This lecture is free for the public, $5.00 for CVMS members.

Foraging and Eating Invasive Plants Presentation, April 116:00 PM- 7:45 PM, Cheshire Public Library, 104 Main St, Cheshire CT 06410. (203)-272-2245

Use your appetite to combat invasive plants by learning the most common and delicious ones in Connecticut with an educational slide presentation, including recipe ideas. Featuring The 3 Foragers, a family studying, photographing, and tasting wild foods for more than a decade in southeastern Connecticut. Free admission, registration appreciated.

Edible Wild Plants of Spring Presentation, April 17, 6 PM- 7:15 PM, North Smithfield Public Library, SLatersville Rhode Island 02876. (401) 767-2780

As the warmer temperatures and longer days of spring unfold, many tender, young edible shoots, plants, flowers, and even a few fungi awaken a forager’s senses and delight. Learn how to identify, sustainably harvest, and prepare the wild foods of spring, from invasive bamboo shoots to the lemony tang of fresh wood sorrel, including some of the early edible fungi of the season. Join The 3 Foragers as they discuss the edible plants and fungi of spring, with their original photos and recipe ideas featured in an educational slide presentation. Free admission, registration appreciated.

Edible Wild Plants of Spring Presentation, April 26, 6 PM-7:15 PM, Kingston Public Library, 2605 Kingston Rd, Kingston RI 02881. (401) 783-8254

See description above. Free admission, registration appreciated.

Go Wild! Spring Edible Plant Foraging Talk and Walk, April 30, 1 PM-3 PM, Trumbull Nature and Arts Center, 715 Main St, Trumbull CT 06611

As the warmer temperatures and longer days of spring unfold, many tender, young edible shoots, plants, flowers, and even a few fungi awaken a forager’s senses and delight. Learn how to identify, sustainably harvest, and prepare the wild foods of spring, from invasive bamboo shoots to the lemony tang of fresh wood sorrel, including some of the early edible fungi of the season. Join The 3 Foragers as they discuss the edible plants and fungi of spring, with their original photos and recipe ideas featured in an educational slideshow, and finish with a walk outside to put some of those newly learned skills to the test. Pre-register with TNAC at http://www.trumbullnatureandartscenter.org/index.html Cost: $3.00 per person, ages 7 and up, with adult.

Edible Wild Plants of Spring Talk and Walk, May 6, 10 AM- 12:30 PM, Ansonia Nature Center, 10 Deerfield Lane, Ansonia CT 06401. (203) 736-1053

As the warmer temperatures and longer days of spring unfold, many tender, young edible shoots, plants, flowers, and even a few fungi awaken a forager’s senses and delight. Learn how to identify, sustainably harvest, and prepare the wild foods of spring, from invasive bamboo shoots to the lemony tang of fresh wood sorrel, including some of the early edible fungi of the season. Join The 3 Foragers as they discuss the edible plants and fungi of spring, with their original photos and recipe ideas featured in an educational slideshow., then we will head outside at the Ansonia Nature Center to explore and discover some wild food. Register with Ansonia Nature Center, space is limited. Cost: TBD

On the Table Food Series: Edible Wild Plants of Spring Presentation, May 10, 6:30 PM-8 PM, Providence Public Library, 150 Empire St, Providence RI 02903. (401) 455-8000

As the warmer temperatures and longer days of spring unfold, many tender, young edible shoots, plants, flowers, and even a few fungi awaken a forager’s senses and delight. Learn how to identify, sustainably harvest, and prepare the wild foods of spring, from invasive bamboo shoots to the lemony tang of fresh wood sorrel, including some of the early edible fungi of the season. Join The 3 Foragers as they discuss the edible plants and fungi of spring, with their original photos and recipe ideas featured in an educational slideshow. Free admission, registration required.

Edible Wild Plants of Spring Talk and Walk, May 13, 10 AM-12:30 PM, James L. Goodwin State Forest, 23 Potter Rd, Hampton CT 06247. (860) 455-9534

See description above. Cost: $5.00 for the public, free for Friends of Goodwin and CFPA members. Registration is REQUIRED, space is limited.

Edible Wild Plants of Spring Presentation, May 25, 6:30 PM-7:45 PM, Woonsocket Harris Public Library, 303 Clinton Rd, Woonsocket RI 02895. (401) 769-9044

See description above. Free admission, registration appreciated.

Edible Wild Plants of Spring Talk and Walk, May 27, 1 PM-2:30 PM, Bushy Hill Nature Center, 253 Bushy Hill Rd, Deep River CT 06417 www.bushyhill.org/

See description above. Donations to Bushy Hill accepted. Registration appreciated.

See the three leaf shapes?

Now that the ground has thawed, we can get out to dig some roots, rhizomes, and bulbs. In spring they are nice and fat because the plant is still dormant and hasn't used the stored energy in the bulbs yet.
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) is a native tree in North America that grows and is common in the eastern United States from Iowa, south to Texas, and to the east coast. The bark of mature tree trunks is deeply furrowed and dark reddish-brown, while the bark of young saplings and twigs is green. Sassafras trees have three, smooth-edged, differently shaped leaves on a single tree: a simple oval leaf, a bi-lobed leaf that looks like a mitten, and a tri-lobed leaf that kind of looks like a dinosaur footprint. The small, yellowish flowers have not started blooming yet here in Connecticut, making it still a good time to dig the roots. The roots of sassafras grow horizontally to the surface of the ground and often not very deeply, making them relatively easy to collect. Sassafras suckers many small saplings each year from the "mother" tree, and most will not survive under the forest canopy. Digging the roots of small sassafras saplings will not affect the overall population in the wild, it is sometimes even considered a weed tree.

Outer bark and cambium layer shaves from sassafras roots

The smaller roots and outer skin of bigger roots of sassafras contain the most fragrant parts to use for an infusion. We just chop the smaller roots into discs, and skin the larger roots with a machete once washed well to remove the dirt. The chopped roots are then air-dried in a warm, sunny window and stored in jars. The infusion is made by gently simmering the roots for about 20 minutes, and can be served warm or cold, lightly sweetened with honey. The infusion is a golden-red color and very fragrant--almost spicy. "Root" beer can also be lightly fermented from sweetened sassafras decoction to add fizzy bubbles and a very small alcoholic content. Seltzer can also be added to a particularly strong decoction for bubbles. Note: the FDA has put out a warning that sassafras is carcinogenic because of safrol. They determined this by dosing rats with incredibly high levels of pure safrol oil to possibly limit the production and sale of safrol, a component in the manufacture of the street drug Ecstasy. We feel that drinking reasonable amounts of sassafras tea is safe and very enjoyable. Please make your own decision as to the consumption of sassafras tea.--edited to clarify our opinion.

Sassafras root infusion

Fermented sassafras root beer

Sassafras infusion, or tea, was once considered medicinal in the early colonies, "good for whatever ails you". It was exported to England in large quantities until the market was over saturated. Sassafras was also considered a great cure for syphilis, and many people probably didn't want to be seen drinking it for fear of being potentially a sufferer of the disease!

Sassafras flowers

The leaves of sassafras also make a fragrant spice; it is actually the source for filé powder. Filé can be made by collecting the leaves in the summer, drying them, and grinding them finely; we use a coffee grinder. Filé is used in Louisiana Creole cooking as a spice and a thickener, commonly in gumbo.

Filé powder made from dried and ground sassafras leaves

Spicebush berry-filled acorn sweet buns

As spring starts warming up the afternoons, the mornings can still be a bit chilly. We are using up some of the stored wild foods in our pantry and freezer before the new season of collecting begins. Both acorn flour and spicebush berries are kept preserved in the freezer, ready to use as needed. Sweet buns are a sweet treat for weekend breakfasts, and to take on the road when heading out early in the mornings to drive to classes.

As the tannins are removed, the water will get less cloudy with each rinse

Cold leaching red oak acorns (Quercus sp.) in the autumn takes about a week and a half. First we dry the acorns in the shell for a few hours in the dehydrator. Once shelled, we try to peel most of the papery skins off before grinding them coarsely. The cold water soaking process begins, rinsing and changing the water every day, and lasts until the water no longer gets cloudy and tea-colored from the tannins. The ground acorns will taste sweet. Lots of people read that white oak acorns from rounded-lobed trees are less tannic than red or black spiky-lobed trees, but they should all be tasted and leached until no longer astringent. Tannins may upset your stomach or cause nausea and vomiting. Tannins may also interfere with the absorption of iron found in plant-based foods, so we would rather eliminate them. The resulting ground nuts are dried again in the dehydrator before being finely ground in our Vitamix flour carafe. The acorn flour is stored in jars in our freezer so it doesn't get rancid, ready to use when needed.

Spicebush berries (Lindera benzoin) are collected in autumn, early in the season before the birds get them all! The oval berries ripen to red and have one oval, black seed in the center. The berries and the simple leaves, as well as the scratched twigs all emit a spicy aroma. The fresh green leaves have a mildly spicy, citrusy scent and flavor that makes a wonderful tea, but the leaves do not dry very well; use them fresh. The twigs are very reminiscent of allspice, and be steeped in hot water for a tea or used to skewer meats and vegetables for grilling. We also like to just chew on them once the grey bark is scratched off.

It's the berries of spicebush that pack the greatest flavor. When ripe, they are still firm. The scent and flavor is intensely and exotically spicy like cinnamon or cloves with a hint of citrus and black pepper. They can be slowly chewed, but a big bite will overwhelm your mouth. In some years, they are easy to collect in abundance, but scarce in other years. Spicebushes are either male of female, so there must be a mixed population for the bushes to set berries, or sometimes the flowers get stunted by a late frost in spring. Spicebush berries don't dry well--they lose a lot of the oils that give them their strong flavor; however they freeze wonderfully to use all year. The only caveat with freezing is that they lose their brilliant red color and darken, but all of the spiciness stays.

Spicebush berry ice cream

Spicebush berries make an awesome ice cream and can be ground from fresh or frozen before being added to baked goods that call for cinnamon, allspice, or cloves. We also add them to flavor applesauce and jellies.

These acorn buns are filled with spicebush infused sugar. When baking pastries with acorn flour, I try not to replace more than 1/3 of the wheat flour with acorn flour so it will still hold together. The sugar was made by whirring frozen spicebush berries in the food processor with brown and white sugar, until the berries were just specks, then the sugar gets sprinkled over butter and rolled up into the acorn dough like cinnamon buns. Served warm, they are fragrant and soft, with a topping of sweet glaze.

The winter Mushroom University classes that we attend in New York feature a potluck lunch. Robert cooked up a Milky Mushroom Chowder with the salt brined mixed Lactarius/Lactifluus mushrooms we preserved last year.

The three species are L. hygrophoroides, L. volemus, and L corrugis. They are preserved by first boiling the mushrooms for about 15 minutes, then layering them in a glass jar with nothing but sea salt and a few bay leaves. Within a few days, the salt will draw the excess moisture from the mushrooms and there will be enough liquid covering the mushrooms. To eat the mushrooms or use them in a recipe, they need to be soaked for a few days in several changes of fresh water to remove the excess salt. Then they can be cooked vigorously in soups or eaten with a good eastern European bread. The milky mushrooms retain an excellent texture this way, which is great since they don't dry and reconstitute well and we are limited on our freezer space.

L. corrugis has white milk, light orange gills, matching brown cap and stem, and often a corrugated cap.

Lactarius/Lactifluus fungi are unique in that they bleed a colored milky substance when cut or scratched, if they are fresh; dried or older specimens will not have as much milk. The color of the milk can range from clear to white, yellow, orange, or even blue. The milky substance can sometimes carry an odor like fish, and can stain your skin or anything else it touches.

L. hygrophoroides has white milk, creamy colored gills, a matching light orange-brown cap and stem, and widely spaced gills

Lactarius/Lactifluus are related to Russulas, the crumble-cap mushrooms, but don't disintegrate as easily. The cell walls of Russulas are more breakable and crumbly than most fungi due to shorter, more globular cells vs. elongated, fibrous cells of most fungi. Lactarius/Lactifluus have similar cells, so they cut cleanly and have a wonderful crunchy texture once cooked or salted.

L. volemus has lots of white milk, creamy colored gills, a matching light golden orange cap and stem, and often emits a fishy odor from the milk that goes away when cooked

In a relatively rainy summer, the milky mushrooms will fruit in mostly hardwood forests in crazy amounts. 2016 was dry and we collected very few, but they all went into the salt brine. The edible species Lactarius/Lactifluus are among our list of favorite edible fungi because of their great texture and taste. Not all species of milky mushrooms are edible, please do further research or join your local mushroom club to learn the local mushrooms where you live.

At this early date in April, we can start adding some fresh greens to our meals while still using our freezer full of foraged plants and mushrooms. Over the year, we collect many mushroom species and preserve them in various ways: in a salt brine, dehydrated, or frozen. We are trying to empty out the freezer so we can begin restocking it with fresh foraged foods!

One of the dozens of maitake from autumn 2016

Pupusas are thick stuffed tortillas made in El Salvador. The tortilla is made from masa and a touch of rice flour then stuffed with a melty, stretchy cheese, plus sometimes beans or a protein. Here we coarsely chopped up frozen maitake (Grifola frondosa) mushroom, and crisped it up with some diced onions in a sautee pan. Then it was mixed in with some shredded mozzarella and some smoked mozzarella. Robert mixes up the pupusa dough and fills the tortilla with a handful of filling before griddlling it in a cast iron plan. The result is a savory, gooey, and hot pocket with wonderfully stretchy cheese inside.

Mixed veggie curtido

Pupusas are typically served with curtido, a lightly fermented cabbage slaw with red chilies and vinegar. We didn't have any chilis on hand, but wanted to add some greens and other fresh flavors to the slaw. Our small yard yielded some chickweed (Stellaria media), sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella), and yard garlic (Allium vineale) for a kick.

Chickweed

Sheep sorrel

Yard onions, crow's garlic, it has many common names, Allium vineale

Using up more of our preserved wild edibles from the pantry:

Wonderfully dark and ripe, yet small black cherries

Traditional Hungarian Zserbo cake is a yeasted dough alternating with layers of apricot jam and ground walnuts, topped with a chocolate glaze. This Zserbo cake is made with two layers of wild black cherry jam and one layer of apricot jam.

While wild black cherries (Prunus serotina ) are small, in good years they can be easily collected in great quantities. Black cherry trees are possibly one of the most common trees east of the Appalachians since we lost the American chestnuts to blight in the early 1900's. Their flavor raw is quite tart; they should only be collected when ripe and nearly black. I hand pit them for jam by squeezing each cherry--the pits are too large for to send them through the food mill. They can also be cooked a bit and strained to get the stones out. The juice can then be used to make a spectacular ice cream, fruity syrup, made into jelly or jam, and used as the flavor for a fruit mousse filling in a cake. Wild black cherries also make a nice dry wine with an appealing dark color!

Flowers on a black cherry tree

Strawberry-Knotweed Bavarian

The flavor of Japanese knotweed is often compared to rhubarb or tart green apples, but it also has an earthy, green flavor as well. In our experiences, people either really like it or really dislike it based on the preparation. We tend to use it in sweeter recipes like cakes, jelly, or syrups, but we also use it in savory recipes like pickles, grilled with a miso marinade, or raw in a summer roll.

Knotweed sliced thinly and eaten raw in summer rolls

Japanese knotweed is a really invasive perennial plant that spreads through aggressive underground rhizomes. It looks similar to bamboo because it has a hollow stem and joints that form cross walls inside the stem, but knotweed is not related to true bamboo. The shoots emerge looking a bit like asparagus before the leaves start to unfurl, and will be green but deeply mottled or spotted with red. It can grow up to 12 feet tall or more, and will have multiple branches along the main stalk. The leaves of different species can appear slightly different; some are shaped like an elongated heart, while others are shaped like the blade of a shovel with a straight back edge. In the late summer, pretty sprays of white flowers emerge, a great source of food for bees. Once pollinated, knotweed produces winged seeds that may persist through the winter. The dried stalks will also last through the winter and it is one of the easiest ways of finding a patch of shoots by looking for the skeletons of last year's knotweed.

Sweet banana bread with Japanese knotweed added

The season to harvest Japanese knotweed shoots in southern New England typically lasts about two weeks when the shoots are less than 10"-12" tall. Once the shoots start to branch out and the leaves have all unfurled, the stem becomes quite tough and woody--not suitable as food. When the knotweed in the southern portion of Connecticut gets too tall, we can start driving north to find shorter shoots to collect and cook. Knotweed doesn't freeze well when raw, but can be dehydrated to make a tart infusion to drink, or can be stewed with sugar and frozen in measured portions for later use in recipes. It can also be salted and preserved but will need to be rinsed and soaked to use in recipes. Flavored syrup and jelly made from knotweed will last all year until spring comes around again to start cooking with fresh knotweed.

Knotweed jelly

Besides using Japanese knotweed shoots as food, the rhizomes are used medicinally as they are high in resveratrol. Knotweed may also be useful in treating Lyme disease by fighting off the Lyme spirochetes and providing anti-inflammatory support for the body. We even use the older, dry parts of knotweed to make biodegradable straws or for use as chopsticks when hiking or camping and we forgot utensils. As kids know, the hollow segments of the dried knotweed stalks also make excellent blowguns, but don't tell mom I showed them!

Knotweed muffins

To find many of our Japanese knotweed recipes click HERE.

Raw Japanese knotweed in a spicy coconut-red curry sauce

When very tender, knotweed can be eaten like a crunchy vegetable

Knotweed syrup

As we are not usually successful morel hunters, we are beyond thrilled to find more recently after a CVMS foray. We hiked with a couple of friends and shared the haul, along with jelly ears and marshmallow-stage hemlock reishi.

Foragers Asparagus, Ramps, and Morel Risotto

Since we don't get many morels (Morchella americana) each year with which to experiment and cook in various ways while fresh, we usually simply dehydrate them to concentrate their flavor and use at a later date.

Savory Cornmeal and Ramps Waffles with Morel Madeira Gravy

With the two dozen or so we have found this year, we did manage to make some Morels in Madeira Gravy over Savory Ramps Waffles, and some Morel and Asparagus Risotto.

Wood ears

Jelly ears (Auricularia auricula-judae) are the black fungus you eat when you order hot and sour soup. Their flavor is pretty non-existent, but they have an interesting crunchy-jelly texture in stir fries and soups. There are a few dark brown jellies that grow on wood, but only true jelly ears have a fuzzy "top". The other jellies (Exidia recisa or E. glandulosa) are edible as well.

The immature hemlock reishi (Ganoderma tsugae) are tender and solid when still small and pure white, a decent edible, but nothing special. Simply pan fried and hit with some salt, they crisp up nicely. Once they grow a bit more and start showing the orange-red varnished outer coating, they are too fibrous and bitter to eat, but can be collected and used as a medicinal mushroom.

#morels #jellyears #reishi #wildmushrooms #the3foragers #wildfood #foraging

Last weekend we made a trip down to coastal Rhode Island to visit a barrier beach and an inland tidal marsh to check the progress of several seaside edibles. The majority of coastal areas in Connecticut are fiercely private and ocean access is very limited all year. Up until Memorial Day, lots of the Rhode Island shore is easily accessed and the beaches haven't become "private" for residents only, and all of the state beaches haven't started charging yet either. It was cool and breezy, but still warm enough for bare feet in the sand!

Beach plums flowering

The beach plums (Prunus maritima) are flowering profusely this year, which is a great sign for us. The last two summers we had fairly bad beach plum harvests because of late frosts that killed most of the blossoms in the spring combined with a horribly dry summer that stunted any fruit. We are all out of beach plum jam and wine in the pantry and look forward to the harvest in late August. Beach plums are essentially little plums that grow wild among the dunes, wonderfully concentrated and wild in flavor. They are often no larger than a quarter, and have a single pit inside. In good years we can fill our cooler in about an hour; then it takes us an evening or two spent in front of the TV watching something on Netflix while we pit them all by hand for cooking and eating. Totally worth it!

Beach roses flowering

Beach roses (Rosa rugosa) have put out new compound leaves, their prickles are ready for unsuspecting bare feet, and the pink and white flowers are just starting to open. We do collect the fragrant petals to use for syrups and teas, but it is the hips that provide a great food source. In this species of rose, the hips are large,1--1 1/2" wide. We carefully (prickles!) pick them once they have ripened to deep orange or red in the summer, cut them in half to scoop out the hairy seed-like structures and any caterpillars inside, and can eat them raw, make jam, a fruity sauce, fruit leather, or dehydrate them to use later. Their flavor is sweet-tart, and very similar to apricots, and they are wonderfully high in Vitamin C.

Small sea beans in the marsh

Seabeans (Salicornia maritima) is a salty treat that can be eaten raw, plucked from tidal areas. They are also called glasswort, samphire, or sea aspargus. They are juicy, succulent, annual plants that are very salt tolerant and have a great crunch. We use them raw mostly to season foods as the salty component--chopped into grain salads, topping savory fingerfoods like deviled eggs or blini, and mixed into dips. We also pickle some to use all year.

Male pollen cones

The red pines at the beach were a little ahead of their traditional schedule when it came to pollen production this year, likely due to an unexpected heat wave earlier in the week. We gather the male pollen cones and bring them home to collect the nutritious pollen. They get dried, tossed about to loosen the pollen, and sifted to remove debris, then we keep the pollen in the freezer to use all year in batters and smoothies.

Bayberry flowers and immature leaves

Bayberry shrubs are flowering (Myrica pensylvanica) and starting to put out new leaves. The flowers don't look like a traditional flower, rather like little pine cones on the stems, but the leaves already have the savory, spicy smell. These are not the same as Mediterranean bay leaves, but our native eastern North American equivalent. We use them like traditional bay leaves--in soups for flavor. While they are tender now, they will get tough and leathery in the summer, and can be collected and dried to use all year. We also collect the hard, grey berries later in the summer to extract a natural wax from their outside, and have used it to make fragrant candles.

Visit the eastern seashore now to look for plants to collect later in the season. Beach days aren't just for the kids anymore!

#wildfood #foraging #beachforaging #the3foragers #beachplums #rosehips #seabeans #samphire #pinepollen #bayberry

Seashore foraging: wild mustard seed pods, beach peas, sea beans, mustard flowers, beach plums, rose hips, bay leaves

Edible Wild Plants of Summer Lecture June 24, 11:00 am-12:30 pm, Mary Loontjens Memorial Library, Narragansett, RI 02882 (401) 789-9507

The summer months are a bounty of ripe berries, nectar-laden edible flowers, amazing edible plants along the seashore, and edible mushrooms that can carpet the forest floor after warm, rainy days. Learn how to identify, sustainably harvest, and prepare the wild foods of summer, from beach plums to invasive wineberries, including some of the choice summer fungi like chanterelles and the myriad of pored Boletes. Explore the edible wild plants that grow along the seashores as well! Join The 3 Foragers as they teach the edible plants and fungi of summer with their original photos and recipe ideas featured in an educational slideshow. Free admission, registration appreciated.

Edible Wild Plants of Summer Lecture June 29, 7:00 pm-8:15 pm, Scranton Memorial Library, Madison, CT 06443 (860) 245-7365

Hot eats in the summertime! Berries ripen for sweet desserts, fresh greens can be added to your summer salads, and the mushroom hunting is in full swing. Learn how to identify, sustainably harvest, and prepare the wild foods of summer, from beach plums to invasive wineberries, including some of the choice summer fungi like chanterelles and the myriad of pored Boletes. Join The 3 Foragers as they teach the edible plants and fungi of summer with their original photos and recipe ideas featured in an educational slideshow. Free admission, registration appreciated.

Edible Wild Plants of Summer Lecture and Walk July 8, 10:00 am-12:30 pm, James L Goodwin State Forest Education Center, 23 Potter Rd, Hampton, CT 06247 (860) 455-9534

We return to Goodwin Forest for the seasonal summer edible plants program, featuring fresh berries, seaside foraging, wild greens, edible flowers, and gourmet summer mushrooms. Learn how to identify, sustainably harvest, and prepare the wild foods of summer, from beach plums to invasive wineberries, including some of the choice summer fungi like chanterelles and the myriad of pored Boletes. Join The 3 Foragers as they teach the edible plants and fungi of summer with their original photos and recipe ideas featured in an educational slideshow. Please call Goodwin 860-455-9534 to register, space is limited. Cost: $5.00 for the public, free for Friends of Goodwin and CFPA members

Edible Wild Plants of Summer Lecture and Walk, July 15, 1:00pm-3:30pm, Bushy Hill Nature Center, 253 Bushy Hill Rd, Deep River CT 06417 (860) 767-2148 x 604

Please see program descriptions above. Fee: $5.00 suggested donation per adult, registration appreciated

Mushroom ID for Beginners Class and Walk August 5, 10:00 am-12:30 pm, James L Goodwin State Forest Education Center, 23 Potter Rd, Hampton, CT 06247 (860) 455-9534

Does it have gills, pores, or teeth? Is it growing on wood or the ground? And most importantly, Can I Eat It?? The 3 Foragers present a program on Mushroom ID for Beginners, where they will explain the steps to take and the terms to know when trying to identify mushrooms. After the slideshow and talk, we'll head outside to explore a small part of Goodwin and try to put the newly learned skills to the test.

Please call Goodwin 860-455-9534 to register, space is limited, there will be NO walk-ins allowed. Cost: $5.00 for the public, free for Friends of Goodwin and CFPA members

Mushroom ID for Beginners Class and Walk August 12, 10:00am-12:30pm, Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center, 10 Deerfield Lane, Ansonia CT 06401 (203) 736-1053

Does it have gills, pores, or teeth? Is it growing on wood or the ground? And most importantly, Can I Eat It?? The 3 Foragers present a program on Mushroom ID for Beginners, where they will explain the steps to take and the terms to know when trying to identify mushrooms. After the slideshow and talk, we'll head outside to explore a small part of Ansonia Nature Center and try to put the newly learned skills to the test.

Fee: $5.00 per adult, registration required, class size is limited

Hens roasted with a white miso glaze, served over forbidden and white rice cooked in hen broth

Autumn came a bit early this August and September with very cool nights and comfortable days, stimulating the fruiting of a favorite fall fungi, the hen of the woods, maitake, or Grifola frondosa. Some weekends we are so busy with lectures and walks that we don't have much time to forage for our own pantry, but hen season can get us out in the woods all week long. For about two weeks, we brought home dozens of beautiful hens; then the weather got hot again, making it uncomfortable being out in the woods hauling many pounds of mushrooms. Autumn conditions have returned, so we hope for another hen flush out in the woods of southern New England.

The pores of a hen on the underside of a frond

white spore print

Hens are one of the polypores, meaning if you look on the underside of one of the many fronds, you will see many holes from which this fungus drops its white spores. They don't have a true cap-and-stem appearance, rather they have many branched stems from a main core that are topped with fan-shaped fronds. Hens are saprobic and a mild parasite on hardwood trees as well, causing a white butt rot. They are sometimes referred to as perennial, as they will continue to fruit at the same location until they have exhausted their food supply. A hen of the woods can be collected by cutting them off at their base, and are good edibles as long as they are firm with white pores. They should be left behind if they are getting a yellow-orange mold on their base, have obvious signs of consumption by wild animals, are growing with poison ivy, or have obvious signs of a fungus fly maggot infestation or a serious case of springtails. Respect your wild food and only collect prime specimens!

Hen burgers made from the ground bits

Combined with their abundance, their texture and flavor make hen of the woods one of our favorite wild mushrooms to find. They are full of umami, a savory taste that can be described as brothy or meaty. It can be substituted for chicken in any familiar dishes, as its flavor is excellent and the texture of hens is substantial. We like to use hens in many regional cuisines, roasted with an Asian white miso sauce, made into an Italian panelle patty, ground and cooked into American burgers (recipe here) or "meat"loaf, a Mexican tomatillo, hominy, and hen stew, or a French-style tapenade (recipe here).

Lots and lots of dehydrated hen jerky, vacuum packed for the year

Hens can vary in size, growth configuration, and color, most likely based on age and growing conditions. Hens can be large and frondy, or smaller and more compact with smaller fronds. Their growth determines their best use in culinary applications: the larger fronds make the best jerky (recipe here), while the more compact specimens slice up nicely into "steaks" for roasting. When cleaning hens for jerky, we try to keep the core as solid as possible, and then slice it up for larger pieces.

Vegan hen sausages with a potato pancake and pickled ramps

The bits leftover after culling the biggest fronds for jerky get ground up for burgers or a loaf. We also dehydrate a lot of the smaller pieces to use all year in gravy and soups, or saute and then freeze the small bits for use all year. The smaller bits also work very well in our vegan sausage recipe (recipe here). Overall, hens are an easy and delicious fall fungi forage!

Hen tapenade

Tomatillo, hominy, and hen stew

Duchesse mashed potatoes filled with cooked hen bits, baked until firm


Wild rice and hen soup

Baked ravioli filled with hen and goat cheese

We have many sources for our local harvest of Chinese chestnuts (Castanea molissima). This has been a mediocre mast year, but we have found plenty to boil for a fresh snack or for a recipe or two, plus have a few pounds in our freezer from last year. Commercial cocoa-hazelnut spread is an inherently unhealthy product filled with modified palm oil and massive amounts of sugar. In this recipe we tried working with natural starchiness and thickening properties of cooked chestnut to make a thick spread that provides a deep chocolate flavor from cocoa powder with a hint of sweet nuttiness. The recipe calls for milk, but in our house we use nut-based or soy-based "milks" for dietary reasons; keep all tree nut milks in mind for allergy reasons. We use a Vitamix blender for an absolutely smooth spread, but a food processor can be used for a grainier spread, or a mortar and pestle can be used as well.

Chestnutella makes about 4c.

1 c. milk (or almond milk, or soy milk), or 56 g
1 c. plus 1 Tbsp sugar, or 235 g
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. boiled, shelled chestnut meat, or about 400 g
1/2 c. cocoa powder, or 56 g

1. In a saucepan, heat the milk and sugar together and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Pour the hot milk and sugar mix into the carafe into a blender, add the vanilla. Add the boiled, shelled chestnut meats about 1/2 cup at a time, blending well between each addition.
3. Sift the cocoa powder into the blender carafe and blend until homogenized. The spread will thicken as it cools, so consider adding a bit more milk to thin it further.
4. Keep chestnutella spread in the fridge. Spread liberally on toast, fill crepes, swirl into ice cream, and use to flavor desserts like brownies, tartlets, and sweet wontons.


The spiny husk, leathery chestnut in the shell, boiled and shelled chestnut, and chestnut meat with the papery skin removed

Two of the great perks of our mushroom club membership with the Connecticut Valley Mycological Society are our fantastic potlucks and our annual March Mushroom Madness meeting. March is certainly not mushroom hunting season in Connecticut, but many of us are already fatigued by our New England winter/spring weather and looking forward to mushroom season to start. The MMM meeting is held indoors at the Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area in Burlington, and we get a speaker as well as serve a continental breakfast. This year we had Noah Seigel present "A Season of Fun(gi)" for a large group of members and the general public.

Our potluck contribution was a wood ear salad, made from wood ear fungus we purchased in the Boston Chinatown the week before. A benefit of belonging to other clubs in our region is that we can attend their special off-season functions, and we had joined the Boston Mycological Club for a Chinatown fungus shopping excursion with a private mushroom-themed banquet afterwards at a Chinese restaurant. We sampled nine courses at the restaurant, all featuring mushrooms. One of my favorites was the wood ear salad, which we attempted to re-create here.

The wood ears (Auricularia auricula) were purchased dried, and simply rehydrated in water. I also picked up something labeled as "snow fungus", a white jelly (Tremella fusciformis) and added it to the salad as well for a color contrast. Jelly fungi dehydrate into nearly nothing, and will absorb tons of water to return to their fresh, jelly-like consistency. Some fresh veggies and a vinaigrette dressing are added right before service. The overall salad is crunchy, squishy, tangy, and smoky from the toasted sesame oil.

Wood Ear Salad serves 12-16

Dressing:
1/2 c. rice vinegar
1/2 c. water
6 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp chili-garlic paste

Salad:
1 c. dried wood ear mushrooms
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 c. washed and de-stemmed cilantro leaves
1/2 c. garlic mustard micro-greens or bean sprouts(optional)

1. For the dressing, add all of the ingredients to a small saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Allow the dressing to cool.
2. Place the dried wood ears in room temperature water and allow them to soak it up for about 30 minutes. They will expand dramatically!
3. While the mushrooms are re-hydrating, prepare the veggies: peel, seed, and chop the cucumbers, wash and de-stem the cilantro, thinly slice the red onion. Cover and chill the fresh veggies until service.
4. Clean the wood ears: You may notice a thicker area on the ears where they were attached to the wood, remove it with a sharp knife as it sometimes has some grit trapped in the mushroom flesh. Keep the pieces about the size of a quarter, so you may have to cut some pieces in half so they are not too large. Bring a pot of water to boil, and boil the cleaned wood ears for 5 minutes, then drain them and give them a rinse in cool water. Pour the cooled dressing over the wood ear mushrooms and cover, keeping at room temperature for about an hour until service. If you are not serving the salad immediately, refrigerate the wood ears.
5. Right before service, toss the dressing, wood ears, and fresh veggies together in a large bowl. Spoon into a serving bowl and garnish with the optional garlic mustard micro greens or bean sprouts.

Spring for foragers in the northeast includes ramps (Allium tricoccum) and if you are very lucky and persistent, morels (Morchella americana in this case). They taste great together in assorted pilaf recipes, sauteed with some pasta, and last year we made some savory cornmeal waffles with ramps greens, and topped it with a morel-Marsala gravy. Sadly, we don't find a lot of morels to make this often enough to test a real recipe, this was a bit of an experiment for dinner that worked out nicely.

This is considered a very good haul in the Northeast

Ramps and some native Trillium

You can find patches of wild asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) in nearly the entire United States, if you know where and when to spot them. In our area, they are found in old fields, perhaps left over from farmland gardens, or planted when birds consumed the red berries in the autumn. It's easiest to spot them in late summer, though, after they have shot up to 4 feet tall and formed their feathery branches and sparse berries--which are not edible. The foliage has a greenish-blue hue, so it stands out in a field of mostly green grass or maturing hay. Then the trick is to remember all of the places you saw the asparagus growing and come back in the spring to collect them when they are shoots, which is the stage we all recognize from the grocery store.

Morels (Morchella americana) are out at the same time, and these two spring foods combine well for a tender and flavorful risotto. As a matter of fact, it was a few years ago that we were collecting some wild asparagus in a field surrounded by old ash trees, when Robert noticed there were actually morels growing in the grass, 149 of them! While the asparagus patch still produces a few dozen spears each year, we haven't found the bounty of morels again, this year only finding 8 of them in the woods nearby.

The risotto was made with vegetable broth that had a few dried morels added for flavor, white wine, sauteed morels, steamed asparagus, and some fresh chopped ramps greens.

Morels (Morchella americana, in this case) are not terribly common or abundant in our area of southeastern Connecticut, we often end up driving a few hours west to the Berkshires to find some. Once in a while, we find a handful in one of our wild asparagus patch just a few miles away, this year that number was only eight. I figured that if I sliced the morels in half, that would give me 16 hollow caps to stuff, enough for a hearty meal. We had a small bundle of ramps greens (Allium tricoccum) in the fridge, so I used their funky-garlicky flavor as a seasoning in three different stuffings.

Risotto: For the broth, I used a vegetable broth base and added some dehydrated morels from past years, then removed the re-hydrated morels, finely chopped them, and added them to the risotto. Instead of onions or garlic, I removed the purplish stems from the ramps leaves and finely chopped them--they are quite flavorful and succulent. The risotto was also cooked with a touch of dry white wine and had Parmesan cheese stirred in. At the end of cooking when the risotto was just barely done and still a touch soupy, I added another bunch of the chopped, purple stems of ramps for an additional color and flavor boost.

Polenta: To make the polenta, I used some more of the morel-accented broth and finely diced, re-hydrated morels. A generous portion of tangy goat cheese and some butter were whipped into the polenta as it finished cooking, making it light and creamy, and I added some freshly chopped ramps greens at the end, with a few grinds of fresh black pepper from the pepper mill.

Potato: I used some starchy russets as this base, boiled and then pressed through the ricer for fluffiness, then enhanced with a few pats of butter and several spoonfuls of pureed ramps greens. When we collect just the leaves of ramps, we will puree a good amount of them in the Vitamix with some olive oil and salt, making a dark green, pungent paste that freezes exceptionally well. We like to keep at least a dozen 4 oz. containers of this puree in the freezer to use all year, swirled into soups, breads, rice dishes, or anything that needs a rampy kick. The mashed potato stuffing also had some grated sharp white cheddar cheese and an egg for richness and firmness once baked.

After a pan sear, the stuffed morels were baked in a hot oven

Once the three fillings were made, I sliced each morel in half from top to bottom. A mounded portion of stuffing went into the hollow cavities, and I placed them in the fridge overnight to firm up the stuffings. At lunchtime, the chilled, stuffed morels got pan fired on the stovetop in a heavy cast iron pan, then baked in a hot oven for 20 minutes. Unfortunately, the mushroom was mostly hidden under the stuffing, but Robert turned them upside down to see the deeply caramelized, crispy morel that once held the stuffing had become more like a small pie crust for the savory fillings. We let the morels cool a bit, then popped them in our mouths after they were dipped into some morel-Marsala gravy.

Dryad's saddle, sliced into discs, coated with egg and panko, and deep fried

Another edible spring mushroom is a white rotter of hardwoods: the dryad's saddle (since it looks a bit like a seat or saddle for some woodland fairy or nymph), pheasant back (because the cap looks like the feathers of a pheasant), or Cerioporus squamosus--while in older publications you'll find it as Polyporus squamosus. It can be both mildly parasitic on live trees and saprobic on dead trees, and we find them often on maples that are part of old stone walls all over our New England fields and forests. The fruit bodies are annuals, but may sometimes persist for many months before drying up. When the weather cools down again in autumn, dryad's saddle may fruit again. They often appear for many years on the same tree.

Pig's nose stage of growth

As a polypore, there are many pores on the underside of each cap that start out small and crowded but expand as the cap grows; if the pores are still small they can be left intact, but on larger ones they can be scraped off. The tops of the caps have some tufts of fibers that are arranged in concentric circles and give the feathery appearance; on larger specimens we peel off the cap skin before consuming. We prefer to pick them in their "pig's nose" stage when the flesh is very tender, as they soon toughen up and become inedible. It's best to go by texture when collecting for the table, as sometimes even larger specimens are still tender along the edges; as long as a knife passes easily through the flesh, it is still good to eat. Several people suggest using older specimens in soup broth for flavoring.

A small Gillian holding a large drad's saddle

The flavor is very mild and nutty, which is interesting because the fresh dryad's saddle is strongly watermelon rind or cucumber scented. They pickle well once boiled, and are great added to stir fries. If you use the smaller pig's noses, you can slice off some pretty consistent discs to coat with crumbs and deep fry, making a crunchy snack once dipped into some homemade yellow tomato sauce. The fried discs can also be topped with the sauce and some fresh mozzarella and grated Parmesan then served over pasta to make some "Dryad's Parmesan" casserole for dinner. Since we often find the dryad's saddle while out hunting morels during our first camping trips of the year, they get fried up over the campfire for a smoky, crispy treat. Because of their mild flavor and firm flesh, they are very versatile in many dishes and preparations.

Dryad's saddle cooked over the campfire

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Yule Log 2017

Spring Classes, Walks, and Lectures for 2017

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Summer Classes, Walks, and Lectures for 2017

Cooking with Hen of the Woods

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Wood Ear Recipe - Wood Ear Salad

Morel Marsala Gravy over Savory Ramps and Cornmeal Waffles

Morel and Wild Asparagus Risotto for dinner

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Dryad's Saddle, Pheasant Back, Cerioporus squamosus