Friday, June 12, 2009

OF mUsHrOOmS

Mushrooms

Rain, and then
the cool pursed
lips of the wind
draw them
out of the ground -
red and yellow skulls
pummeling upward
through leaves,
through grasses,
Picture 284 through sand; astonishing
in their suddenness,
their quietude,
their wetness, they appear
on fall mornings, some
balancing in the earth
on one hoof
packed with poison,
others billowing
chunkily, and delicious -
Picture 281 those who know
walk out to gather, choosing
the benign from flocks
Picture 027 of glitterers, sorcerers,
russulas,
panther caps,
shark-white death angels
in their town veils
looking innocent as sugar
Picture 285 but full of paralysis:
to eat
is to stagger down
fast as mushrooms themselves
when they are done being perfect
and overnight
slide back under the shining
fields of rain.
Mary Oliver

I am a mushroom picker…
I delight in walking into the woods and finding the edible treasures….I pick only what I know is edible….and try and learn a bit about the others..
I look forward to Springtime morels….and the fall Boletus Edulis, Chanterelles,Lions Mane, Cauliflower mushroom, Oysters and other wonderful tasty treats!
This fall…We will be in my favorite mushroom picking area, Oregon!

Yippeeee…stay tuned for my mushroom picking forays..

until then..go.... go now to.

Rambling Woods..for more notes on nature!

nature-notes2

21 comments:

  1. Really Cool Dawn! I love those shots and you have me taking photo's of them now, but I don't have a clue what they are! I will post some soon and you can tell me!

    Craig Glenn

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  2. Excellent post Dawn!

    I so wanted to go mushroom hunting this spring, but with my back all messed up when the time to pick came, I had to stay out of the woods.

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  3. Great post and pix Dawn!
    I'm fond of Mary Oliver and have never read this poem.

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  4. nice selection of photos - so easy to miss beauty by just not paying attention, and the fungi (I think mushrooms are fungi, or else closely related) are beautiful

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  5. I looked out the kitchen window this morning and saw a squirrel standing up in the side yard with a big white blob in its hands. Evidently it was breakfast for him. It was one of the mushrooms that have recently popped up with the latest rain. Whatever is growing in our yard is hopefully edible for the squirrels.

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  6. I adore Mary Oliver but have never read this poem. I grew up in a family of shroon pickers. There is nothing better than morels or puffballs sauted in butter. But now I'm too afraid to go out picking on my own. So I will pine after yours.

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  7. I too love Mary Oliver and had not read this poem. I LOVE your mushrooms photos and the fact that you go out and pick them. That is so cool and perfect for Nature Notes. I have been adding the links myself because there have been so many problems with Mr. Linky and I have added your post. Thank you so much..
    Michelle From Rambling Woods

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  8. Great captures of the mushrooms Dawn. Think I recognize most of them, some not edible. The NW is a most awesome place to gather the edibles. No spring shrooms here, but come fall we have shaggy manes. Yum.

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  9. I loved the poem which fit so beautifully with the photographs. I love mushrooms, but I only pick Morels. Well, when I can find them.

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  10. lol, I do have to say, Dawn, when I saw several morels while I was walking a wooded path, recently..I thought of you and how you were seeking them in the early spring!!
    ;-)

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  11. Where are you, to find such unusual mushrooms? When are you going to Oregon? Diane

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  12. Wow such cool mushrooms.. Joe and I have been finding quite a few different types in our yard. It must be this damp weather.

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  13. They're beautiful and YOU are a woman of many talents! Are the ones pictured edible? (Don't worry, I'm not even THINKING of it!)

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  14. Love the shrooms. LOL, I had great aspirations last season, but the chipmunks kept beating me to them! These are wonderful pix.

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  16. Craig Glenn
    Ha...good ..I hope you take more shroom photos! I will do my best to Id..but..I really only know a few out of sooooo many.

    MaineBirder
    Darn..sorry about your back...hope your feeling better by next srhroom season.

    Lynne at Hasty Brook
    just discovered Mary Oliver..so now I am checking out her other poems..

    Chris Petrak
    Thanks..yeah...I am kinda a fungiaholic...love the different shapes, colors textures..

    JPT
    LOL..some are deadly..not all...My heart still beats..tick tock..

    Adele
    yes squirrels love some of the mushrooms..Send me a photo..I think the animals know what they are doing..unlike some of us..

    behindthebins
    I just discovered Mary Oliver..so will be reading more of her works..
    I adore puffballs..mouth watering...Just go out with your local Myclogical society they will help with ID..

    Rambling Woods
    Oh good..I am glad you got my post on..I wasn't sure how to do it.
    I am happy to participate in this new venue..I hope to do a few more posts in the future..thanks for hosting it!

    Gaelyn
    Ohhh..Shaggy manes..I love them..my husband does not..so i get all the tasty morsels ...

    NCmountainwoman
    I love morels,,,I love the way they look ...Didnt you find some this spring??

    Tina
    hee hee...I like that you thought of me when you saw the morels..but why didn't you pluck them and send them off in a package to me...
    tee hee

    diane-j-m
    Hi diane..we are in MA. Now and Ct. next week. We will be in Oregon end of September..Are you headed there in your RV??

    Tink
    oh yeah..the damp brings them on..But Sicksta,,why u not take photos for your mushroom luv struck sicksta??

    merrilymarylee
    The first and last are not edible..well..the last could be eaten..but not a good idea..hallucinogenic..and vomiting..etc..
    the second one is one of my favorites..you might know it as Porchini..
    and the third is another yummy edible..chicken of the woods..

    Steve B
    Oh steve..do you pick shrooms too?
    Hope that the squirrels save a few for you next time..

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  17. Absolutely GORGEOUS pictures and the poem - wow!

    I am fascinated by fungi but only know one well enough to pick - the shaggy ink cap. I would love to learn more of them with enough confidence to go foraging. I love my wild food and I'm envious that you know how to forage for fungi!

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  18. I'm not a picker (or an eater) but I love looking at and photographing shrooms. You captured some beauties.

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  19. Loved that poem! Beautiful mushrooms! I saw some of the coolest mushrooms today (little teeeny weeeny things in a cluster) and I thought about you. That mushroom you've got pictured with the red cap, speckled with the white freckles, on a white stalk (so pretty!) They're all pretty, from the fungi to the spores... I'm always taking to time stop and marvel at "growths" -lol, but I don't know which ones are OK. Thanks to you, I'm learning more. I still can't believe the Morels - I'll always be going back to that stretch to see if I can see more (might even get the nerve to pick them and try them!)

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  20. Bird
    The shaggy mane is a great shroom! great place to start..there is a book i think called The Safe Six six mushrooms that are easily identified with no poisonous look alikes. Morel, Oyster, Shaggy Mane, Sulfer Shelf, Giant Puffball, and Hen-of-the-Woods.

    Earl Cootie
    Thanks Earl,
    you have some really great mushroom picking areas out there. You should go on a mushroom foray with the local mycological society!

    jayedized
    You wont find any morels now...Only come out in spring..
    but I bet you have some other goodies there!

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ok what do you really think?????