Special Issue
Treasures from Banks, OR 
Fall, 2007
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From the Geigers, October 29: 

Herman, attached are a few pictures of what we think are Queen Bolete. We have a lot of what appears to be fat jacks up right now also. a lot of them are full of worms. the real young ones are good. the fat jacks bruise brown.

Not a whole lot of chanterelles this year. Some nice white ones a few weeks ago and two yesterday

Later the same day:

Herman, I went back to the spot where we found what we think is the Queen Bolete and found some more pushing up the moss layer.

From me: 

If it has a white bloom on the cap, it might be the Queen, or Boletus aereus, although the cap is a little light for one. They are usually much darker when I find them.

Otherwise it is probably the King, or Boletus edulis.

Doesn't matter much as they are sold interchangeably and both are taste treats.

From the Geigers, November 7:

Hi!  Here are couple of pictures that I just took of what we think is of Russula xerampelina.  They are coming up all over the place the last few days.  We are taking a spore print now. The stalk snaps like chalk on the
younger ones.

We have an awful lot of the Suillus caerulescens up in the later stages of melt down. Got four quarts of dried Queen Bolete put up. 

From me: 

They are Russula, but as far as R. xerampelina goes, they don't seem to quite fit the profile I have for them. However, they are very variable in appearance, so they can be hard to ID until you have picked a bunch.

The ones I have seen here have reddish tones going down the stalk and the gills seem more cream colored. The taste should be mild, and the stem is usually stuffed rather than solid like the rest of the Russula. On the more mature ones, you should get that shrimp odor, especially on the gills.

I would bet these have a peppery taste.

Let me know what you find.

From the Geigers, November 8:

Good morning!  Rebecca said she got no pepper taste at all.  The spores are yellowish.  The stalks are like chalk on the young ones and the old ones the stalk is hollow and does not break like chalk. I do not know what you mean by "stuffed"  I need to lean more terms about mushrooms.  In David Arora's book "All that the rain promises and More" he shows both the whiter stalks and ones with the red tones.

Thanks for the info.

From me:

Stuffed means it is not hollow, but stuffed with a softer flesh, kind of yellow in appearance. Do the older ones smell of shrimp? The gills are usually yellowish in the ones I find, even when young. 

From the Geigers, November 9:

Since we could not really pinpoint the ID , we did not try any of them.

They really do match pretty good with the R. xerampelina except for the lack of the shrimp smell in the older ones.

I need to get a microscope so I can look at the spores. We do have the Mushrooms Demystified book. It is very useful.  We had a bit of rain today and more tomorrow so need to walk around our property tomorrow.

Bob

From the Geigers, November 10:

Herman, I found a couple that did have red on the stalks and the gills are more cream colored. No pepper taste so Rebecca cooked up a couple and they tasted real good. Will take some pictures in the morning, a lot of them are overripe but new ones are coming up.

Bob

From the Geigers, November 11:

Picked these today, most of them were buried in the duff, next to driveway, about 100 feet from house.

Later that same day:

2 pm, went down to bottom of property and found more Russulas. Note the red tone running down the stalk. Some bitter Bolete, and the last two pictures are unknown.  Walked up on two deer just below the house. It looks like the deer have been munching on the Russula.

 

The rock that the Bolete are next two are part of our bank decorations. We have all clay, no natural rock.

I picked a couple of chanterelles. They are few in numbers this year so far.

Later
Bob

 

From me:

Are you sure the boletus is bitter tasting?

The Russula in the hand look very much like the shrimp russula, and the yellow one with the white spots looks like an Amanita aspera or one of the yellow variations of the muscaria.

From me, later: 

If the "bitter bolete" was not bitter, and because it seems to have red cracks, it could be a B. chrysenturon or B. truncatus. And is was growing out of buried wood, it could be  a faded B. zelleri, all okay edibles.

From the Geigers, November 19th:

Herman, found this nice Bolete today. Rebecca is up the road looking for more.

From me:

Boletus edulis, or King Bolete (The Porcini). Another great find for you. They dry and store well for later meals. I have had some dried ones in sealed jars for years. 

Take all you can get and either cook them for later meals and freeze them, or dry them. I have yet to find any at all this year. Perfect for a Thanksgiving meal. 

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