Although the season is by no means over, it now seems extremely unlikely we will see the abnormally late ‘flush’ of porcini that we have all been yearning for. Certainly there are still mushrooms out there, but they are relatively few and far between. Put simply, although there was a reasonable range of species in 2007, finding these was hard work – and certainly there was not much in the way of quantity (with the exception of hedgehog and cauliflower fungi). In other words, the main crop simply failed to arrive.
This meant the ridiculous posturing of the Elan Valley Trust was the main mushroom excitement locally. As you may recall, it tried – completely unsuccessfully – to block touching any mushroom in the Valley, still less enjoying their gastronomic delights. Fortunately this stance, groundless in science and law, completely backfired and resulted in a huge amount of media coverage. As a result, bookings for next year are already starting to pour in, with an interesting growth in the ‘Christmas’ market (wives seem particularly keen on giving their husbands as an unusual short break).
Where were the mushrooms?
But back to the mushroom season: I have various theories about what went wrong, but in the end these are little more than educated guesses. I think the problem was a combination of abnormal climatic conditions which meant the summer didn’t really happen as far as mushrooms are concerned. First came a scorching Easter, followed by the torrential downpours of late July. Then we had a distinctly chilly August and September, but a decidedly warm October with almost no rain until its end. All of this must have confused the mushrooms which – unlike photosynthesising plants – have no way of telling the season by day length. Instead they have to rely on soil moisture and temperature to know when to fruit. My feeling is they were so thoroughly confused by it all that they threw up their little mycelial limbs in horror and decided to give the season a miss.
There is a silver lining to all this gloom, however. Past experience suggests poor years are followed by bumper crops, quite possibly because a bad year gives the mycelium a jolt comparable to heavy pruning. Thus the parched 2004 saw only a handful of mushrooms emerging, yet it was followed by the phenomenal 2005 (and 2006 was almost as good). As a result, I am already looking forward to the autumn of 2008. Provided we have something like normal weather over the summer and early autumn, it could see a host of broken crop records.
Wood blewits are prompted into action by the first frosts and are now starting to come up (11 November)
And all is not lost for what’s left of the 2007 – 2008 season. I found a nice circle of young wood blewits this morning (11 November) and in the past I have carried on picking these well into February. These (and their close relative, the field blewit) have a fantastic rich flavour that is perfect for winter stews and hearty pies (try them in a venison casserole).
Velvet shanks and Jew’s ear can come up throughout the winter provided conditions are right
Similarly, velvet shanks and Jew’s ears continue to come up through the winter. Both are tree parasites – the first usually growing on elm and the second almost always found on elder. As a result, they are most common in neglected hedges and coppices across southern England, but are no means restricted exclusively to these habitats. Sadly, unlike blewits, these are not in the fungal Premier League, but make up for this by being available when everything else appears lifeless. Both dry well and can be used powdered in dishes to give an unusual flavour, but the much-maligned Jew’s ear is actually very good in stir fries (shred it finely to side-step the rather rubbery texture).
Happy foraying over the coming months – and keep your fingers crossed for next year.
Daniel Butler
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