Where have all the mushrooms gone?

yank_in_eire

Out of the 60 or so hours of hunting for wild mushrooms this season, all I have to show for it are a few shaggy manes, a maggot-ridden bolete and a solitary liberty cap. Plenty of non-edibles around but the good ones are few and far between. This time last year it seemed like they were thick on the ground everywhere you looked - so I'm just wondering if any other mushroom hunters are having any luck this year. Is the season over, having never really started?

Alun

I'm only a rank beginner (went on the mushroomstuff.com mushroom hunt at Avondale last year) but I've been looking around this year and haven't seen much that I've recognised except for one magnificent blue staining bolete. I'm still very wary, so I don't pick anything unless I'm 100% sure. Maybe the recent rain will bring them out?

Anyway, if you're a bit of an old hand it this, try contacting Bill O'Dea via the mushroomstuff.com website and he'll probably give you some hints on where to look. Good hunting!

CJhaughey

My mum has about 7-8kg of chanterelles picked so far this season, and a heap of the amethyst deceivers as well.
Ceps and others seem to be slow this year though.

Alun

CJhaughey wrote: »

My mum has about 7-8kg of chanterelles picked so far this season, and a heap of the amethyst deceivers as well.
Ceps and others seem to be slow this year though.

Aah, the amethyst deceivers .. weirdest looking edible mushroom I've ever seen. Anything that bright a colour just doesn't seem right to eat somehow :pac:

yank_in_eire

Heard back from Bill O'Dea - sounds to me like he reckons that good things might be happening in the near future. Hope the frost holds off long enough!

Have to agree CJH - I haven't seen a single cep this year yet -just shaggy manes - blecch!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Generally this has been a great year for fungus and there are exceptional numbers of varieties and volumes of mushrooms due to the damp summer we have had. There are edibles of all descriptions around the North East.

yank_in_eire

Brycen Icy Honeycomb wrote: »

Generally this has been a great year for fungus and there are exceptional numbers of varieties and volumes of mushrooms due to the damp summer we have had. There are edibles of all descriptions around the North East.

Are you saying this because you've picked a heap of different varieties or are you just spouting something you read somewhere? I've been picking wild mushrooms for the past 7 years around Dublin and I can tell you first hand that they are DEFINITELY not around here in large numbers this year - damp summer or not.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

yank_in_eire wrote: »

Are you saying this because you've picked a heap of different varieties or are you just spouting something you read somewhere? I've been picking wild mushrooms for the past 7 years around Dublin and I can tell you first hand that they are DEFINITELY not around here in large numbers this year - damp summer or not.

I beg your pardon?
I'm spouting nothing! I'm employed to know these things. I haven't picked too many as I don't personally like to eat mushrooms but I have recorded the varieties and volumes all year (and for many years past).

Do you not like to have somebody disagree with you or something?

I can assure you this has been an exceptional year for fungai in my Division and in several others where my collegues concur.

BK

magicbastarder

bumper year in the UK:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7660405.stm

yank_in_eire

Brycen Icy Honeycomb wrote: »

I beg your pardon?
I'm spouting nothing! I'm employed to know these things. I haven't picked too many as I don't personally like to eat mushrooms but I have recorded the varieties and volumes all year (and for many years past).

Do you not like to have somebody disagree with you or something?

I can assure you this has been an exceptional year for fungai in my Division and in several others where my collegues concur.

BK

Ok, maybe I'm nitpicking here but someone who is paid to catalogue mushrooms probably has some sort of 3rd level degree and ought to know that there is no "a" in fungi and there is one in colleagues.

As an empiricist I can only believe what I see firsthand or read in a respected peer-reviewed journal. If you have a reference to back up your claims I'll happily eat my words. Otherwise I have to take what's right in front of me as the truth.

I suppose I do have a teeny problem being disagreed with.:o

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Yank, you seem to have a major attitude problem (and I apologise for typing errors - I sent that reply with a laptop leaning against the dashboard).
You asked if others had similar problems as yourself with regards to a shortage of mushrooms and I simply replied to your question to tell you that the variety and quantities here are actually higher than recent years. If you choose to call me a lier so be it; but why ask if you won't accept the responses you get? I have no vested interest in disagreeing with you or anybody else.
If you would care to contact any of the conservation groups here, in Northern Ireland, or the UK I think they'll confirm the situation regarding Mushrooms in 2008. I'm certainly not going to do your research for you!
You asked the question and one reply only said he didn't recognise what he saw (no mention of numbers), another had a bumper crop of some species, and another referred to a UK report on a bumper year for mushrooms. You can't pontificate based only on what you alone can see in your own neck of the woods but have to consider what is being recorded elsewhere.
An empiricist living above the Artic Circle will maintain that all bears are white and one living in Donegal will insist that there are no 2 spot ladybirds in Ireland. Both would be wrong!

yank_in_eire

AT LAST! A person with whom I can have a decent argument(if there was a "hat-taking-off" smiley I would insert it here)
In all seriousness, I applaud you sir for refusing to take the bait and lose the rag with me. Many would have resorted to childish references to my mother by now when faced with someone as rude and all-knowing as myself.

I'll give you the bumper crops elsewhere (in a similar fashion to my belief that a place called China exists even though I haven't seen it firsthand) but I still maintian that the yields around Dublin have been dismal.

Truce?;)

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

yank_in_eire wrote: »

AT LAST! A person with whom I can have a decent argument(if there was a "hat-taking-off" smiley I would insert it here)
In all seriousness, I applaud you sir for refusing to take the bait and lose the rag with me. Many would have resorted to childish references to my mother by now when faced with someone as rude and all-knowing as myself.

I do not argue with anybody. I just give an honest answer to any question asked of me and deal in facts. I do not appreciate being "baited".

This is a forum to discuss and appreciate Nature not for inane arguments.:rolleyes:

tricky D

fyi there were plenty of mushrooms on Howth Hill behind the Deerpark Hotel: chanterelles, horse, fly agaric and a load more I haven't identified from photos yet.

yank_in_eire

My little fungal friends have finally showed up in the usual places and in the volumes expected. Strange that it should take so long this year when we've had so much rain.
Better late than never though!:D

marlin vs

Never saw them so scarce around my usual areas in Waterford.