Is it really November?

Well I knew people were talking about it being a strange November, mild and in some places still dry but this is ridiculous. There has been a fresh fruiting of Yellow Stainer mushrooms just round the corner from my house, they fruited originally several months ago but they are at it again - and in great profusion! Closely followed by a wonderful display of edible fungi; Wood Blewits and Shaggy Parasols... they are all fruiting madly and in such good condition too. I could not resist picking a few of those Shaggy Parasols to take home for the pot and will probably be returning for a few Wood Blewits too if I get chance. Wood Blewits are a lovely lilac colour pretty much all over, with pink spores which you can see if you leave a specimen to drop its spores onto a piece of white paper for an hour or so. They make a great dish if layered in a cheese and onion sauce and baked in the oven.

The other fungi that are about in large amounts are Clouded Agarics, some people eat these quite happily as they do the Yellow Stainers, but both can and do cause severe gastric upsets in the majority of people, so be warned as you may not be one of the lucky ones! Whilst the Clouded Agarics look at first glance not unlike Wood Blewits they are much paler colour underneath, on the gill surface, and have white spores instead of pink ones - so if you are patient it is easy to tell the difference. The Yellow Stainers show a bright yellow colour at the base of the stem when cut whereas Field Mushrooms and the Wood Mushrooms don't.

Another fungus turning up recently is actually less common than its name suggests, the Common Inkcap should, you would have thought, be quite common, however the Shaggy Inkcap seems to be more commonly spotted these days. Don't confuse the two as if you eat the Common Inkcap with alchohol (thats several days before or after, not just at the time of eating) you will certainly not be a happy bunny. They cause serious sickness and halucinations - not a pleasant exercise at all. If you happen to be a tea-totaller however, go right ahead - I am told they are good but I am not about to try them for size!

I have a feeling this wealth of fungi may not last but hey ho, it is great while they are still out there, an added bonus to the end of a rather strange autumn.