I did not intend to find any choice edible mushrooms when I headed up to my family's lake house in north-east Pennsylvania yesterday morning. The reason was that it was 19F when I left to go up there and when I arrived, two hours later, it had warmed up to an icy 20F. I was there to do some fall yard cleanup work and looking for mushrooms was not on my mind.
While I was clearing some leaves, I spotted some mushrooms near the garage. When I looked more closely they appeared to be Shaggy Mane mushrooms. I then expanded my search around the garage and then to a larger area on the property. I ended up finding 12 mushrooms in total. They were all located along the driveway and they were all frozen solid! I collected them and I put them into the freezer. They can be added to a soup.
After I had collected a few, I took this picture of the mushrooms on the hood of my car.
All the mushrooms I collected yesterday looked pretty young. They must of popped up early last week up until Wednesday when the temperature was around 55F. Thursday began the freezing temperatures and the mushrooms froze and were preserved.
For a contrast, below are some Shaggy Mane mushrooms that I collected a few weeks ago in upstate New York. These mushrooms were a lot older.
Shaggy Mane mushrooms are know as Coprinus Comatus. You can find out more information about this mushroom here: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/coprinus_comatus.html
Thank you for stopping by today. I am a beginner forager and would appreciate any comments from more experience foragers about this mushroom or any other foraging tips or information.
Thank you,
Steve