About a week ago I committed myself to make the most out of the pellet stove in the house where I'm living. Since it's usually on, it has the potential to be a great tool for dehydrating all kinds of foods and herbs.
Thanks to the cold weather, pine mushrooms are still abundant in this area. They preserve themselves literally because they are frozen, which is a nice thing because otherwise, they would have rotted already.
Despite the 4°C (40°F) and the snow beginning to fall, I went out to forage some because the last harvest had already been dried up and stored. I wasn't willing to see the stove sending out all that heat and have nothing taking advantage of it, so off into the cold it was.
Heading into the forest. Trying to walk fast to shake off the cold.
While crossing the river I saw some stalactites on those crossing branches.
I know this was supposed to be a post about foraging but common, isn't this beautiful?
One more pic for the road.
I stopped by a little shelter my partner's daughters and I made a while ago. It has resisted heavy rains and some snow. Not too shabby...
Ok, time for action. Let's start this foraging already!
Well, I've had days when it takes a few minutes to fill up a tray. Guess this wasn't one of those days... A lot of the shrooms were already rotten, but I insisted.
Can't help marveling myself at the diversity of fungi while I walk through the forest. I would really like to know all about them, which are edible, which are medicinal and which are toxic. My gut tells me this information will reach me in due time.
Ok, sorry if I constantly stray from the main mission but I kept on running into these weird mushrooms I had never seen.
Not only had I never seen this species, but this is the only specimen I have ever witnessed. It kind of looks like a bell shape with slimy appearance.
Another shot to help potential identifiers give out names.
This one was really beautiful, kind of looks like a flower. Below there are more pictures in case someone can identify it.
Look at that completely frozen dude! Jeez, I'd forgotten how cold southern Chile is!!
Starting to find a few more...
While I walk through the woods I tend to think a lot about how rich the land is. I question why we still keep buying at the supermarkets and feed the cruelties of capitalism. I also try to let go of these thoughts as they poison the beauty of the moment. Once I realize there isn't much I can do about humans and their addiction to comfort I just come back to my breathe and thank for the beautiful life I've been blessed with.
Sat down for a while to enjoy the scenery. I think I overdid it a bit with the photo editing here but looks nice nonetheless.
Now that's what I'm talking about! Pretty nice harvest, don't you agree? It was a bit heavy to carry back home, which I see as great exercise 💪.
And a great view to celebrate it. The moment had a big "thank you" all over it:
I found this fiber in the remains of a plant known as chilean rhubarb or giant rhubarb (gunnera tinctoria). I don't know about you, but I found it slightly resembles tobacco and I intend to try smoking it. Maybe I can mix it with tobacco and get a nice flavor out of it.
A lot of you are probably familiar with this plant, plantago lanceolata, known as Buckhorn, lamb's tongue or English plantain. It has a long usage for respiratory affections so I'm thinking it's a recommended plant to have during these times of Covid-19.
I was meaning to go out again and scavenge a burned-out house where I wanted to find more planks for my small greenhouse project, but the cold got the best of me and I decided to call it a day.
Instead, I chopped up a pumpkin that was starting to rot and some potatoes, put it all in the blender, and enjoyed this creamy, delicious soup.
Now for the drying process
I let them unfreeze over the stove for a few hours.
Then I peeled them like this:
After they're peeled I let them dry over some cloth on top of the inverted tray:
After being a few hours there they get a bit more solid and you can chop them up into smaller pieces so they dry faster. This is what they look like once they're ready:
And that's it! If you got this far I hope it has inspired you to go out into Nature and enjoy it's wonders. I'll try and find the moment to post some recipe with these. For now I'll leave a pic of this vegan pizza a friend and I made with these delicious mushrooms:
Stay blessed!
Great harvest, indeed! Thanks for the virtual journey and photos!
I'm afraid I know absolutely nothing about mushrooms... but maybe @qwerrie can help identifying some of those... 🤔
Glad you enjoyed the journey friend!!
I forget you are in your winter season now - completely opposite to us in Canada!
Lovely icicle display and shows that it really is freezing down there!
Great to multi purpose the wonderful wood heat - I never thought of picking mushrooms when they are frozen, great you got one last harest in! Pizza looks delicious!
Thanks for sharing that little peice of Southern Chili - I love to see what's happening in different parts of the world!
I always say "time to check what's in the fridge when I got foraging in these cold days, hahaha.
How's the weather behaving in your hemisphere??
It's been really cool and damp - haven't seen much sunshine for awhile. This is the kind of weather the mosquitoes love and they have been swarming us so I have to wear netting on my face, long sleeve shirts and pants when working in the garden , occasionally I will step into the bush by the black spruce bog to get a good photo of a wild flower and they literately chase me out. They keep you moving fast when ever you have to get something done outside! Still enjoying getting out on our walks but we are sticking more to the road when there is no wind to keep the bugs away. Every day is a photo adventure day for me and I've been getting some wonderful nature shots. Really enjoying my camera, gets me out exploring more (even with the bugs!)
Any more on your community forming there?
No mosquitoes here thankfully! The community is really stalled, having a hard time getting the motivation to do anything in this cold weather. Maybe spring will bring new energies to continue that process...
Here's hoping with the renewal of spring will bring renewal of the community coming together! How cold does it get there?
Right now we're expecting -3º C (26º F) but sometimes it reaches -20º C (-4º F) 🥶
What a nice amount to take home and store after dehydrating, always reminds me of squirrels foraging and hiding for lean months.
Enjoy, they look excellent on pizza. Those icicles hanging in there looking impressive too.
I'm a little squirrel indeed, soon I'll be living in some tree as well! I intend to keep blogging on Hive though, mind you 😅
Don't climb too high in case of stomach cramps, sounds like you taste test on that fungi!
wowie that's quite a haul. I'm sure the guy in the Mushroom growing community can help with identification if you need. I see dehydrated mushrooms, mushroom pasta, mushroom pizza and mushroom soup in your future. Did I mention stir fried mushrooms and garlic?? It's gonna be a BOOM year for 'shrooms this year in Asia too - the rains have come hard and early.
The icicles are simply beautiful.
Yeah, it would be nice if @pilzolli could give me a hand 🙂
Mushrooms are the Renaissance of wild foods! Glad you're getting a lot of rain over there ✨
Mushroom pasta is insane good!!
I picked up some GORGEOUS mushrooms at the market on the way home - sooo cheap! Just finished making mushroom & cauliflower couscous (with a middle eastern twist). Tomorrow's vegan food post. :) Stay tuned. LOL...
!ENGAGE 15
Won't be missing that!!!
They look like pretty meaty mushrooms. I have no idea about mushrooming, but it is popular in Finland and should probably learn a thing or two.
Always good to know, specially handy if this gets kinda apocalyptic and the stores start running out of supply 😅
Frost, mushrooms, pizza and plantain? That's my kinda wander. You can even chop up the plantain to cook in your stew. Plantain is a wonder plant - so many uses. It's excellent for sinuses and anything involving internal or external bleeding - say UTI or a cut on the hand!
You're right, plantain is awesome! I have no evidence but it seems to me it might be a good antidote to mushroom poisoning as well. Once I tried some shrooms that gave me a bad stomach and intuitively ate plantain which healed me in a very short amount of time.
pizza looks delicious and I never seen those kind of mushroom. I wish I was living nearby the woods!
It's the best thing ever to live near the woods. If you really want it, focus your thoughts on it and make it happen!
Will do! Have a great day!
wow!
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