The Gardeners Anonymous Blog

Go Ask Alice

Our friends the mycologists have given us some information about our feral mushrooms—the ones trying to bust out from under the porch.

It turns out that they are probably a cluster of armillariella mellea or honey mushrooms. Honey mushrooms are common in the fall and early winter. In California, armillariella mellea is also called “oak root fungus.”

This makes a lot of sense since the mushrooms are growing on top of an old oak stump under our porch.

The beautiful spirals on the caps are probably caused by heavy rain followed by unusually dry and warm weather conditions.

The oak root fungus is among the most variable and global of fleshy fungi. It is also very edible.

However.

My husband and I would never eat any mushrooms that weren’t purchased at a grocery store or without a mycologist’s positive ID from a spore print under a microscope.

Better safe (and alive) than sorry (having a liver transplant).

When the men on the chessboard
get up and tell you where to go,
And you've just had some kind of mushroom,
and your mind is moving slow,
Go ask Alice, I think she'll know.

– Grace Slick

Stumble It!

Holy Mycology, Batman, They Pushed the Door Open

My dog has always been curious about the space under our back deck. I knew something probably lived under the back deck, but who knew it was a herd of wild mushrooms?

This herd has become so successful that is has outgrown it’s hideout, and burst forth to embrace the day.

Carpe diem!

Stumble It!