I recently saw a post suggesting that coffee grounds could be used to repell mosquitoes. The grounds could be lit with a flame so that it would smolder in the area where you might sit outdoors.

One person suggested that used coffee grounds could be used for this purpose and so I decided to give that a try. I laid the used coffee grounds out in their paper filters on a cooling rack on top of a tray and put it in the oven and set the temperature on “warm” for about an hour, then I turned it off and let the oven cool down overnight.

The next day I poured some of the processed grounds into a jar lid and tried to lite it… unsuccessfully. It probably was not dry enough so I decided to use some new unused grounds and was successful. That spawned a thought that coffee pods could be used because they are a self contained package enclosed in a paper filter wrapper. The paper would serve as tinder to ignite grounds that would make lighting it quick and easy. It worked great as shown in the photo.

Each pod cost about twenty-two cents. Of course there may be other natural materials available if you are out on the trail such as a Cattail flower head or Bracket Fungus that can be lit to smolder as well.

I lit a match and held it at the edge. No melting took place but eventually an ember appeared and began to smolder. That reminded me of a previous article “smoldering cattails” where natural materials would allow a person to transport a live coal from a previous fire while traveling to the next remote location. Another option for transport is dry punky wood.

I also wanted to test it for catching a spark similar to another bracket fungus “fomes fomentarius” or “amadou” but without success. I am still exploring the structure of bracket fungus for the layer that is best used for these purposes and would welcome any comments from those with experience in harvesting these fungus specimens.

Witches butter is easily recognizable as it is bright yellow to orange in color and is semitransparent with lobes that appear greasy or shiny when damp. It turns out that there are two types of witches butter, one being yellow that grows on fallen hardwood logs with bark and a more orange version that grows on barkless conifers. It is sometimes found during warm spells in Winter and often after a period of rain. Both “jellys” are considered edible and a year round survival food.

There is some debate about edibility while raw or when cooked with proponents on each side of the argument. It is usually best to cook all mushrooms for consumption as it renders them more digestible and brings out nutritive elements. It is considered a delicacy in the cuisine of other countries and is often used in soups, much like it’s cousin “Wood Ear“.

I encourage all aspiring mushroom foragers to locate an expert in your area to positively identify your finds for safety sake and to assist you in learning more about this enjoyable pursuit!

Corals come in a wide variety of colors and textures. The type shown in the photo grow on dead deciduous wood and in this case the wood was sub-surface so it appeared to be growing on the ground. I was happy to see this coral was fresh and ready for harvesting. I encourage foragers to cut mushrooms vs. uprooting them to allow for future reproduction. Along with that practice I suggest collecting mushrooms in a net or open-weave basket that will allow the spores to fall back to the ground in order to sustain the field of mushrooms for the future.

Like other mushrooms, corals have varied characteristics in taste and texture. Some types if eaten in excess can cause stomach upsets so it is best to eat in small amounts at first to see how your system reacts to it. Although you can sample a small raw portion for taste it is best to cook them for general consumption. I was pleased to fry mine in butter when I returned home.

I encourage all aspiring mushroom foragers to locate an expert in your area to positively identify your finds for safety sake and to assist you in learning more about this enjoyable pursuit!

Wood Ear Mushroom

I live in a rural region of North Carolina which lacks the population density that usually hosts a wide variety of ethnic markets that support the diversity of it’s residents. While recently visiting my roots in the Bay Area of California I wanted to shop for what I considered more exotic food offerings.

My Find / Market Find

I hailed one of the patrons to ask if they had eaten this and how to prepare it. They had used it in egg rolls and soups. I decided to fry them as I had done for all of my previous finds. Because of their high moisture content they actually began to snap, crackle, and pop much like bacon when it’s fried! It was rather startling! I added them to scrambled eggs for my breakfast. The next morning I decided to add new slices to an egg-drop soup along with chopped green onions. It was delicious.

Having had this experience I am looking forward to eating the local wood ears that I find and this has expanded my range of fungi diet and expanded my culinary pallet with great delight.

I always appreciate when mushrooms are distinctive and thus easy to identify. The Lion’s mane has a hair-like texture and pure white when new. This one was found a couple of feet off of the ground on a maple tree and usually grows where there has been some sort of injury to the tree. When cooked it’s texture is reminiscent of a scallop with a slight tartness at first bite. It is also known as Bear’s Head, Bear’s tooth, Bearded Tooth Mushroom, Satyr’s Beard, Bearded Hedgehog Mushroom, pom pom mushroom and others depending on it’s regional nickname.

Oyster mushrooms can be found on a variety of dead trees, stumps, and rubble. They are white with deep gills having a stem on the edge that attaches to the tree source. It can be slightly tan or buff in color in the Winter months. It has a distinctive fishy smell and when cooked are mild in taste. When I cook them I think of talapia fish because both the oyster and the talapia take on the character of the condiments with which they are prepared.

I’m learning that mushrooms, like flowers and fruit, appear in different seasons of the year. As my focus has turned to mushrooms I have begun to not only recognize their environments but observe their presence. Although it seems to be the tail end of the honey mushroom season I hope to see their possible re-emergence under the right conditions along with other new discoveries as we approach Winter.

I always advocate that if you pursue this field of interest, be sure to contact an expert so that you can verify any of your finds as there are poisonous varieties that you do not want to mistake as edible.

Acorns need to have the outer shell removed with the nut body finely chopped for leaching by soaking in a bowl of water. The acorn meal is strained, rinsed, and re-soaked. This process is repeated several times over the course of a twenty-four hour period. I enjoy adding the acorn meal to cornmeal in a 1:1 ratio with an egg to make delicious fried patties.

Grapes of course are edible straight away. You can tell when they reach the peak of their season when you see some that have fallen on the ground below the vine.

Puffball fungus is much like a stiff marshmallow in appearance. It’s solid white all the way through. If you find one that has begun to turn black inside, discard it as unfit for consumption. You can eat one raw but I prefer it sliced and sautéed in butter. There are other fungi that emerge at this time, especially after a long period of rain. When seeking fungus to eat it is advisable to confirm it’s identity by a local expert as some fungus can be fatal.

These are just a few examples of edibles that I found this week but hopefully this will inspire you to explore the Great Outdoors with a new awareness of the edibles that abound around us.

Inonotus obliquus (courtesy tgcva.org)

Recently I was hiking along a river and spotted black clumps in a beech tree. I was very excited by this find and collected some samples. When I returned home I cut a slice and tried to catch a spark. I used a ferro rod for maximum heat and duration of sparks but the material wouldn’t catch the spark. I let it dry out for a few days but had the same results. After photographing the material I posted it on a Facebook group page where it was identified as Scorias Spongiosa (S.S.) a.k.a. “honey dew fungus”. It is a fungus that grows on aphid droppings and is restricted to one species of tree, American beech.

Scorias Spongiosa