Fungus Foray 2009

This week, King Canape took off his crown and donned the Harris Tweed jacket of the Mushroom Master... Three of us braved the inclement weather and headed to the Plough Inn, where the mushroom munchers were to muster. Here we sampled the Carvery while we waited for the rest to arrive. There were no takers, so just the three of us headed onto the Heath in search of edible fungus. The weather had improved but there was little for the mycologist. We did find a few examples, mainly inedible fungi growing on dead wood. None of the Chanterelles or Amethyst Deceivers – the staples of previous forays. We did find a couple of small Boletus that may have been edible.

The weekend was not completely pie-less – the Pie Master took a quality, lightly spiced pork pie from Martins Farm to Cambridge to sample as lunch, while attending the sparktacular Teslathon at the Museum of Technology. Unfortunately he did not have any Colman’s mustard to enhance the experience...

Fungus Foray 2008

For our first Sunday of the month, our attention turned from munching pies to munching mushrooms. Our annual fungus foray was to concentrate on the edible species this year, so that in Charles' words “Master Mycophogage and Chef David Atkinson could transform our haul into cloyless dishes”! Sunday was an extremely wet day and only ten intrepid fungus foragers turned up. As we set out, the weather improved, but the going was very muddy, as large plant had been at work, decimating the heath, apparently for the benefit of butterflies! Fungi were few and far between, especially edible examples. We rendezvoused later at the Trafford Arms with our haul and a few mushrooms from Tesco, where David worked his magic and produced some fabulous fungi omelettes.