The eastern Tenneessee Vaalley is pushing 11-12 days with no rains, and temperatures are approaching 90 degrees today. As one might expect, there are very few mushrooms to be found. To add insult to injury, I found ONE fungus last Friday and it was a stinkhorn Mutinus elegans!! I felt like I was being given the finger.
It also looks like huricane Isaac is not going to provide any relief either. The long range forecast is for 30%-40% several days at the start of next week. From what I’ve been picking up on the discussion sites, I might have to drive across across the mountains to western N.C. to find anything.
Three days hunting usually productive sites and not even an Amanita citrina. Oh well, that’s the life of foraging. Somtimes it’s abundance, and sometimes it’s just a nice walk in the woods looking at al the things we someimes miss in the excitement of picking great mushrooms.
Saturday is a foray with the Cumberland Mycological Society (see Links) at the Cumberland Mountain State Park. Several of the trails wind along creeks and shady areas, so I’m expecting something good. In the past we have never failed to find nice variety, so this will be a true test. This time of year, I would expect to find some Hydnum and maybe some L. corrugis. We shall see.
On the good side, I had time to work on my book. I got it off to a copy editor and began discussions with the person who will being doing the layout. Might get it done by December 31.
