EdibleBush

Predicting the mushroom season and cider.

Every year people ask me what the mushroom season will be like, that is – when it will arrive and how big the crop. I always tell them and am nearly always wrong. The fungi appear in response to wet weather, so fungi-forecasting is indistinguishable from weather forecasting, ie impossible for more than a few days.
But I wish I could do it nonetheless. I have to arrange my forays to coincide with the mushrooms, otherwise people can be a little disappointed even if they still have a good time. I run most of them in October because that is the most reliable month. But if I had known what I know now – that it was going to rain a lot and there would be mushrooms everywhere - I would be taking mushroom forays this coming weekend (10th/11th September 2011). This is why I have squeezed in another foraging course for the 16th September. I have seen giant puffballs, parasols, horse mushrooms and hedgehog mushrooms as well as some very interesting, inedible species such as Entoloma eccentricum and Boletus radicans. But I don't even have to look at the weather or leave the house to know there is a lot out there - the number of people calling me up, emailing or, frequently, knocking on my door to ask me if they can eat this or that tells me all I need to know. And also the Mushroom Handbook Amazon ranking is a slave to the season and now standing at a gratifying 512th (out of around 2 million books) after languishing at the 3,000 mark since last February.
The only forecasting method that seem to work is the (completely anecdotal) rule of two. If you get a really good year then the next year will be really good too and probably better. Bad years seem to come in pairs as well. This promises to be a bumper year as last year was great. But, of course, I could be completely wrong. Yet again.


I have been writing a bi-monthly blog (link does not always show latest entry) for the Guardian on home-brewing using, mostly, foraged ingredients. It has been great fun though a bit of a worry as I have to work to strict deadlines and I have to get it right. There are a lot of excellent experienced brewers around and they can spot a poor recipe at one hundred paces. Next week I will, probably, be making cider. The apple crop this year promises to be enormous – as have been most fruit crops. I was going to use “wildings” or crabs but a trip to my Mum’s for her 90th birthday gave me the chance to raid her apple trees (her apple tree climbing days are over) and get enough to make my brew.


Her lovely Comice pear tree had shed its fruit so I scrabbled around picking up any that were at least “good in parts”. I am drying the best of these in my little electric drier. I peeled and quartered them and removed the core. Then I sprinkled quite of bit of sugar on them and added some citric acid to give an extra bite. The sugar and acid, as well as improving the flavour, draw out some of the water, giving the drying process a head start. This also ensures they do not rot before they dry. I made some last year and they were absolutely delicious. If anyone wanted to make dried pears from wild pears they are likely to be unlucky. Wild pear is very rare and the fruit general small and hard. A pity.
There were a lot of bruised-but-not rotten pears as well as the cores left over from those to be dried, so I am making a Perry.


 

John Wright: 8th Sep 2011 10:00:00



Foraging Courses with John

Come and book on one of my own forays. Other forays will be posted elsewhere with links to the organisation running the day.

Click to find out more

Latest NewsSee all News »

A Letter to the New Forest Verderers

I knew something was rumbling in the undergrowth and in late July 2015, a journalist from the Bournemouth local paper asked me to respond to some surprising words delivered by my friend, Sarah Cadbury, to the Verderers of the New Forest. I duly responded. A day or two later, a journalist from the Times asked if I would write a 300 word rebuttal. On Saturday 25th I did a Google search on the story and found myself in the Daily Mail, The Times, The Telegraph and The Guardian. And not in a good way. The Verders were bystanders in this but I thought I owed them a letter. Here it is. The Verderer’s Court of the New Forest I am writing both to the Court and to the Forestry Commission on the subject of wild mushroom hunting in the Forest. It is my intention to copy this letter to othe...

Conservation part 2

This is the second part of what will now be a three part treatment of conservation and foraging. On this page I have adapted the section on conservation from my River Cottage Hedgerow Handbook. The third part will deal with the fungi. People can become very disquieted over the matter of conservation and foraging. Surely, they argue, we should not be taking things from the wild for our own purposes; surely nature has been injured by us enough without this further imposition. This is not an argument with which I have a great deal of sympathy. It is, of course, perfectly possible to forage in a manner that is damaging to the natural world, but it is not actually all that easy. Many of our native species are under threat but it is not from the forager. Invasive species take a toll of habit...

Books For Sale

The Naming of the Shrew (paperback edition)

Latin names - frequently unpronounceable, all too often wrong and always a tiny puzzle to unravel - have been annoying the layman since they first became formalised as scientific terms in the eighteenth century. Why on earth has the entirely land-loving Eastern Mole been named Scalopus aquaticus, or the Oxford Ragwort been called Senecio squalid...

£9.99

Click to buy A Signed Copy!

Mushrooms

In the first of an exciting new River Cottage Handbook series, mycologist John Wright explains the ins and outs of collecting, including relevant UK laws, conservation notes, practical tips and identification techniques. He takes us through the 72 species we are most likely to come across during forays in Britain’s forests and clearings: ...

£14.99

Click to buy A Signed Copy!

Seashore

In the fifth of the River Cottage Handbook series, John Wright reveals the rich pickings to be had on the seashore – and the team at River Cottage explain how to cook them to perfection. For the forager, the seashore holds surprising culinary potential. In this authoritative, witty book John Wright takes us on a trip to the seaside. But be...

£14.99

Click to buy A Signed Copy!

Hedgerow

Hedgerows, moors, meadows and woods – these hold a veritable feast for the forager. In this hugely informative and witty handbook, John Wright reveals how to spot the free and delicious ingredients to be found in the British countryside, and then how to prepare and cook them. First John touches on the basics for the hedgerow forager, with ...

£14.99

Click to buy A Signed Copy!

Booze

What could possibly beat a cool pint of beer down the pub or a lazy glass of wine at your favourite bar? The answer is: home-brewed beer or your very own brand of wine. With this, the twelfth in the River Cottage Handbook series, the inimitable John Wright shows exactly how easy it is to get started. You don't need masses of space to make alcoh...

£14.99

Click to buy A Signed Copy!