I have been looking forward to fall since last winter, Don’t get me wrong I love summer as much as the next person, but the majority of my foraging is done when the rains start. I have already collected my Huckleberries and choke cherries, I have made fireweed jelly and elderberry syrup and now it is time to find mushrooms.

I have a few spots that I frequent to search for mushrooms and the rains have finally come so off I go. The drive to Mt. Hood was quiet as the rain was sprinkling on the windshield, just quiet conversation with my wife Pam and anticipation of what we hoped to find when we got there.

We cheked a few spots that we had found while hunting last year and came up with a few good finds. Even though it is only September, there are already Chanterelles and Corals coming up. We even found some Chicken of the woods and even a few fried chicken mushrooms, not bad for late september.

Now to get out the dehydrator and preserve these for winter. I have a few recipes I am wanting to try and I will let you know how they turn out. It seems we are off to a good start so if the weather continues to cooperate we should have a good stock for winter.

As always be safe in the woods and when foraging wild mushrooms make double sure what you have before consuming them.