ShareThe heat is nothing. But you can no longer count on noble mushrooms – the coveted porcini, strong mushrooms, and multi-colored boletus. The way out is edible mushrooms that are not widely popular, but which nevertheless grew under the guise. An important clarification: before grabbing onto them, you need to properly study the materiel. Petersburg mycologists – regarding why this fall “the place to know” is not enough.
The communities of mushroom pickers in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region in the VK with the beginning of September are overwhelmed by despair: there are no mushrooms. And the forest is so dry that even the bitter tears of experienced people do not help. But following all, the autumn rains have already passed, and the humidity should be normal. With the question of where our mushrooms have gone, Fontanka turned to St. Petersburg experts in this matter.
Mycologist Dmitry Tomchyn notes that this autumn a completely atypical situation is observed in our forests. “There is no August-September layer of mushrooms. At the same time, the frosts that have passed are not so serious as to freeze out all myceliums, says Dmitry Tomchin. – In July, in the very heat, a layer of mushrooms grew, but they were all badly damaged by insect larvae. And now most of the forests are empty, mushrooms are found only in places with a special microclimate.” You need to look for such places on your own, with your feet – today, experts cannot identify any system in the “distribution” of rare mushroom places in the Leningrad Region. In the neighboring regions, Karelia and the Novgorod region, everything is also sad.
Mycologist Anton Trofimov in social networks, he describes the situation in the forests near St. Petersburg in one word: “catastrophe”. Mushrooms this autumn are not just few – the species diversity is very poor. The expert notes that usually in the first week of September in the Leningrad region you can already find more than 30-40 edible species of mushrooms. And this year there are only four edible species. And try to look at those. Among them, the most understandable and popular is the common fox. And also yellow-brown, gray and saffron floats, funnel and hedgehogs (yellow and blushing are equally good in a frying pan and in soup). An important clarification: if you have not dealt with these mushrooms before, there is no need to rush. Study the issue, and even better, go on a “silent hunt” with an experienced mushroom picker, so as not to play “edible-inedible” almost blindly. By the way, the annual autumn exhibition of mushrooms of the St. Petersburg Mycological Society will help all lovers. It will be held at the Botanical Institute on October 1–2. There you will be able to see “live” all the mushrooms that are interesting from a gastronomic (and scientific) point of view, which grow in the vicinity of St. Petersburg. True, in what quantity they grow this year is another question.
“Soil moisture in the forests is now normal,” says Anton Trofimov. – The problem is a sharp cold snap and frosts that have passed through the Leningrad region. Now there is a warming, and there are some chances that the bulk of the mushrooms will still come out. But there is little chance for the mass growth of noble mushrooms. ”
You can count on milkers that go well for pickling – milk mushrooms and bitters. They tolerate cold tolerably. The common chanterelle is already delighting mushroom pickers in the Priozersky district with might and main. According to Anton Trofimov, now there are red chanterelles in almost all districts of the Leningrad region, except perhaps for Vyborgsky – “everything is bad” there this year. Dmitry Tomchin notes that there will be no powerful autumn layer of mushrooms, but there is hope that the most stubborn and attentive mushroom pickers will be rewarded not only with chanterelles now, but also with autumn mushrooms a little later.
The black chanterelle (aka the horn-shaped funnel) is still growing, but it was caught by frost and soaked by rain, so this year, one might say, the chances for this delicious mushroom have already been missed. “And it’s not a fact that there will be black chanterelles next season,” says Anton Trofimov. “According to my observations, in this species, mass fruiting occurs every three to four years.”
When the sad mushroom autumn is over, in the winter forests it will be possible to meet the velvety-legged flammulina – in other words, winter honey agaric. Even in January, you can come to the forest and see appetizing orange bunches of mushrooms under the snow on wood. But for this, the winter should be warm, at least for a couple of days the air temperature should be plus seven – plus ten degrees.
You can, of course, not wait for favors from nature, but start growing mushrooms yourself. True, whites, aspen mushrooms, boletus or milky ones are unlikely to be able to “tame” – if only the trees they need grow in your summer cottage. But experts note that there is no truly successful experience in the artificial cultivation of such mushrooms. Another thing is saprophyte mushrooms that feed on dead organic matter, in particular wood. These are mushrooms and oyster mushrooms, which perfectly “breed in captivity”. Another obvious option is champignons, which also do not require living trees to grow.
Venera Galeeva, “Fontanka.ru”
