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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Mystery Mushrooms

Mystery mushrooms
What a surprise to come out into the garden one morning and discover that all those arborist chips laid out in the pathways around the planting beds harbored a crop of their own. With all the recent rain, mushrooms are now popping up everywhere. Since arborist chips are made up of decaying plant materials ground up from removing or pruning out trees, this recent discovery actually makes some sense. Sometimes I wish I had the time and expertise to know my mushrooms beyond Chanterelles and Morels. Mushrooms are expensive to buy in the store. Having a potential bonanza in one's yard is a plus. A neighbor actually had several Morel's popping up out of his chips surrounding his blueberry bushes. No such luck here.

The underside
There is a concern that mushrooms can harm happless pets that dine on them. I don't think our mob would bother. Besides being over fed, our cats act psycho pretty much year around, regardless when mushrooms appear. Our dog stays inside other than being on a leash outside. Don't know about these guys, but some mushrooms make good dye materials, giving off unusual, hard to get colors of purples and blues.

But, since I'm no expert and really don't have time to research all of this, I'll just enjoy these gems as a curiosity and remember that many mushroom fruiting bodies represent root rot in trees.