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Adventures of the Boomer ‘Shroomers! (Hall Valley Campground)

Hall Valley Campground in Pike National Forest is one of our favorites during August as very tasty shrooms can be found nearby.

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Joy and our dog Campbell always find Aspen Boletes (Leccinum insigne):

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Last week Joy found some pretty Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) growing on aspen stumps, and they smell so good too.

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While old T found chanterelles (Cantharellus ciborium) and Meadow Mushrooms (Agaricus campestris). Meadow and Prince Mushrooms (an earlier post) are better tasting relatives to the white button, portabello, and crimini shrooms you find in the produce section of grocery stores.

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Yup, Hall Valley and surrounding forests are indeed a nice place to find tasty fungus treats…and apparently Girls just wanna have fungi!

Regards, T & Joy

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Adventures of the Boomer ‘Shroomers! (Hall Campground ‘n’ the Princes)

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The PRINCES (Agaricus augustus) are out!! This week while at Hall Valley we found a few, but never enough:

Campbell (our Westie) and T pose with three Princes on a slope at about 8100′ elevation. It’s our favorite Agaricus.


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Here’s the best one, note the large cap with brown freckles on top, when young it’s cap is marshmallow shaped.

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Like all Agaricus the gills are pink when young and turn brown with age; yup Agaricus species are also the button shrooms we buy in the stores. Note the shaggy stem and the ring around the stem, all Agaricus have them. Princes smell like almonds, that’s how T recognizes them.


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Joy had never seen one before, so had to study the books to get acquainted.

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Cooked up in olive oil and butter with lots of garlic. We think they are the best tasting of all the Agaricus, including all those store-bought Agaricus (aka portabellos, crimini’s, buttons etc.) Note also the 5-inch DO’s, great for cooking side veggies.

Kali Oreksi, T