Monday, September 20

i wish i knew, a walk in the forest














a few weeks ago i posted on craiglist farm & garden( my obsession) the following; would like to go mushrooming, looking for an experience forager. I received many responses, but most if not all where offering to "do mushrooms"! as you know i live on about fifty acres but surrounded by ten thousand acres of state forest. On my long walks, wi th the dogs, horses or on my own i started to notice how many different mushrooms they where on the floor of the forest.

Today knowing that the exploration of all the mushrooms might pass me by, i gathered a few things, a basket, gloves, small garden fork and my camera and headed out for my adventure. I call it adventure because as i started to gather mushrooms i was filled both with a little fear, not like i was going to eat them right there & then but knowing that they might be poisonous had me a bit nervous and then a bit of regret - a guilt came over me as i plucked them from a mulch of pine needles and leaves i wondered did i have the right to take them if i would not eat them or if they were not edible just for a photograph?

.. as my basket started filling with such different textures and colours i knew that i had gotten over it so much so that i got lost a little of a trail unto another one without even knowing. after re-tracing my steps i started to look up, how i love the sun piercing through the foliage , i noticed tiny spider webs and dried up leaves that reminded me of bats i also found moss cushions and put those in my basket as well, now if i only knew if i had something edible!

12 comments:

christina said...

have i ever told you how much you inspire me?

a beautiful basket of jewels you have here.

and photo 9 is not something i want to forget anytime soon~ glorious.
xo

My Farmhouse Kitchen said...

in the October Bon Appetit there is a nice article on mushroom hunting.....you might enjoy it...

kary

S. Etole said...

I especially like the turquoise ones ...

jenna said...

that's some beautiful fungus!

Line said...

la chasse aux champignons... I would love to try lovely pictures Nadia!!

Ann Marie said...

so so beautiful! i love these images of mushrooms.

i have a friend who is obsessed with fungi, and is studying to be a mycologist...you might enjoy her blog...often she dyes her own yarn with pigment from mushrooms and other plants. http://makinganddoing.blogspot.com/search/label/Fungi

Mlle Paradis said...

wonderful obsession. great pics. baby steps!

Jane Flanagan said...

I'm dying over that second last photo! I would love, love, love to go foraging mushrooms!

Anonymous said...

Stunning pictures. I love your photographs every time.

Anonymous said...

These photos are fantastic! I've recently started to become interested in mycology, more so the idea of it and the fun that foraging for food would be.

Bonbon Oiseau said...

oh! i love this!!! write to marie at 66squarefeet--she knows mushrooms!!! (we went to a place in cape breton highlands in chanterelle forest--we went and picked them too---a lovely an experience! these photos of yours are just amazing--i would like to come when i get home and go with you!!! can i?

Katarina said...

These are so beautiful! I'm having a bit of a mushroom obsession right now myself :)