Hostess Gifts
As soon as the hot humid weather descended upon us, our shiitakes stopped producing. It was as if someone shut off the tap. Clearly, they were taking the rest of the summer off and no amount of soaking or cajoling was going to change their minds. Chanterelles, on the other hand, thrive in that very same hot humid weather. We have several patches tucked away, which I “shop” as soon as the summer weather turns miserable. They pop up along paths and deer trails, scattered along the way like a trail of breadcrumbs leading me on.
Mushrooms are the fruiting body of fungi, not unlike apples on an apple tree. But unlike apple trees, the fungus is hidden out of sight and the only evidence we have of its existence is when periodically, mushrooms push up through the forest floor.
Chanterelles, like all mycorrhizal fungi, live in a symbiotic relationship with their host tree. Each fungus is made up of an extensive network of tiny strands (called hyphae) which wrap around, or bore into, the roots of its host tree. The network is often vast, and the hyphae from one fungus can cover acres below ground. The largest living terrestrial organism on Earth is a “honey mushroom” fungus in Oregon covering 2,385 acres (3.5 square miles). Nicknamed “The Humongous Fungus” it’s estimated to be up to 8,000 years old.
In any given teaspoon of forest soil, there are miles of hyphae working hard to keep their host trees happy. The trees supply the fungi with carbon and sugar and the fungi supply the trees with water and minerals. I know “my” chanterelles have likely been around for hundreds of years before me and that they’ll thrive for hundreds more after I’m gone. Even so, I take my brief stint as their host quite seriously. I do my best to protect them and to tread lightly wherever I go. In return they send up a plethora of mushrooms, some of which I harvest and consider as hostess gifts; the rest I diligently leave alone so they might “go to seed”. My hope is that a gentle breeze will carry their spores to fertile ground, somewhere even closer to home.
Another fabulous post! I feel like I go to school with you Bobbie every Saturday morning and learn something amazing from the curious mind that writes these posts. Who knew about the universe of humongous fungus just below our feet? Or that one delicious chanterelle took hundreds of years to appear on my dinner plate—making its enjoyment all the more delicious. (I promise never to complain about humidity ever again). I hope I flunk every year at your school and never have to graduate. TY for sharing more secrets of our amazing planet. Keep writing!