Chanterelles (left) and lobsters (right) are just two of the delicious mushrooms found in the woods of Vermont.
Are you a fan of fungi? Then Vermont’s the place to be this summer.
With one of the wettest Julys on record, Vermont’s mushrooms are fruiting to the fullest this summer! Before you read on, please note that this blog post is not a mushrooming guide! Eat and identify wild mushrooms at your own risk.
Lobster mushrooms are easy to spot when foraging. Not only are they a similar color to a cooked lobster – but they also have a seafood aroma when cooked.
Happy mushroom hunters are finding edible mushrooms such as chanterelles, oysters, lobster mushrooms, chicken-of-the-woods, and even the prized black trumpet. Medicinal mushrooms can be found in Vermont as well, and include chaga, turkey tail, and reishi.
Can you spot the prized black trumpet mushrooms amongst the leaves? Black trumpets are easy to miss – luckily, they grow in large numbers. By far my favorite wild mushroom in Vermont!
Love to eat mushrooms, but not a mushroom hunter yourself?
You don’t have to brave the woods (and that first-time-mushrooming fear). Two grocery stores near Golden Stage Inn sell local mushrooms when available: The Jersey Girls’ Cafe & Market and the Springfield Co-Op. You can also get your mushroom fix at a farm-to-table restaurant in the area, such as The Downtown Grocery, SoLo, or the Inn at Weathersfield.
Want to learn to identify wild mushrooms?
The Grafton Nature Museum is hosting a Mushroom Walk on the weekend of August 22nd! The Grafton Nature Museum is about a half hour drive from Golden Stage Inn, and also puts on a fairy house exhibit with local artists on the last weekend of September. But back to the ‘shrooms…
You can register to be on the waiting list for The Wild World of Mushrooms at the Grafton Nature Museum here. Unfortunately both walks are already full, but hey, you never know! Here’s a quick description of the event from the Grafton Nature Museum’s website:
“Ari Rockland-Miller will introduce participants to the Northeast’s safest and most distinctive gourmet and medicinal fungi, emphasizing his “ForageCast” strategy. Workshop participants will also discover how to best cook these fruits of the forest and will get a taste when our wild finds are served up right on the spot following our foray. Once you put on your forager’s eyes, your hikes will never be the same again!”
If you’re up for a further drive, check out more mushrooming workshops in Vermont from the Mushroom Forager here. In addition to foraging, you can learn about growing mushrooms yourself!
Oyster mushrooms are one of the edible fungi you can learn to cultivate yourself.
And just for fun(gi)…
What room has no doors, no walls, no floors, and no ceilings?
A mushroom!