Most people are sure that it is worth going to the forest for mushrooms no earlier than mid-summer. In fact, they can be collected in May. There are several types of such edible mushrooms, the main thing is to know where they grow and how they can be used.
May mushroom
In Russia, it is also called the St. George mushroom, May row and May kalotsib. The season of May mushrooms begins in late April, and ends in July.
They grow mainly in the European part of the country, you can find them not only in the forest, but also in fields, meadows, and sometimes even in parks. Mushrooms gather in small groups, can form a ring or a row. They prefer open areas, so you don’t need to go deep into the forest - just go through the edge of the forest.
The diameter of the cap of May mushroom is approximately 5 cm. It has a flat-convex hump-like shape, but evens out as it ripens. The color is creamy at first, then white. Hats of old mushrooms can be ocher in color.
The plates near the leg usually grow. They are narrow and often located, at first have a whitish color, then it turns into light ocher or cream.
The white flesh of the May mushroom is thick and dense. It resembles fresh flour in taste and color.
The legs of May mushrooms are cylindrical. In length, they can reach 9 cm, in thickness - 3 cm. The legs can narrow or expand downward, have a white color, but at the base often with a ocher or rust-ocher hue.
Many consider the powdery smell of May mushrooms to be a drawback, but it disappears with heat treatment. Raw materials must be cleaned of dirt with garbage and pre-boiled for 20-30 minutes. May mushrooms can be fried, salted and pickled.
May mushrooms are suitable for home growing. Subject to technology, the crop can be harvested for several months.
Sulfur yellow tinder
Such a mushroom is conditionally edible. You can find it on a stump or tree trunk, it is usually located low.
The young mushroom is a drop-shaped fleshy mass of different shades of yellow. When hardening the fruit body, the tinder funnel resembles an ear in shape. Fan-shaped pseudo-caps grow together, usually sit on a common basis.
Hats of sulfur-yellow polypore can reach 40 cm in diameter. The mass of mushrooms can exceed 10 kg. On them you can always find a light fluff of creamy yellow color.
Sulfur-yellow tinder fungi are distinguished by soft and juicy pulp, have a white color and a sour taste. At first, mushrooms attract a light lemon smell, but then it becomes unpleasant, resembling a mouse.
With aging, the tinder fungus becomes paler, its color is not bright gray-yellow. The more isolated the fruiting bodies, the older the mushroom.
It is not necessary to collect sulfur-yellow tinderpants from conifers, as well as if they have already acquired a dark color or smell unpleasant. Such mushrooms can cause mild poisoning. This risk increases in childhood.
Only young sulfur-yellow tinder fungi are suitable for food. They can be fried, pickled, salted. The taste of flesh resembles chicken, for which it is valued by vegetarians, and in some European countries it is considered a delicacy at all.
Scaly Tinder
People call this mushroom a motley tinder fungus, pestle, elm tree, hare. You can find it on the trunks of trees, it is usually located low.
The mushroom prefers deciduous trees; it can settle on both living and dead trunks. This species is found in the middle lane and in the Far East.
The scaly tinder is characterized by an asymmetric meaty hat, which can reach a diameter of 30 cm. At first, the hat has a kidney-shaped shape, then it becomes outstretched, it can be slightly pressed at the base.
The spongy cork flesh crumbles, it is soft only at the beginning, then it becomes harder. There is a powdery but pleasant aroma. Many people note that the aroma of the mushroom resembles fresh cucumbers.
Hat flake polypore light yellowish or grayish in color. The entire surface is covered with wave-shaped dark brown scales.
The leg of the mushroom can reach a length of 10 cm, a thickness of 4 cm. The upper part of the leg is reticulate and whitish, acquires a brown-black color to the base.
Only a young scaly tinder is edible. It is possible to determine whether the mushroom is suitable for food by plucking a piece of a hat - it should crumble.
In terms of taste and nutritional properties, the caps of scaly polypants are more valuable. They can be fried, cooked soup or meatballs. It is previously recommended to grind the pulp and boil.
Trick deer
It is also called deer mushroom. He prefers the northern temperate zone and deciduous forests, gardens and parks. It can grow on tree trunks, stumps, branches, likes sawdust, wood chips, cut down areas. You can collect mushrooms from late May to mid-autumn.
The hat in diameter can reach 15 cm, in some species 20-24 cm. It has a wide-bell-shaped shape, which then becomes convex or flat. A small tubercle is outlined in the center. The surface of the cap attracts with its smoothness and silkiness. It is usually dry, but can be slightly slimy in wet weather. The hat is often gray or grayish brown. The color is darker in the center, the edges are striped and slightly ribbed.
The pulp is brittle and soft, has a white color that does not change when cut. The pulp from the leg is harder and more fibrous. There is practically no aroma and taste, but sometimes a slight radish smell is observed.
The leg of the mushroom can reach 5-15 cm in length and 1-2 cm in thickness. It can be easily separated from the cap. The leg is distinguished by density, cylindrical shape, white or whitish-gray color. There are longitudinal brown fibers, usually brightening to the cap.
Deer of deer must be subjected to heat treatment. Mushrooms can be boiled, stewed or fried. They do not differ in special tastes, therefore they are usually used for preparing complex dishes.
Spring honey agaric
It is also called a forest-loving, oak-forest or oak-loving colibia, common money. Usually it can be found from late May to late autumn. Such mushrooms grow in small groups, preferring rotten wood or deciduous leaves.
A cap of spring openings can reach 7 cm in diameter. In young mushrooms, it is convex, then becomes wide-convex and flat. The color is initially red-brown, then, as it fades, it becomes orange-brown or yellow-brown.
The pulp has a white or yellowish color, there is no pronounced taste or aroma. The leg in length can reach 9 cm, in thickness less than 1 cm. It is flexible, it is even or slightly expanded to the base.
The fungus is conditionally edible. It must be preliminarily boiled for a quarter of an hour. Without such preparation, the mushroom has an unpleasant aftertaste and can lead to mild indigestion. Spring mushrooms can also be dried.
Honey agaric
This mushroom is also called a meadow, meadow non-snive, clove, meadow marasmius. You can meet him from the end of May until mid-autumn. The mushroom prefers open grassy spaces - meadow, pasture, pasture, vegetable garden, garden, edge, roadside. It grows on the soil.
The cap of a meadow honey agaric in diameter can reach 5 cm. It is smooth and hemispherical, then becomes convex, and at maturity - flat-spread. In dry weather, the cap of the mushroom is pale cream, with dampness it becomes sticky, acquires a tan or reddish-ocher color. Regardless of the weather, the edges of the cap are lighter than the center.
The honey agaric sits on a thin and high leg. In height, it can reach 6 cm, with a thickness of not more than half a centimeter. The leg has a cylindrical shape, it can be a little twisty. It is dense and slightly thickened to the base.
The flesh is thin, pale yellow or whitish in color, which does not change when cut. It has a light sweetish aftertaste and a strong peculiar aroma reminiscent of bitter almonds or cloves.
Eat only the hats of meadow honey. They can be processed in any way.
Common garlic
The name of this mushroom was given due to its characteristic garlic smell. Garlic is small in size. Its cap in diameter rarely reaches more than 2.5 cm. First, it has a convex-conical or hemispherical shape and a turned edge, then it is convex and flattened with an irregularly wavy edge.
The hat usually has a bare and smooth surface. The color is varied - with humidity it can be from pinkish-brown to ocher-red. In dry weather, the color of the hat is cream or ocher.
Mushrooms are distinguished by very thin pulp of the same color as the surface. Garlic is not only the smell, but also the taste.
The foot of the garlic usually does not exceed 5 cm in height and 2 mm in thickness. It has a cylindrical shape and a rigid structure. The leg is naked and shiny, has an orange hue at the top and a reddish-brown color in the lower part.
Garlic prefers coniferous and deciduous forests, chooses needles, twigs, rotting bark, sometimes grass.
This mushroom is often dried to use in the future as a seasoning for various dishes. The attractiveness of this method of harvesting is that after a few minutes in the water the mushrooms again become fresh. Garlic can be fried, including with other mushrooms. It is not recommended to boil it, since with such processing an attractive aroma is lost.
Boletus
Such a mushroom can be found in May under favorable weather conditions. People call it birch and black-headed. You can meet him in a light deciduous or mixed forest, where there are birches.
You can collect boletus from the end of May. A signal to the appearance of such mushrooms is the flowering of bird cherry.
The mushroom is spongy. Its hat can reach a diameter of 15 cm. Depending on the variety of the fungus, its color can be from white to dark gray, close to a black shade. Color darkens as it ripens. If the air is moist, then mucus appears on the hat, it becomes sticky to the touch.
Leg white, slightly thickened down. There are longitudinal scales of white or black. The leg has a cylindrical shape, can reach a height of 15 cm, a thickness of up to 3 cm. In old mushrooms, the pulp of the leg becomes stiff and fibrous.
The pulp has a white color that does not change when cut. If the terrain is swampy, then the mushroom may have flesh turning pink at the break. Such a boletus is called pinkish. In mature mushrooms, the flesh becomes watery and loose.
Brown boletus can be prepared in many ways. Mushrooms are suitable for drying, frying, boiling and pickling.
Oiler
Butterdish is often called yellow, late, autumn, present. They usually begin to collect it in the summer, but in May the mushroom can be found in sunny forest glades.
The oiler cap can reach a diameter of 14 cm. Its shape is hemispherical, then it becomes round-shaped or flat-convex or pillow-shaped, less often flat or tuberous. The surface is smooth and mucous to the touch. The color of the hat can be various shades of brown, red-brown, gray-brown, brown-olive, yellow-brown.
The peel can be easily separated from the pulp, which attracts with its softness, juiciness, has a whitish or yellowish color. The pulp of the leg is slightly fibrous, and at its base has a rusty-brownish color.
The oiler foot can reach 11 cm in height and 2-2.5 cm in thickness. It has a cylindrical shape, whitish or yellowish in color. There is a film ring. At first it is white, then it becomes brownish, black-brown or dirty purple.
Among edible mushrooms, oiler is very popular. It is fried, salted, pickled, added to soups, side dishes, marinades after preliminary boiling (10 minutes are enough). For pickling and pickling, it is better to choose young mushrooms - their taste is higher.
White dung beetle
This mushroom can be found in late May. He prefers loose soil, rich in organic matter, and the northern temperate zone. Usually it is not found in the forest, but in a pasture, in a park, garden or vegetable garden.
A hat of a white dung beetle in diameter can reach 10 cm in diameter and 15 cm in height. It has an elongated ovoid shape, which then becomes narrow-bell-shaped. The fungus can be white, gray or brownish in color with a brown tubercle at the top. Fibrous flakes are densely located on the surface.
The pulp is white in color, soft, does not differ in special tastes and smell. The leg can reach 20-30 cm in height and 2 cm in diameter. It has a cylindrical shape, white color, a silky sheen and a cavity inside.
Due to its appearance, the mushroom in Russia has long been attributed to toadstools and was considered poisonous, although in some countries of Europe it is called delicious. It should be eaten only in its young form until the plates are white in color and have not begun to turn pink. Processing must begin in the first 2 hours after picking mushrooms.
White dung beet is considered conditionally edible, therefore it is previously recommended to boil it. Do not use it with other mushrooms or alcohol.
In May, certain types of mushrooms can be harvested. It is important to take into account their characteristics and collect during the recommended period. The methods of cooking different types are different, some mushrooms must be pre-boiled.