Even in arid and desert regions, trophies grow for lovers of quiet hunting. Mushrooms do not come to Kalmykia every year, but at a good time they will certainly please the mushroom picker.
Types of mushrooms in Kalmykia
Geographic features
The region is located in the following zones: steppe, semi-desert and desert. There are few tall trees, the rivers are shallow and often dry up. The climate for mushrooms is not very favorable:
- In winter, January temperatures can reach -8 ℃ in the southern regions and -35 ... -36 ℃ in the northern ones. In summer, it ranges from + 22 ℃ to + 24 ℃, sometimes there are hot days with a record + 44 ℃.
- There is little rainfall: from 210 to 340 mm per year. The lower indicator borders on the desert, so not every year a quiet hunt in the region is successful.
Steppe meadow mushrooms are found here, and forest representatives of the mushroom kingdom are in the groves. Fruit bodies of species preferring high humidity are found along the coastline, but due to the drying up of rivers, they rarely bear fruit in one place for several years in a row.
Mushrooms of the region
There are few forests, but there are enough mushrooms in the region. Collectors pay attention to the steppe species, which actively bear fruit at good times. Known types of mushrooms in Kalmykia:
- steppe morel;
- champignons;
- mushrooms;
- Oyster mushrooms (popular name "pork ears").
The season starts in autumn, after heavy rains. It is not recommended to pick mushrooms after a hot and dry summer - they accumulate a lot of toxins.
Fruiting bodies of representatives of different species are collected in the following places:
- Elista (northern industrial zone);
- Arshan village;
- the city of the Caspian;
- the village of Malye Derbeta;
- the village of Priyutnoye;
- the village of Troitskoye;
- village (rural type) Utta;
- village (rural type) Aman.
During the collection and processing, you should pay close attention to safety rules. In Elista, mushroom poisoning is annually recorded, cases of botulism have become more frequent in Kalmykia, and mushroom pickers are often lost in the steppe in the evenings. Therefore, take a compass and a flashlight with you, try not to wander into unfamiliar places.
Steppe morel
Morels season lasts three days
A rare species, found only in the south of the European part of Russia, including Kalmykia.
He is considered the king of spring mushrooms. It looks like a classic morel: a hat with a honeycomb surface and a cavity inside, on a short dense leg. The species prefers:
- steppe or forest-steppe lands with limited grazing;
- to form in favorable years "witch circles" of 15-20 individuals with a circle diameter of about 7-8 m.
If the spring was dry, then morels will not appear in this place for several more years, so they have been hunted for years. The season for this steppe species lasts only 3-4 days. Although in total for various "fields" from March to April (sometimes May).
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
Morel steppe by way of feeding humus saprotroph, presumably capable of forming mycorrhiza with some representatives of the family. Pink (Rosaceae) - shrubs. It occurs on the territory of various types of virgin steppes, in gullies and relief depressions. It usually grows in groups, but fruiting is directly related to fluctuations in weather conditions. In 2010 it was included in the Red Book of Kalmykia.
In cooking, morel is universal: it does not need to be soaked for a long time, it is suitable for drying, jerking, frying, boiling, preservation.
Champignons
The famous white champignons grow in large numbers in the steppes of Kalmykia. They begin to bear fruit in late spring with sufficient soil moisture. According to mushroom pickers, some mushrooms reach 500 g.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
Champignons of Kalmykia completely refute the idea known to all mushroom pickers that mushrooms are, in principle, forest inhabitants. On the territory of the republic, they love steppes richly "endowed" with organic pets. If there is the required level of heat and humidity, mushrooms can actively bear fruit in any season of the year.
They need to look for them on meadow humus, bark of fallen trees, deciduous litter. Several types of champignons are found in the meadows and steppes of the region. In Russia, this is the most popular mushroom - the share of its collection is about 73%.
Honey mushrooms
Edible mushrooms look like this:
- have a small cap up to 10 cm in diameter;
- the pulp is white, dense;
- the plates are brownish in adults, light in juveniles;
- legs are covered with scales in the form of flakes.
They grow on wood, fallen and decaying stumps, rarely on deciduous litter. They always choose the form of a conglomerate, in one colony there are several fruit bodies. They are found on stumps in humid ravines and lowlands. There are summer and winter species growing from early summer until the first snow.
Young specimens are more often eaten, considering the old ones too tough. They are pickled, fried, dried, boiled. It is the second most popular species after champignons in the region.
How real champignons grow in the field. How we collected mushrooms.
UNEXPECTED FIND IN THE STEPPE !!! EVERYTHING IS CLEAR on the map! The farm was found ... and where are the coins ?! Finished MMG WWII.
Steppe morel - mushroom hunting near Rostov-on-Don for a delicious steppe mushroom
Oyster mushrooms
These fungi grow on a humus or wood substrate. In Kalmykia it can be found in the steppe and meadows with high humidity.
"Pig ears" have a characteristic appearance - a wavy cap and a leg molded into it. It grows as a colony, on one log there are up to 7-10 pieces of different weights. Suitable for all types of heat treatment and storage.
Conclusion
Although the climate of Kalmykia does not make it possible to collect many types of mushrooms, experienced hunters know the places where the gourmet morel grows. It is more likely to find a meadow with different types of mushrooms or honey agarics. Oyster mushrooms growing on a woody substrate are no less popular. When collecting fruit bodies and processing them, the authorities of the region urge to observe safety rules.
It is best to pick mushrooms in Kalmykia in the early morning. In this they are no different from their forest counterparts from other regions of the country. It is not for nothing that folk wisdom has brought to us from time immemorial the proverb: "At the dewy dawn - a strong, fragrant mushroom, and on a hot day - like a rotten stump."