Giant puff ball mushroom

[kgd]

Joe and I took the dogs (3 of them) out to the prairie for a walk earlier in the morning. The dew and mists were still coming off the tall grasses and it was a nice way to enjoy late summer while also beating the heat. Many wild edibles were present and in abundance. Choke cherries, autumn olives and the wild grapes are now just starting to darken. The puffball was a bit of a surprise in that we usually find them later in the fall. Joe spotted it and pointed it out but since he's not much of a puffer, he allowed me to have it. Cooked some of it up with a little hamburger, butter and scallions. Delicious.

Joe is doing his Swedish chef (Muppet) immitation...."a-horgy-borgy-bhorg"

I also did some mods to my canister stove. In my video from last week I showed how I made a false bottom by cutting out the bottom of a similar canister and holding it up the bottom off the floor about 0.75" with some metal pins. The false bottom is supposed to make the stove burn more efficiently. This weekend I decided to use the same concept with a second bottom added to the top of the stove to serve as a grill for a hamburger paddy or a small sausage (hey its not the size that counts!). So I tested that out today with a hamburger paddy. Works great, but it does get my hobo stove smelling pretty grease afterwards. Still, its a cool little addition. Testing the stove/grill is provided on the video being uploaded. The last mod I did after the video was completed was to cut out a larger feeding hole in the center of the stove so I can drop in fuel with either the grill plate on or the pot holder slats on.

BTW - here is the stove all tricked out. (Note grill plate and potholder slats aren't supposed to be used at the same time). Can you say Bling????

[youtube]3nCOJzPCGlY&feature[/youtube]

 

[WILLIAM.M]

Cool Photos

Thanks for posting

 

[Yorkshire Boy]

Thanks for posting, all the giant puff balls I've seen have been on sheep grazed land (and they've usually been old, broken and knackered, never as lovely as the one in your photo), I've never found one in long grass or wooded areas (but that's just probably me).

 

[grunt soldier]

That was a nice large puffer. looks delicious

 

[upnorth]

Cool. I used to pick and cook puff ball mushrooms as a kid in southern Ontario. I used to find them in an apple orchard. Wait too long and they get infested. B.T.W., just to the east of Newcastle there is a ton of asparagus all over. Picked that as a kid also.

 

[kgd]

Thanks Upnorth. I really enjoy the taste of this thing. I find wild asparagus every once in awhile but more often its a solitary plant or too far gone to harvest. Same with morels, which I love, but its rare that I come across more than 1 or 2 even when I go hunting for them.

 

[omniviking]

I chave a friend that is more of a shroom hunter than me and he says it is hard to beat a frsh puff ball for eating. when I find them they are usally gone to seed, (spore, whatever they do).

 

[upnorth]

Thanks Upnorth. I really enjoy the taste of this thing. I find wild asparagus every once in awhile but more often its a solitary plant or too far gone to harvest. Same with morels, which I love, but its rare that I come across more than 1 or 2 even when I go hunting for them.

Yes I liked the puff balls. And yes that is usually how I find asparagus also, after it has gone to seed. It is super easy to spot in the fall as it looks like a short yellowish evergreen,lol. As you already know I'm sure. I've found it around Regina and Saskatoon out here on the prarries. It is usually near a water body like a creek or river. Unfortunately I have never seen a wild morel in my life, and it's not from a lack of trying. I have picked loads of Chanterelles, Boletes and Shaggy Manes after the first fall frosts, but no Morels. I have hit a few burns in the Boreal but my timing was off. Those are still a goal of mine.

 

[Mistwalker]

Cool shots Ken. Internet sucks here so can't see the video yet.