Fried up these Oyster mushrooms I found growing on a felled poplar at Tiddenfoot Lake. At the end of January! It just goes to show that you can find tasty edible mushrooms year-round.

I got our mycologist, Phil, to check over my ‘catch of the day’.

Oyster Mushrooms are a tender bracket fungus that comes in several variants. These ones were Pleurotus ostreatus, the Blue Oyster. it’s not actually blue, as you can see!

Find out more about different types of Oyster fungus here.

Oyster mushrooms have these features:

• Lateral stem is very short or absent
• Gills swollen, decurrent (running down the short stem)
• Shell like cap (like oyster) when mature
• Various colours from golden to grey to white
• Thick white flesh that smells pleasantly mushroomy
• Grows in compact tufts on tree stumps and logs

Poplar is a great wood for mushrooms. Lots of species can be grown in poplar logs if you are thinking of starting a mushroom loggery!

They made a lovely omelette. Which I forgot to take a picture of. Sorry!

xx Hedgewitch Kat xx