Too Early To Find This Tasty Wild Edible Mushroom?

[@htuckey]

A few years ago I found a prime hen weighing 17 lbs - the first one I ever found. I shared it among the mushroom club, and took a big chunk of it home, where my granddaughter and I cooked it with some onions and wine, and devoured it. Delicious!

[@timsvodnik]

Here in the central Russia the fruiting bodies of Polyporus umbellatus appear much earlier, a good wave would usually hit in the end of June or in early July. P.S. Words would never describe my feelings when I found them for the very first time. And, by the way, these are protected by law here, but to admire this species is not yet forbidden, I believe. Congratulations on a great find from Moscow with mush love! )

[@coliberation]

Same in the U.S. for P. umbellatus. This is G. frondosa, a somewhat similar appearing mushroom in the early stages.

[@Netherflyfish]

With mush love...good one.😅

[@BazookaIke]

People have been finding these like crazy all over the state here in Wisconsin for at least a week now. I had my first taste of hen a few days ago. Very good!

[@leilaniliao9524]

I’m in Central Wisconsin and just found a huge cluster of 4-5 mistakes under two oaks yesterday (Sept. 1)

[@BazookaIke]

@@leilaniliao9524 awesome! Congratulations

[@choppy7593]

I just found a nice size cluster yesterday (oct 6) in LA crosse wisconsin. It was nice and fresh. I could even tell that someone harvested one from the same tree probably a couple weeks earlier, because the remains were a bit dryed out. Must be a good year for them. I'm definitely gonna be keeping my keen eyeballs peeled.

[@HameemShameem-h1t]

Its not washed?

[@karlsteingall6832]

Great job Adam! My Dad called them sheep’s heads, and he loved to harvest them!

[@MichaelKensinger]

To me, every bit as deserving of attention as morels - and potentially more so given the medicinal qualities! Sending shroomy vibes from Blair County. I’m about two hours from you in Altoona.

[@thongbaichristian4256]

I was so happy when I found a big cluster of it on my land last year! I can't wait to find more this year!

[@HameemShameem-h1t]

Must it be washed before cooking

[@thongbaichristian4256]

@@HameemShameem-h1t yes! You have to wash it before cooking.

[@thongbaichristian4256]

I found a cluster last week on the base of the same tree! I was doing the dance 💃 🤣

[@GirlCarpenter]

Last year I learned I have been waiting way too long to start looking. I’m in Central IN and started looking a couple of days ago.

[@Maz08]

Nice to see them starting to pop out by you. I will be looking in my spots soon. Thank you for the video(s).

[@justafig]

I'm going to look around my woods today because I love mushrooms.

[@TemplePriestess]

It looks like a perfect heart! ♥️ 🥰 Beautiful find. Thank you for sharing.

[@aleje5761]

I love when you talk about Mushrooms. Thanks for posting.

[@amyb5339]

You are very sweet inspirational for Midwest foragers. Thank you!

[@PatriciaCampos-lk3sj]

Hello Adam. I just watched one of your old videos titled "New to mushroom Hunting? Start Here! and it was loaded with excellent information. Thank you for taking the time to educate others. Your information is priceless! God bless and be careful out there.

[@ericastier1646]

I live in piedmont NC and your Pennsylvania forest always looks very aerated and spacious between trees. Here is more dense, tons of smaller trees, brushes, vines and very thick and bouncy forest floor litter.

[@marktwain580]

Wow. Mushroom season has arrived.

[@brianadams3189]

When does it end? Between morels, chanterelles, boletes, maitake, and oysters my season is non-stop.

[@billyhughes9776]

We have an oak on our property that gives use one to three big Maitake mushrooms every year around Oct-Nov. We love em and they get consumed quickly.

[@bravemountaineer7269]

I found the hen of the woods mushrooms as early as August 5 in Michigan, and as late as November in Thanksgiving Black Friday in Virginia. And it was frozen. Very fresh and tasty though.

[@Scumfrog74]

I just found a nice clump in Southeastern PA, but it was the orange colored one. It had been raining for two days here and I found tons of mushrooms on September 1. Even found a huge clump of jack-o’-lantern mushrooms at the bottom of a giant oak, which I took a huge clump to dry and use as home decor with my house plants once they’re fully dried. Should look cool.

[@saltycrow]

Great idea. They will be pretty. Never thought to dry them for decorations when you can’t eat them.👍🏼

[@myradioon]

Orange colored polypore is Chicken of the Woods. It's a different mushroom. Jack O' Lantern will glow in the dark when fresh if you bring it to a dark closet.

[@dennistate5953]

Love that it's heart shaped❤

[@jonathanevans1567]

Thank you for sharing this information ✌️

[@jokriegel8498]

Thanks! I'll look when I go home. Eastern coast. I won't find this is Florida.

[@henrymostert2125]

Thanks for sharing that Adam. I found one late last year that was over done. This year I plan to go back and see if it's fruiting. I've never held one in my hands yet

[@goodun2974]

Unfortunately, Chicken of the Woods can sort of look like old maitake when the COTW is bleached out and disintegrating, although chicken of the woods is usually found on stumps and rotting logs while maitake is typically found at the base of a living tree. I've never found an actual maitake, although I've been fooled from a distance by old chicken of the woods....

[@henrymostert2125]

@@goodun2974 that's a good point. The one that I saw was quite different than chicken of the woods. It had all the small little lobes on it like The hen of the Woods. It's my mission this year to find a good one. 👍👍

[@rodeleon2875]

i just ate a big clump over the past couple days. they are delicious. little bit of garlic and fry in butter and some salt.

[@88Blazehaze]

Thanks man heading out now

[@GiGiC14]

Wow Adam your mushroom 🍄 looks like it's in the shape of a heart 💜! What a blessing and true delight. Sending love and gratitude from Michigan! 💚

[@vonnapier860]

Thanks Adam!!!❤

[@taylorfong2716]

Wow thanks for making this video! I thought things were wrong two days ago when I found one (my first time finding Hen!) in Western PA as well (Pittsburgh)

[@taylorfong2716]

We're finally getting some much needed rain. Cheers dude

[@TanyaBecherWoodturning]

Thank you so much for sharing, Adam.

[@griseobarba7989]

Found most of mine in late August last year. Haven't seen any yet this year in Eastern Iowa.

[@aedleathers]

I hope to find maitake one of these days; I'd like to try it. Thanks for your continuing fungi education, Dr. H! I truly enjoy your videos. You're a natural educator!

[@Michiganmoonshinemayhem]

I've been finding these for about a week and a half now in mid-Michigan

[@toddhill6396]

Just found 2 really nice ones yesterday here in Southeast Michigan

[@joelaut12]

Thanks Adam! Good reminder to be on the lookout for this one. I have a couple of spots I need to visit.

[@MandyMichels]

Thanks, Adam!

[@christinebuckley451]

Nice!!!! 🍄😁 Thank you for sharing what is here in our area. Nature is amazing! Much love, brother! 🌱🤗🌱

[@Bettinbig7024]

Thanks for posting.

[@rarefruit2320]

Good to see you Adam, thanks for the video

[@gmrocwater9922]

Lots of them up here in NH.👍

[@wamlartmuse17]

I've only had them in store. But they are one of my favorites.

[@riverbender9898]

Thanks Adam .

[@TheDeadbirdy]

I love all the information you share. A brother of mine Who I don't speak to much Is subscribe to your channel as well But I was munshroom hunting way before him.

[@changthompson8888]

Thanks for sharing 👍!

[@happysmirkUtuber]

Happy Eats!Thank You!

[@marktwain580]

Heading out to check now here in nw CT

[@goodun2974]

I have yet to find maitake in the so-called "Quiet Corner" of eastern CT. A few weeks ago I was finding bicolor boletes, followed by flushes of several types of edible suillus; but I haven't seen much fungi of interest in the last week or so. Various amanita are starting to pop up and that usually means that there'll be more bolete type mushrooms to follow in the same general areas.....

[@marthab4172]

That's wild ! ❤!!You're probably the first or second person out in the woods two days ago to have discovered an early bloom of the hen , enjoy your forest in the jungle 😊!! Thank yo😊

[@charronfamilyconnect]

I have found small clusters on 5 trees so far this year and some trees have 3 clusters on each tree. Looks like this year will be a bumper crop I know a total of 42 trees with Maitake and am hoping to harvest 200 Ibs plus so my whole family and friends Will have enough to preserve for the whole year

[@CarolMaroni-f5f]

thankyou from western norrh carolina. now i need to get it identified twice more. i have seen it before and thought it was edible. If you are ever in Pisgah National Forest . Find Turkey pins trail there are tons of chicken in the woods this time of year . happy hunting. Ric

[@JohnOnEdge]

Nice find! I found my first laetiporus sulphureus on the last day of August this year :)

[@markrose53]

Been keeping an eye out for them but none yet. This year was a real bust for chanterelles here in NC

[@EmilyFloralBlessings]

I might have found it in September -in ontario

[@deansherwood7468]

They're up in Michigan. I haven't found one yet, but they are up.

[@ScarletRebel96]

What a nice find first time ive actually seen one of these mushrooms

[@jamesblake7338]

Good to know!

[@rivergirlfishinfor24]

Beautiful!! 💙💜💙💜🙌🏻

[@wildeyedfae]

I can smell this mushroom before I see it. It has a licorice scent. Thankfully the scent cooks out. I pair this with honeys and anything else I can find to make cream of wild mushroom soup!!

[@Bob-of-Zoid]

Maitake allegedly have some compounds that help prevent cancer, and are otherwise higher on nutrition than many other mushrooms. The taste can be odd, and so it's tricky incorporating them in dishes, so I mix them in with other, more tasty mushrooms.😋

[@charronfamilyconnect]

I find it interesting that the Maitake season where I live in Ontario Canada(north of New York state), runs from end of August to end of September, and rarely do you find them in October. This leads me to conclude that temperature of the air and soil is a huge variable in determining fruitation conditions for these as well as other mushrooms. We are in Hardiness zone 5 and u assume where you reside in Pennsylvania is 6 or 7.Adam have you done any research or studies on the idea temperatures that these mushrooms fruit at?

[@obiwanda]

Just picked several Grifola in upstate NY. They're here.

[@sapelesteve]

Great find Adam! For sure one of my favorite edible mushrooms! 👍👍🍄🍄

[@matthewquintanilla8011]

I found one today in Maryland!

[@moon1111rises]

Thats awesome i suspected we could find them now!!

[@melaniegoforth5291]

Hello Adam ! Ohio is having terribly dry weather . The boletus , chickens and all other late summer mushrooms are not coming up . Going out now , hoping for a nice dinner 😢

[@ArcticGator]

i have two very large black oaks in my yard and every year a big huge cluster grows in the roots at the base of one of them, the only reason i dont eat them is its right next to the driveway and im not sure if our vehicles emissions affect the mushroom

[@oh_k8]

I mean farmland is next to roads so I'm sure it's fine unless you dump chemicals on your driveway.😂

[@DannyGoforth-n4i]

Adam , hey !! I'm in ne Ohio , I am so psyched for maitaki !

[@f.n.schlub]

Do you ever break them up and spread the pieces to the bases of other oaks ?

[@sweetchariotengland]

It tastes so great

[@jawakening2043]

The best! Love em!

[@sitindogmas]

✌️💚 from the middle of W.V.

[@pjz7088]

Up in NH, some have already come and gone!

[@UncleJ2058]

I am on the west coast. Wish there was a channel like this out here! Not sure how applicable the info is to my area.

[@markrose53]

Well west coasters you do have “Mushrooms Demystified”

[@ericastier1646]

In my 3 last outings in the forest of Piedmont NC i found 18 mushrooms each time, but two days ago with leaves starting to litter the forest floor, i found absolutely no mushroom not even the prolific amanitas. No rain for a week and don't bother looking for mushroom. Except i found 1 kilo of chicken of the woods. A mature specimen very tasty flavor. So i am happy for that. But so surprised to find nothing else at all.

[@kenycharles8600]

These should be popping out into Oklahoma when we start getting some rain.

[@jdaza1987]

Can you do a video on "old man in the woods"? I found one already this year but id like to know more.

[@endlessmountainoutdoors]

They are always seem much lighter in color when they are early. 100 trees is a great way to think about it, Ive never heard that.

[@Shakespearept]

Cook regularly with maitake, but have never found it wild. Wonder if it tastes any different than the ones grown for the grocery store.

[@TurboLoveTrain]

Awesome thanks for the vid

[@laydi_fish3610]

Yay the season is upon us!

[@nnovaroza]

Do you have some rein? We have very dry sommer this year. I will go into forest tomorow. In my country we call it Frlinka 😂 💞🤗

[@notmyworld44]

Nearly any insect inside this mushroom will be safely edible.

[@WildernessMapper]

🤢

[@Queen-Of-Hearts144]

I had such a hard time cleaning it, it was impossible 😮

[@kenycharles8600]

It should be mostly larvae, and they will be full of mushroom anyway.

[@SusanAnnePowerOfTruth]

Hahahahaha😂😂😂​@@kenycharles8600

[@SusanAnnePowerOfTruth]

​@@Queen-Of-Hearts144 Same. I just told myself I need the extra protein 😮😅

[@saltycrow]

Everything was early this year, last year too and the year before, for that matter. Those who haven’t yet, need to come to the realization our climate is changing. Pennsylvania’s seasons aren’t the same as when I was a kid and they haven’t been for a long time now.

[@theunclejezusshow8260]

The One Eyed FARMER$ contaminated the Earth and Sky along with natural processes

[@smlorrin]

💯

[@mattjirgal1676]

Somone found a massive one last week a few miles away from where I used to live. So jealous

[@geenesmern6830]

Yeah, I did think it was too early for this mushroom.

[@s.m.painter8808]

Will keep my eyes open. After a good rain?

[@Vastafari34]

Show us how you cook it !!!!

[@Woodsyone]

Mother nature has guideline boundaries guarded by velvet ropes. Few rules are absolute. Still, this is a big surprise to me. Here in northern Illinois I won't see hens for 2-3 weeks minimum.

[@obiwanda]

There's always like a 3-4week overlapping period where a bunch of folks post a ton of Meripilus sumstinei (black staining polypores) asking "hen???!?!?1" and everyone corrects them, then a few weeks where people start posting actual Grifola frondosa and a bunch of people comment "no, that thar is a stainer, too early for hens" I really wish people would just learn that mushrooms don't have calendars, only conditions - and to learn to identify by observed features, not silly rule-outs and calendars and nonsense

[@pennyleonard3496]

🖐TY for the VIDEO 😊👍✌

[@angelspake81]

Is there someone like you that does southeastern mushroom education?

[@briangrammer898]

❤❤VIDEO ❤❤great info ❤

[@lola-bb-poplar-watchdog]

…waiting for mine north central nc

[@elainesrottenbottom296]

Do you have Puffballs in W PA?

[@paulaharris566]

tast good

[@jaquessiemasz8650]

we got a few cool nights in a row recently. I would imagine that's all it takes to start these guys fruiting

[@chickadeeacres3864]

What about swamp oak?

[@jimf1964]

I found a huge bunch last year while small game hunting/camping, but it was my first time seeing them, and I didn’t have my book, so I left them. Man was I disappointed when I got home and found out they were a choice edible. 😢.

[@connormckean9765]

Multiple ppl I know call them sheepshead mushrooms

[@wmichaelh29]

My favorite edible. I did read online that frying mushrooms destroys the benefits. Some other ways of cooking do not. Any truth to that?

[@timrockman7]

We have them here, but the deer know where they are and never leave any for us.

[@deangullberry2420]

You say these come back in the same spot every year?

[@MayorofNumber3]

Is that the same as what a lot people in my area call sheepshead?

[@goodun2974]

Yes.

[@Charles36.]

I found this today