Puffballs

[Greenfield_Bob]

Our dog (Barney) took my wife and I for a walk last night and we found these behind a church near our house. There were 4 of them.
Have any of you eaten puffballs?

Bob

[SharonW0111]

Around here they are called the devils snuff - when they are fully mature they puff out what looks like snuff- I love to step on them but I don't think they would be safe to eat.
Sharon

[minowevie]

Hmmmmm never seen those befor. is it a form of musroom?? just wondering.

[Greenfield_Bob]

Sharon, I use to work with a guy that loved them. He would eat them raw at work. I guess he still alive.
I have never eaten them.

Bob

[Gill]

Oh dear, Sharon - I fear the country girl has struck out with this one, because they are edible. We have a televison chef/personality called Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall who has recently sparked a revival in self-sufficiency and he featured puffball mushrooms in one of his River Cottage programmes. This link has a couple of recipes, and there's a bit more here.

I can remember when I was little and my dad worked at an airbase. When he got a chance, he'd wander over the airfield looking for these and field mushrooms. The field mushrooms were the tastiest but the puffballs were certainly edible.

Puffballs normally form a huge circle, a bit like natural ancient standing stones .

Gill

[little twig]

As a child we would find them in the bush on our 200 acre farm. Sometimes they would be as big as an oversized basketball.
Mom would cut them up into cubes and fry them in butter. mmmmmmm

You will want to pick them when they are still firm and very white. They will sound hollow when you thump on them. They will only explode if they are turning brown, then they are fun to pop!

[minowevie]

MMMMMMMmmm i am so jelous. i love musrooms. I wish we had them here. big as baskit balls. mmmmmm your so lucky.

[SharonW0111]

HEY i LEARNED SOMETHING NEW TODAY --but I think I will just be content with puffing them
Sharon

[sheltiecarver]

When they got big and brownish, we would kick them to watch the spores scatter - I guess we were "reseeding" them. The ones we ate were pure white and usually smaller - but usually bigger than a softball.
Gill - they used to call those big rings of fungi "fairy rings". Now I guess the meaning has changed too much to risk it. The ring effect happens because the underground parts (the mycelia) spread out from a central part, and when they get to a certain maturity, they produce the fruiting body (mushroom, puffball, whatever) above ground - at about the same time - hence - the ring. I still look at them in amazement - nature is soooo cool.
Sandy

[Taffy Turner]

Originally Posted by sheltiecarver

When they got big and brownish, we would kick them to watch the spores scatter - I guess we were "reseeding" them. The ones we ate were pure white and usually smaller - but usually bigger than a softball.
Gill - they used to call those big rings of fungi "fairy rings". Now I guess the meaning has changed too much to risk it. The ring effect happens because the underground parts (the mycelia) spread out from a central part, and when they get to a certain maturity, they produce the fruiting body (mushroom, puffball, whatever) above ground - at about the same time - hence - the ring. I still look at them in amazement - nature is soooo cool.
Sandy

Wow - thanks for explaining that. One of our fields is full of fairy rings, and we have had loads of mushrooms this year (must be something to do with the weather), but I was wondering what caused the rings, and why the mushrooms only grow on the dark part of the ring - now I know!

Regards

Gary