Saturday 9 August 2014

Storms - the good and the bad effects.

Shortly after putting on yesterday's post the skies over the farm went very dark.   By four-thirty in the afternoon it was almost dark and there was thunder in the distance.   By five o'clock the storm was overhead, with lightning and thunder almost at the same instance and then a horrendous downpour - 21mm in about ten minutes.   The sky stayed black all evening and thunder rumbled in the distance but the storm never came here again and today it is a bright, breezy day with blue skies.   Tomorrow is set to be wet again, so we are making the most of today.

But the good effect?  Well, of course it was very warm and humid yesterday - then there was that downpour - and this morning our fields are full of  wild mushrooms - they have sprouted up everywhere overnight, as they are wont to do if the weather conditions are just right.   In about five minutes the farmer picked four pounds and carried them home in his body warmer.   He left the larger ones, which had already become maggoty.

Saturday mornings friend W and I often go into our little town for a coffee (yes, I know we could have one here, but it is nice to drink it in a cheery environment where we are likely to chat to folk and pass the time of day).   So when she brought me home, she took one pound of the mushrooms to have on toast for her lunch.  I rang my son, D, and he popped round for a pound for his tea (he is vegetarian, so he obviously likes them), our neighbour G had a pound and that leaves one pound of them for our tea this evening with some lovely dry cure bacon rashers I happen to have in the fridge.  I can hardly wait.

We have not had mushrooms on this scale for many years.   Conditions have to be just right.   I know I could dry them, or I could freeze them, but it seems such a shame not to enjoy their freshness and give pleasure to several other folk as well.   Maybe there will be another crop tomorrow morning.

Apropos my post yesterday and my mention of spring tides.   I said that I really knew nothing about the term.   Well A Heron's View has explained it all in yesterday's comments, so if you want to know more please do go back to yesterday's post and read his comment.

8 comments:

Sue in Suffolk said...

It's normally too dry here for mushrooms, though once in a blue moon they do pop up on the campsite.
Delicious! I'm now craving mushrooms on toast.

donna baker said...

The same here but I don't know which ones are edible.

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

Mushrooms are abundant here in the spring in the Pacific Northwest (Northern California, Oregon and Washington) especially along the coast where we have lots of rain in the winter and spring. You often see the mushroom hunters but they will sometimes pretend they are not looking for mushrooms so you won't find their special spot. I'm glad you survived the storm - and got mushrooms to share.

Terry and Linda said...

What a cool thing to have happen. We never get anything like a sudden arrival of mushrooms! How do you fix your mushrooms...in butter?

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

Hildred said...

Oh,my mouth waters. I love mushrooms but all we ever get here is toadstools (I think) - I am not well versed enough in recognizing kinds of mushrooms.

Amy said...

oh my goodness, wild mushrooms yum! I have some mushies in my fridge but they're supermarket ones. Can't beat fresh though.

Cro Magnon said...

Sounds like we're all having much the same weather. No field mushrooms here, but I am hoping for some Cepes in a week or so.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks for calling round.