One would think! No action in my Chant woods yet, but it's still a little early up here yet. Was thinking of taking a little walk today, but had garden work to do and was way to tired for anything after that. Rain tomorrow, so I suppose I could take another look Sunday.

 

All of my dates of First Chanterelles have been in July . . . .

well guess what?

It's July!!

Happy hunting everyone! Happy 4th, too!

 

Finally got out for another look today. Noticed more dieback on the bear corn, but no sign of Chants yet. I think we need some more rain.

 

Some rain is coming today thru Friday. Keeping my🤞

 

Rain started here about 4:30 and is just now letting up. About 2 hours. Not a downpour, but a nice steady rain.

 

Got 3/4" between Westerville and CMH (airport) this evening. Looking forward to chanterelle season! Usually 2nd half of July when I find them. 🤞

 

Same time I usually start finding them 👍

 

Already finding them here in Minnesota should be starting there also

 

A friend is finding them in western MO and they find them earlier in GA, TN and KY than OH and now in MN I have known they find them in MI before we do in OH but I can't figure why.

 

It's strange been getting a ton of rain but hasn't really gotten hot was just bored and wanted to go for a walk so I figured I would go see and I found them in 2 of my spots

 

Way to go!

 

Boy, did we get the rain last night! Had to be 2" or better. My truck bed rain gauge was as full as I've ever seen it! So, we have the moisture in the ground, now all we need is the temps and it shouldn't be long now.

 

Did all my yard and garden work yesterday so I would be free to take a walk in the woods today. When I got in there I could see that the bear corn has completely died back, so i went to what has become my most dependable spot in that woods. Tons of pins up, and just about a dozen of pickable size today. So, I have enough for a few omelettes.

 

What county?

 

Mahoning, in NE Ohio.

 

der.foygl

New to the community, but where is “chanterelle heaven”??? Am I allowed to ask? Lol
[Posted today, but in Summer 2022 forum]

[reply]
Hi der.foygl,

In my world the only silly question is one that someone has but is afraid to ask. That frank honesty has served me all my life. So . . . of course you are allowed to ask.

The answer is: "Chanterelle Heaven" is a metaphor for 'any' woods that always has chanterelle mushrooms, every year and in sufficient quantity to be able to pick as many as one wants. It brings up the following distinction, true within my experience. I go Morel Mushroom Hunting. But in the Summer, I go Chanterelle Picking. Any time I want, knowing they are there and in quantity (the whole season, rain permitting, etc.).

In my Chanterelle Heaven, I many times pick only 1 out of a hundred chanterelles and still take home enough for 3-4 meals. Mother Nature's super abundance when all conditions bring this about brings a sense of still, awe for me.

I have 3 woods that fit these qualifications. I found them, collected them over the years because each year I want to add at least 1-2 new woods to try. In time you will find/have your own Chanterelle Heaven and you will experience the magic implied by that term: Chanterelle Heaven.

Some things in Life don't conform to the demand for instant gratification. Hmnn, well, for me, that would be Morels. Ha!

Happy Summer Mushroom Hunting Everyone. 😎🌞

My date of 1st find for Chanterelles in Central OH is 10th through 15th

 

I have some of those kind of woods for many types of mushrooms. It is usually whoever gets there first. 😂

 

Well put, sb. The Chants are my most dependable gathering every year. I only have the one woods, but it has never failed me since I found it 5 years ago. And I always know when they will pop. When the ditch lilies are up and the bear corn dies back, here come the Chants.

I haven't come across what I think of as a good way of preserving them, so last year I got kinda picky. If a Chant had so much as a single bug tunnel in it, it went back on the ground. I only kept pristine specimens, and only what I could use in a short time. My date for first find this year was 7/8.

 

I went out this morning while it was cool and found a patch of baby Chants no more than 2 to 3 inches tall. I left them to help propagate the area. With a couple of days in the 90's coming and some more rain in the forecast the medium to large Chants should start the end of next week here in west central OH. Good luck everyone!

 

The Chants that are in my woods are the "smooth" Chanterelles, Cantharellus lateritius, and they don't seem to get all that big.

 

I have been checking my 2 spots in central Ohio where I get smooth chants every year, nothing yet. I would usually find something by now. It’s been pretty dry and hot.

 

The heat isn't a problem for me, I actually think it helps bring them up, but yeah, you have to have some rain. We got lucky up here in NE OH with about 3" of rain in the week before they started popping. Besides, the woods I am in is pretty mature so I'm walking in some deep shade in there. Hot as blazes right now, but some rain and t'storms in the forecast, so maybe we'll get more water in the ground. The last time out I got some better ones, enough for 3 or 4 chanterelle omelettes. Time to hit the store for more eggs. I did notice that it's almost time to spray down with bug repellent before going in there. More gnats and skeeters buzzing my ears. And start taking the walking stick with me too. Those woods spiders are getting active, and one thing I really hate is walking into one of their webs. I don't know why, but it seems their silk is industrial strength!

 

I was out in Delaware County Wednesday and saw a few early emergents. Nothing bigger than 1" tall. Should be coming in well by the time I return to Ohio.

 

I went out yesterday and found a small patch of medium sized Chants. They were all wormy and stringy inside. Not what I hoped for. That doesn't happen often, usually they don't have any worm holes and have an even white meaty texture. I have two new woods to check out. Keeping my 🤞

 

central OH - Franklin County

"Chanterelle Heaven" opens its' doors.

This morning, Sunday, I picked only 1 out of 50 because the rest were too small. After this post, I've invited these Chanterelles to breakfast, Ha!! 😎 I'll post a pic.

As soon as I was into the woods, it greeted me with the below nice composition.

Enjoy some summer time in the woods!! 🌞

 

Pick us . . . Please

 

Central OH - Franklin County
Breakfast this morning, from this morning's Chanterelles.

Sauteed Chanterelles, with scrambled eggs, cherry tomatoes, parsley, and Tart Cherry jam on toast.

In Central OH, Chanterelle Season has started.

 

Well, the rain that was hit or miss for this morning turned out to be a complete miss, but the wind was howling! After watering the veggies, I realized that the wind made the heat and humidity kind of tolerable, so I decided to get the yard work done today. Rain is supposed to happen tomorrow, then Thursday I can be free to hit the woods and not have to think about cutting grass.

 

Today I checked the blackberry patch instead of waiting for the upcoming cool down. Looks like it will be another week and a half. I just got enough for a couple bowls of cereal. Most are still red.

 

I went out briefly today to another patch. It was the same thing. Mostly small with some medium sized ones. All had evidence of worms eating the insides and were stringy and dry inside. Looked good on the outside. I usually don't find the large ones until the end of the last week in July and the first week and a half in August. I'm going to concentrate on lobster mushrooms awhile.

 

I don't have any good berry spots anymore.

 

Seems like every 5 or 6 years I have to look for new ones as the old ones get overgrown with invasives.

 

Took a walk in my personal Chant Heaven today and the pickings were pretty slim. The "rain events" that were supposed to happen over the last two days didn't! So, I kept on walking through some areas where I have found Chants in the past, but usually later in the season. Nothing doing until i topped a small rise and saw a log just loaded with chicken of the woods! Some of the bigger ones were starting to get a little hard, but many were in prime shape.

I hustled out of the woods to head home and get my camera and a bigger mesh bag, and hustled right back. I figure I got about 4-5 pounds of chicken trimmings. There were also some that had been knocked off the log. I looked at them closely and the pores were still nice and tight, so I figured that they hadn't sporulated yet. I used them to try to inoculate a few other downed logs in the area.

 

I remember a place we found back when we were kids. A hillside above a double set of railroad tracks that was totally covered in blackberries! We told my Mom about it and she sent us out there the next day with pots and bags and told us to get as many as we could. We were industrious little buggers and came home with the mother lode! My Mom's mind was kind of boggles with how much we had, and right away she hustled a bunch of it over to our across the back yard neighbors, the Cornfields. I swear to God, that was their name.

Mrs. Cornfield's flower beds were the prettiest in town, and the veggie garden they grew, oh my! They never had to buy produce, and Mrs. Cornfield made some really delicious blackberry jelly out of that fruit. I went back there quiite a few years ago, and it was all gone.

Anyway, my siblings and I are getting together tomorrow morning for breakfast, and if it's not pouring rain my Sister and I are going to take a hike through my Chant woods. I think I've gotten her interested in the subject. No recent rain, so it's liable to be slim pickings again, but we can check on that chicken log to see if anything new has popped there.