People about mushrooms
Mushrooms in Russia can be collected almost throughout the year. But the best time to pick mushrooms is still autumn.
On the eve of these wonderful days for lovers of “silent hunting”, we can recall some axioms, signs, sayings... Look at a few caricatures from the Russian people...
For centuries, people have been observing natural phenomena, noticing their interrelationships and, as a result, the folk calendar was “born” - a storehouse of folk experience, where signs take pride of place. But sometimes you can’t distinguish them from sayings and proverbs.
Let's turn the pages of this calendar dedicated to mushrooms today. By the way, a very voluminous, interesting and broad topic... - after all, mushrooms are loved in Russia !
The Russians do everything on a grand scale
If a person loves to bow to the earth, then he will not be left without mushrooms.
What can I say? - an indisputable fact. How do mushrooms grow? They can hide in the foliage, under fallen pine needles. In order to find a good mushroom, you need to look under every tubercle, look behind the stump. It is necessary not only to dig into the ground with a stick, but also to bend down and carefully cut the mushroom with a knife so as not to damage the mycelium.
It’s not for nothing that our sincere nature lover M. M. Prishvin wrote in his story “The Old Mushroom”:
It was very parky, and from my bows everything inside me caught fire and I wanted to drink to death...
Where you find one mushroom, look for another.
Again, this sign, which has become almost an axiom, is clear to the hedgehog, but once again we can remind you: the mycelium really grows over a decent area, so if you find a good edible mushroom, then be sure to sit down, take a closer look - look around, and you will definitely find another one, and if you’re lucky, then two, or three... or this many:
Honey mushrooms
When the midges start flying, then you need to prepare the baskets.
At the beginning of the article it was mentioned that mushrooms can be collected for almost a year. They begin to appear in the spring, as soon as good rains water the ground. Some varieties of mushrooms also grow in summer. I read on one website that even in winter you can dig up mushrooms under the snow if you know the places where they grow.
But the golden time for picking mushrooms is the end of summer, September, sometimes October: the “silent hunting” season! It is at this time that midges begin to pester people, sensing the approach of cold weather. That’s why people say that if midges have become annoying, then the best time has come to pick mushrooms.
The mushroom has outgrown - the mushroom picker has found danger on his nose.
The safest mushrooms are only when they are young. At this time they are delicious. The older the mushroom is, and the mushroom has outgrown its size and shape, the more likely it is to be poisoned by it, even if it belongs to the category of completely edible.
Shouldn't we turn back?
If there are a lot of fly agarics in the forest, that means there will be a lot of white ones.
Or people also say that the red fly agaric shows the way to the porcini mushroom. If you follow him, you will find the king of mushrooms. Knowledgeable mushroom pickers have long noticed that the terrain features and growth conditions of these mushrooms are very similar.
wise advice
When the pine trees are sprinkled with golden pollen, that year the boletus will come in droves.
Everyone knows that pine is an evergreen tree; she is rarely seen with yellow needles unless she is sick. So, people noticed that once every three to four years, an incomprehensible pollen of a mysterious golden color appears next to fallen pine needles.
Scientists cannot yet find an explanation for this. But it is precisely in these years that you can harvest a large harvest of boletus - the most delicious mushrooms for marinade.
If the clouds begin to cling to the tops of the forest, then take a basket and go mushroom hunting.
"Weather" sign. The explanation is quite simple: when continuous low clouds or fog appear, the humidity not only in the air increases, but also the surface of the earth becomes moist. And this is one of the best conditions for the rapid growth of mushrooms.
By the way, the mushroom picker knows that as soon as the “quiet” drizzling rain passes the day before, he can go to the forest to pick mushrooms. And he will never go mushroom hunting after a heavy rain, stormy wind, or inclement weather.
Forward!
If the paths in the forest are covered with mold, then there will be a lot of mushrooms this year.
People believe in this sign sacredly. If mold appears on forest paths, it means that the time has come for an active “quiet hunt” - the mushroom harvest is expected to be excellent, especially saffron milk caps.
And simply, without further explanation, here are a few more signs about mushrooms, which have been collected for centuries in the folk calendar of Russian nature:
At dewy dawn the mushroom is strong and fragrant, but on a hot day it’s like a rotten stump.
When it’s hot and dry, mushrooms gather under the trees; and when it’s damp and warm, they scatter into the clearings.
The russulas went before the white ones - there is nothing to do in the forest with a basket.
If there are wavefish in the forest, expect milk mushrooms to appear soon.
The rains have dragged on - don't expect any tasty milk mushrooms.
Where one baby is born, butter babies crawl out of their diapers.
As soon as the aspen drops its catkins, do not leave the morels near the path; and when the fluff has flown from the aspen tree, you need to gather for the aspen boletuses.
That's what hops are for, to climb through the oaks, and that's what oak trees are for, to get lost in the oaks.
The rapid flowering of fireweed along the edges and clearings promises a good harvest of boletus and aspen boletuses.
Thickets of ferns are a sure indicator of the places where boletuses grow.
The panicles of oats have become heavy, which means honey mushrooms have grown in the forest.
The lilacs have bloomed, then perhaps in two weeks the field champignons will start growing.
The bird cherry is blooming, so soon get ready for the first harvest of boletus.
Sultry June - don't give a damn about the porcini mushroom.
If the winter is harsh and snowy, then you can wait and hope for a good harvest of mushrooms and nuts.
It's damp in April - a mushroom summer.
When the snow melts, mold forms - leading to a bountiful harvest of mushrooms.
PROVERBS ABOUT MUSHROOMS
To be afraid of wolves, - not to go to the forest, not to go to the forest, - to be without mushrooms.
There will be rain, there will be fungi; and if there are fungi, there will be a box.
Living near the forest means you won't go hungry.
Every fungus knows its time.
They pick up every mushroom, but not every mushroom they put in the back.
A mushroom that has been torn out is dead forever; if it is cut off at the root, it produces a sack of offspring.
Mushroom signs live in winter too.
Mushrooms on one leg will not come into the basket on their own.
Those who love to bow to the earth will not be left without prey.
Even a mushroom is not worth bowing to the lazy.
They love to lead mushrooms by the nose.
Don’t go looking for mushrooms with a bucket, don’t ruin the forest goodness - put them in a basket, let them breathe a little.
Mushroom picking brings good luck! With happiness you will come across a treasure, without happiness you won’t find a mushroom.
If you want a fungus, climb under a bush.
Berries love day, mushrooms love night and shade.
Love for all ages…
PS As a continuation of this intimate topic, you can watch and listen to a video about mushrooms “Gifts of the Forest”.
